Picking up where we left off yesterday, hopefully with better Google results....
Justin Nicolino
...but not with better news. Nicolino was projected to be a 3rd or 4th round pick in the MLB draft and planned on going to college all the way. Would have been a big deal. He went in the second, and will be going pro instead. Blame the Toronto Blue Jays. They have til August 16 to sign him, but don't sit around hoping it won't happen.
Mark Podlas
One of the few prospects who doesn't pitch for his high school team, Podlas plays the other usual position: center field. (It's a best-athlete thing. Like with quarterbacks in football, high school baseball teams like to get the ball in their best athlete's hands on every play. Or in the place where they have the most space to run.) Podlas was rated the 6th-best player in New York by Perfect Game, and thought of as a first-ten-rounds guy in the draft. He wasn't drafted at all, though; around that time, if a kid's sending out college waves, teams back off.
Being from the Northeast, Podlas knew he'd have to get out around the country to showcase himself, so he hit the camp circuit hard and played his travel ball all the way out in California. (That's a pretty good one-on-one interview in that second link, by the way.) He's a lefty batter, fast for his height (6'2"), and a good enough batter to be called the best left-handed high school bat in the country. High praise. And as is always important at UVA, a hard worker in the classroom too.
Mitchell Shifflett
It'll be interesting to see how Shifflett does on the basepaths against college catchers, because high school catchers couldn't do anything about him. He hit well over .400 (most any college prospect will) and even though the vast majority of his hits were singles, "a single is a double" in Shifflett's world. Even his college decision was fast: Shifflett also had a UNC offer, among others, but selected UVA way back in October of 2008.
Shifflett's hot hitting carried his Cosby team to the AAA state semifinals; until the season-ending loss to Woodbridge, he went 12-for-17 in four games and stole second just about every time he got on base. He was nearly perfect on the season in that regard, getting thrown out just once. (Must've had an untied shoelace.) In all he averaged a little shy of two SBs a game in his senior season.
Tyler Skulina
With size that makes pro scouts drool (6'6", 235, and he's grown a touch since being a 6'4" freshman) and a low-mid 90s fastball, about 92-93 when he's on (and touching 96 on one occasion), Skulina was the guy on draft watch for UVA baseball fans. Maybe he told everyone he was set on UVA or maybe it was the back injury (muscle strain) earlier this season, but Skulina didn't get drafted until very late, setting him up for his arrival in Charlottesville.
Skulina earned a boatload of accolades (All-American, player of the year in the state as a junior, trivial things like that) pitching for one of the nation's powerhouse programs - Walsh Jesuit has made three straight trips to the state championship game in Ohio, losing the last two. Skulina achieved perfection on his own, though: he never lost a game in four years of pitching. If there's one freshman to watch for playing time next year, this is the guy.
Austin Young
Listed at pitcher like most of the rest of the prospects, it's probably Young's bat that's carrying him to UVA. First base is where he made his mark enough to earn an honorable mention for the AAA all-state team, where you'll also notice Mitchell Shifflett among the first-teamers. First-team all-region and all-academic, too. Um, he also hit two home runs in a game once....otherwise, Austin Young is another name that just about might as well be John Smith to a search engine. That and/or there's less hype out there. Young is a big dude, though, at 240 pounds, and with that kind of size and nowhere near the pitching credentials of most of the rest of the group, is likely a first baseman all the way.
****************************************
One piece of miscellaneous news is the announcement on the official site of a 2013/2014 series with a football program that only exists on paper at the moment. UTSA has DI-A aspirations and because Craig Littlepage is apparently in a charitable mood, we agreed to a home-and-home. Washington & Lee must have been all booked up.
The series is added to the future schedules page. It's a big disappointment, I think. Blown opportunity to find a real opponent for a '12/'14 home and home series, as our road schedule is now pretty much booked up through 2015. Unless we're planning on playing 6 road games in a year, which I sure hope not. I guess recruiting is one way to rationalize the trip, but even Baylor would have accomplished the same thing.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
baseball's recruiting class, part 1
Football and basketball get all the breaks. One of those players commits, you know it like before it happens and you know all about the guy just by plugging in. Baseball, not so much. No star ratings. No headlines and neon lights. Football, you can pick up on things just by osmosis. But you really have to go out of your way to even find the names in a baseball class, let alone any details. So here's a little attempt to familiarize the audience at large with UVA's recruiting class of 2010. Next year when the next Branden Kline or Danny Hultzen shows up on the mound, you won't have to wonder where the hell they came from.
