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Happy New Year, and Go Hoos!

Virginia received an early holiday gift last Thursday when Allen Billyk announced his commitment to UVa. Billyk, a 6-4, 260-pound defensive end from New Castle, PA chose the Cavaliers over Boston College, Michigan and Stanford.

Billyk, UVa's 19th commitment this year, is an All-American and listed as the 33rd best at his position nationally. For more on Billyk, please see the recruiting area of the Sabre Edge.

Cavaliers Look Forward to Big January in Recruiting

Rolling into the New Year, the Virginia Cavaliers have already piled up 17 commitments - not including Ahmad Brooks, who is enrolling in the January semester in Charlottesville - and are looking to fill anywhere from five to seven more scholarship spots before the year is out.

Like last year, when the Cavaliers entertained the likes of Kai Parham, Michael Johnson, Marcus Hamilton, Wali Lundy, and Ahmad Brooks, the staff is hoping to strike gold in the month of January.

The fun begins on the weekend of January 17th, which will likely be the most important weekend of the recruiting season. Perhaps the staff is a little superstitious, as they hosted the above players last year on the weekend of the 18th. Cavalier fans hope the luck can continue with such stars as Dunbar (Washington DC) TE Vernon Davis, Robinson (Fairfax, VA) ATH Chase Anastasio, Hackensack (Hackensack, NJ) stud OLB Jermaine Dias, state of Virginia blue-chippers Phoebus (Hampton, VA) CB Phillip Brown and Bethel (Hampton, VA) DE Chris Ellis, and Shaw (East Cleveland, OH) OLB Reggie Smith headline the list of players visiting on January 17th.

Davis has narrowed his list down to Virginia and Maryland for quite some time. Rumors have it that Davis may commit to Maryland any time within the next two weeks. If the Cavs can get him on campus, they'll have a great shot. Right now, things look a little shaky but certainly not over yet. Virginia would love to get an athlete like Davis who can play a number of positions, including H-Back, tight end, and even some wide receiver.

Anastasio is quite possibly one of the most versatile prospects to come out of the state of Virginia in quite a while. He seems to favor the Cavs slightly at this point, however do not discount the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame or the Virginia Tech Hokies - whom he visits on January 24th. Anastasio, who played about five different positions for Robinson, would be an asset at any position. He is a high-priority recruit for the Cavs.

In addition to Anastasio, two other big-time state of Virginia recruits are Phillip Brown and Chris Ellis. Brown, the Sabre.com's number one ranked player in the state, is a shut down corner who also excels at punt and kickoff returns. A truly exciting player who reminds me a little of Charles Woodson - he can do it all. Ellis is a dominant defensive end prospect who can really rush the passer. Coach Groh would love to have him play the defensive end position to get some extra quarterback pressure from his defensive line. Both kids are studs, and both kids could end up deciding between the two in-state schools. Unfortunately for UVa, both kids are scheduled to visit Virginia Tech on January 24th.

Another high priority recruit has to be Jermaine Dias of Hackensack. Dias, a star since he entered Hackensack as a true freshman, is down to Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Boston College. He trips to UNC on January 10, UVa on the 17th, and BC on the 24th. His head coach, Ralph Dass, seems to think UNC and UVa may have the upper hand right now, although Dias has been and will continue to be very thorough in this process. No doubt the Virginia staff would love to have him playing outside 'backer beside Brooks, Parham, and Blackstock.

Reggie Smith is another outstanding outside linebacker prospect who, like Dias, played defensive end in high school. He was a sack master for Shaw, coming up with 19 quarterback sacks total for his senior season. That was a new Shaw single season record. Smith is a soft commitment to Ohio State. If he doesn't solidify the commitment before the visit, Virginia has a chance - a slim chance, but still a chance. The Cavs were the early leader before hometown fave Ohio State offered Smith.

One commitment who is scheduled to be there doing some heavy recruiting for the Cavs is quarterback Kevin McCabe. McCabe, who is rated one of the top quarterbacks in the country, already has established a good relationship with other Virginia commits. He also has gotten to know Vernon Davis pretty well, so his presence may be an influence (if of course Davis doesn't choose Maryland in a week).

The weekend of the 17th is going to be a huge event for the Cavalier coaching staff. Virginia already has a Top 15 class, however positive decisions from some of the above prospects could make this class the second consecutive National Top 5 class.

(This list above doesn't include potential January (not necessarily the 17th) visitor Turk McBride, who the Cavaliers have been hot on the trail of recently, as well as the possible decisions of Jesse Holley and Vince Redd, which will be important to Virginia as well.)

Honors for Groh, Schaub
Official Media Release

Quarterback Matt Schaub was named state Player of the Year and head coach Al Groh was selected state Coach of the Year by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID).

Full Report

Bowl game preview

Virginia and West Virginia square off tomorrow for the first annual Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game begins at 11:00 a.m. EST and will be televised by ESPN2.

For information on the game, including articles, weather reports and other notes, please see West Virginia Game News.

Basketball game against Rutgers

Virginia improved to 6-2 on the season when they defeated Rutgers University 61-57 on Saturday. The Cavs were led by transfer guard Todd Billet who scored 22 points in the contest. Billet, who was playing against his former team, sank the game winning free throws with just under 14 seconds to play.

For more on the contest, please see Rutgers Game News.

Next up for Virginia hoops

The Cavaliers return to University Hall tomorrow afternoon to face Georgetown University. The Hoos won the contest on the Hoyas home floor last season, 61-55. Game time for tomorrow's contest is 2:00 p.m. CBS will carry the game.

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