So. Spurlock.

As promised, more on Tristan Spurlock and the ripple effects. Most UVA fans have heard of Tristan Spurlock. Dave Leitao certainly has. Leitao has literally been recruiting him since he took the job here at UVA, and Spurlock's first visit was as a ninth-grader, three years ago.

Spurlock is rated the #65 player in the country by Rivals and #42 by ESPN. The slight disagreement is a non-issue - the point is, there's nobody who thinks he's anything but a terrific player. He is not the best or a major standout in any one particular area - not the tallest, not the quickest, not the biggest, or the best shooter. However, he does it all, and damn well. He shoots the 3-ball and can drive to the basket. He also rebounds, averaging 9 a game for Montrose Christian this past year. At 6'6", 215, he can use his long arms to terrorize shooting guards, and he's big enough to guard small forwards.

Where does he fit in? Simple: Mamadi Diane is a senior. Spurlock should fit perfectly into that role after Diane departs. Diane is listed as a guard/forward and when on the floor, takes care of the duties of both, as last year's second-leading scorer, best 3-point shooter, and third-leading rebounder. But there is more guard to his play than forward, and I think we can expect Spurlock to do exactly the same.

The roster as it stands now has all 13 scholarships filled - the only player on the roster without one is Will Sherrill. (This is assuming Calvin Baker receives the one that was vacated by Will Harris. In this humble blogger's opinion, unless there are behind-the-scenes issues we don't see, not putting him on scholarship this season would be shabby treatment indeed.) If Baker is, as I expect, put on scholarship, then Leitao is almost certainly done recruiting for 2009. The team has only two seniors - Diane and Lars - and with Spurlock and Jontel Evans on board, there's no room for a third. Additionally, Leitao has to get cracking on 2010, when four current juniors will be departing and much room will be opening up.