Ryan Ashooh
The left-handed Ashooh pitches for Centreville in Northern Virginia and committed to UVA in late 2008, before his junior season. In his freshman season, Centreville was a 4-17 doormat; his pitching has helped to lift them from the doldrums to the regional tournament, where they exited this year in the quarterfinals. Ashooh was the district co-pitcher of the year, and threw two no-hitters, one in the regional opener.
Ashooh's had some injury issues: a broken vertebrae after his junior year and a really nasty-sounding virus before that regional no-hitter. Hopefully he'll avoid that in college, because there is always room for a 6'2" lefty with an upper-80s fastball on a pitching staff.
Kyle Crockett
A name you definitely know, if you follow high school baseball in the state of Virginia. Crockett is another southpaw, who has earned various and sundry state Player of the Year designations and led his Poquoson team to two consecutive AA state championships. Crockett was also the ESPN Rise Athlete of the Week in the East region, an honor earned for setting the state record for wins by a high school pitcher. Crockett's teammate Chad Pinder is also playing college ball next season - but in Blacksburg.
Derek Justice
Justice's Orange team lost a sixth-inning lead (second-to-last inning, in high school ball) to Crockett and Poquoson in the state quarterfinals, otherwise it might have been they who had a shot at the title. He pitches (lefty, also) and plays the outfield; his coach thinks it'll be pitching for him in college. And according to that article, his offer to UVA was for a full scholarship; impressive, since college baseball only allows for about 12 scholarships to be divided among 27 players; many only get a half or quarter scholarship.
Artie Lewicki
Coming to us out of New Jersey, Lewicki's another guy that's had a few health issues. Arm trouble ended his junior season and eventually caused him to undergo surgery. He throws in the low 90s and has what BA's Aaron Fitt calls a "promising slider." Lewicki's also been called "arguably the best pitcher in North Jersey" although that was unfortunately after getting beaten into the ground in the state tournament.
David Mixon
How embarassing. The Googlemachine is broken. Actually, it works just fine if you want to find out about the David Mixon that used to pitch for Louisiana-Monroe and is now toiling in the Giants' farm system. Our version is a Werman-sized pitcher out of Iowa, who plays for the non-search-engine-friendly Prairie High School. Prairie's season is still ongoing, which doesn't help. I guess if I had to speculate, Mixon's size and apparent lack of shining accolades worthy of being splashed on the Internet (at least outside Iowa) mean he'll be something other than a pitcher at UVA.
Despite that setback, Part 2 runs tomorrow.
Ryan Ashooh
The left-handed Ashooh pitches for Centreville in Northern Virginia and committed to UVA in late 2008, before his junior season. In his freshman season, Centreville was a 4-17 doormat; his pitching has helped to lift them from the doldrums to the regional tournament, where they exited this year in the quarterfinals. Ashooh was the district co-pitcher of the year, and threw two no-hitters, one in the regional opener.
Ashooh's had some injury issues: a broken vertebrae after his junior year and a really nasty-sounding virus before that regional no-hitter. Hopefully he'll avoid that in college, because there is always room for a 6'2" lefty with an upper-80s fastball on a pitching staff.
Kyle Crockett
A name you definitely know, if you follow high school baseball in the state of Virginia. Crockett is another southpaw, who has earned various and sundry state Player of the Year designations and led his Poquoson team to two consecutive AA state championships. Crockett was also the ESPN Rise Athlete of the Week in the East region, an honor earned for setting the state record for wins by a high school pitcher. Crockett's teammate Chad Pinder is also playing college ball next season - but in Blacksburg.
Derek Justice
Justice's Orange team lost a sixth-inning lead (second-to-last inning, in high school ball) to Crockett and Poquoson in the state quarterfinals, otherwise it might have been they who had a shot at the title. He pitches (lefty, also) and plays the outfield; his coach thinks it'll be pitching for him in college. And according to that article, his offer to UVA was for a full scholarship; impressive, since college baseball only allows for about 12 scholarships to be divided among 27 players; many only get a half or quarter scholarship.
