recruiting board update

Yup, that time again.  The board is here and don't forget about the map here.

Ch-ch-changes:

- Removed RB Ronald Darby (Notre Dame), QB Zeke Pike (Auburn, Michigan, or Purdue) and CB Geno Smith (nowhere yet but I'm thinking not Virginia), all from red.

- Moved LB Ken Ekanem from yellow to red.

- Moved RB Wes Brown from green to yellow.

- Added TE Blake Bars and QB Chad Voytik to yellow.

It's getting on toward the spring slow season so there won't be a lot of movement in the coming weeks.  Kelby Johnson and Diamonte Bailey were late-April commits last year, but they were surprises that weren't even on the recruiting board.  Until June when UVA hosts its camp and sundry other events, expect things to slow down.

And because this is Virginia and we can't ever have nice things, Will Regan is transferring.  So that leaves only four of Tony Bennett's much-heralded six-man recruiting class.  I guess that's one reason you don't see those too often.  I'm slightly gobsmacked, but I probably shouldn't be.  Regan looked to me like one of the most likely members of that class to play some meaningful minutes right away; he also looked like a guy who had less of a ceiling and less room for improvement than the others.  I was wrong about the first and the transfer suggests maybe I was right about the second.  With Mike Scott coming back and James Johnson entering the fray for playing time, UVA essentially loses one big man (Will Sherrill) and gains two, not to mention whatever Darion Atkins and Paul Jesperson might do.  And Akil Mitchell had obviously passed Regan on the depth chart by the end of the season.

So Regan might have looked at the wall and seen some writing, even if we didn't.  We could've used the insurance but Regan was recruited by Michigan, Maryland, Stanford, Providence, Penn State, etc.....he probably sees himself as more than "insurance," and you can't hardly blame him.

The impact on scholarships: I don't think we'll bring in any last-minute candidates in the 2011 class, because that would make that a class of five and you just run into the same crunch problems the six-man 2010 class had.  Guys don't like to be squeezed out.  What it does is takes away the decision between a transfer player this summer (who would get to start playing in 2012-13) and a 2012 freshman.  Now we can have both.

This seems like as good a time as any to debut the basketball depth chart I've been working on.  You'd think this would've been easier, but in football, running backs are running backs.  In basketball, Joe Harris is a shooting guard who sometimes plays power forward.  So it has its own challenges.  Anyway, that can be found on the same page as the football one.

Lastly, get excited: yesterday I said I would likely be able to start the flow of highlight videos again.  Now I can guarantee it.  The Cornell lacrosse game will be ready to go shortly and after that I've got a bunch more.  It won't be all at once but you'll get sweet sweet video again in the coming weeks and months.