Artie Lewicki
Coming to us out of New Jersey, Lewicki's another guy that's had a few health issues. Arm trouble ended his junior season and eventually caused him to undergo surgery. He throws in the low 90s and has what BA's Aaron Fitt calls a "promising slider." Lewicki's also been called "arguably the best pitcher in North Jersey" although that was unfortunately after getting beaten into the ground in the state tournament.
David Mixon
How embarassing. The Googlemachine is broken. Actually, it works just fine if you want to find out about the David Mixon that used to pitch for Louisiana-Monroe and is now toiling in the Giants' farm system. Our version is a Werman-sized pitcher out of Iowa, who plays for the non-search-engine-friendly Prairie High School. Prairie's season is still ongoing, which doesn't help. I guess if I had to speculate, Mixon's size and apparent lack of shining accolades worthy of being splashed on the Internet (at least outside Iowa) mean he'll be something other than a pitcher at UVA.
Despite that setback, Part 2 runs tomorrow.
Monday, June 28, 2010
recruiting board update
It's about that season where this thing requires weekly housecleaning. Let's get to it.
- Moved Brandon Phelps to orange and changed his position to CB. More in a bit.
- Added DE Thompson Brown to orange.
- Removed QB Kevin Hogan (Stanford), DE Corey Marshall (VT), and LB Nick Menocal (Miami.)
- Removed OT Landon Turner. Will this cause him to declare a top three like the below-mentioned Thourogood? Probably, just to spite me, but even more probably he's not coming to UVA.
- Re-added QB Lafonte Thourogood, to yellow this time. Convenient he would name a top three, like, the day I decide to drop him from the board. Fine, but I'm still awfully pessimistic about our chances to be honest.
- Re-added CB Jeremiah Hendy, currently "committed" to Maryland, to yellow as well. Here, this is the kind of thing that always makes me laugh a bit. Rivals and Scout are super-duper secretive about the recruiting information they put out, but as always they have to walk a fine line between protecting their info (making a subscription worth something) and letting you know they have it. So when a question is asked in the free portion of a subscription article such as "CB Hendy plans return visit to Virginia?" the answer is generally yes. Otherwise, why write the article? When it's a headline, you might as well mentally erase the question mark.
- Added CB Tim Scott to yellow. Lot of DB's, yeah? Doesn't bother me one bit, except that it'll be a hell of a time actually figuring out where they'll go. Very versatile bunch, really. I already mentioned Matt Bailey as a candidate for linebacker, for example.
Let me just add a quick word about Brandon Phelps committing. That word is (ahem): WOOFUCKYEAH!! It's not possible to overstate how big a deal this is. Phelps had offers from some of the biggest of the big boys: Alabama**, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State. It sure didn't hurt that he's a legacy, but hot damn any time you beat out 20 other schools with that kind of name, you have a winner. As big an Al Groh apologist as I have been, Al Groh probably would not have reeled in Phelps.
**Alabama has a way of sending out offers that aren't exactly "committable." It's in the same vein as the way a prospect will call himself committed somewhere so they hold the place for him while he looks around. It's a placeholder, in a way. LSU probably does this. Michigan does this, though neither as much as "hey-let's-sign-37-prospects-this-year" Alabama. It's why Michael Strauss has an an Alabama "offer" that looks weird next to the ones from UAB, FIU, and WMU. In Phelps's case, these are very definitely Big, Serious, committable offers.
- Moved Brandon Phelps to orange and changed his position to CB. More in a bit.
- Added DE Thompson Brown to orange.
- Removed QB Kevin Hogan (Stanford), DE Corey Marshall (VT), and LB Nick Menocal (Miami.)
- Removed OT Landon Turner. Will this cause him to declare a top three like the below-mentioned Thourogood? Probably, just to spite me, but even more probably he's not coming to UVA.
- Re-added QB Lafonte Thourogood, to yellow this time. Convenient he would name a top three, like, the day I decide to drop him from the board. Fine, but I'm still awfully pessimistic about our chances to be honest.
- Re-added CB Jeremiah Hendy, currently "committed" to Maryland, to yellow as well. Here, this is the kind of thing that always makes me laugh a bit. Rivals and Scout are super-duper secretive about the recruiting information they put out, but as always they have to walk a fine line between protecting their info (making a subscription worth something) and letting you know they have it. So when a question is asked in the free portion of a subscription article such as "CB Hendy plans return visit to Virginia?" the answer is generally yes. Otherwise, why write the article? When it's a headline, you might as well mentally erase the question mark.
- Added CB Tim Scott to yellow. Lot of DB's, yeah? Doesn't bother me one bit, except that it'll be a hell of a time actually figuring out where they'll go. Very versatile bunch, really. I already mentioned Matt Bailey as a candidate for linebacker, for example.
Let me just add a quick word about Brandon Phelps committing. That word is (ahem): WOOFUCKYEAH!! It's not possible to overstate how big a deal this is. Phelps had offers from some of the biggest of the big boys: Alabama**, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State. It sure didn't hurt that he's a legacy, but hot damn any time you beat out 20 other schools with that kind of name, you have a winner. As big an Al Groh apologist as I have been, Al Groh probably would not have reeled in Phelps.
**Alabama has a way of sending out offers that aren't exactly "committable." It's in the same vein as the way a prospect will call himself committed somewhere so they hold the place for him while he looks around. It's a placeholder, in a way. LSU probably does this. Michigan does this, though neither as much as "hey-let's-sign-37-prospects-this-year" Alabama. It's why Michael Strauss has an an Alabama "offer" that looks weird next to the ones from UAB, FIU, and WMU. In Phelps's case, these are very definitely Big, Serious, committable offers.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
the recruit: Matt Bailey
Name: Matt Bailey
Position: S/LB
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
School: Edna Karr
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 190
Rivals: 5.5, three stars, #40 in LA
ESPN: 74, two stars, #82 safety
Scout: two stars
UVA hasn't gone to Louisiana for a prospect since Lord knows when. The Groh regime gave it a shot last year, aiming in the process for a couple of Matt Bailey's teammates; it didn't pan out, but Bailey did, earning the distinction of being Groh's final recruit.
Bailey plays linebacker for Edna Karr, but scouts figure him for a safety at the next level. You've got a lot of scouting reports that highlight his attributes for the position: good at diagnosing plays and in pass coverage, etc. It's more or less a given .... but I'm not so sure. London turned a lot of our safeties into linebackers. Bailey is listed at under 200, but others have him at 205 or even 215. At the very least there's absolutely no way he's 175 like Scout says. I think Bailey stays at linebacker when he gets to Charlottesville; he's just the same size as DB-turned-LB Lo'Vante Battle, and Battle was a high school linebacker too.
If Bailey gets to Charlottesville, anyway. At least as of April, he hadn't really shut off his recruitment. Not too surprising for a guy who jumped at his first offer, which came from coaches that aren't around any more. I'd still be surprised if he decommitted, but no predictions from me along those lines.
Predictions along career lines, though: both linebacker and safety are tough places to break into as a freshman. Bailey's medium-low ratings are pretty consistent, and he comes from a school with plenty of visibility. Somewhere in the mid-30s to 40th best player in Louisiana, a high two-star or low-three star type. Bailey's not going to crash the lineup right off the bat; a redshirt season is a lock and a half. One of Bailey's strengths is his smarts, which actually kind of plays against him in the London regime: a 4.2 student like Bailey is would have had a leg up on the competition learning Groh's intricate NFL-style defensive schemes. Jim Reid's are simpler, which might nullify his advantage somewhat. He'll be in a big mix for playing time, so if he starts - whether as a safety or a linebacker - it'll probably be as a junior at the earliest.
Position: S/LB
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
School: Edna Karr
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 190
Rivals: 5.5, three stars, #40 in LA
ESPN: 74, two stars, #82 safety
Scout: two stars
UVA hasn't gone to Louisiana for a prospect since Lord knows when. The Groh regime gave it a shot last year, aiming in the process for a couple of Matt Bailey's teammates; it didn't pan out, but Bailey did, earning the distinction of being Groh's final recruit.
Bailey plays linebacker for Edna Karr, but scouts figure him for a safety at the next level. You've got a lot of scouting reports that highlight his attributes for the position: good at diagnosing plays and in pass coverage, etc. It's more or less a given .... but I'm not so sure. London turned a lot of our safeties into linebackers. Bailey is listed at under 200, but others have him at 205 or even 215. At the very least there's absolutely no way he's 175 like Scout says. I think Bailey stays at linebacker when he gets to Charlottesville; he's just the same size as DB-turned-LB Lo'Vante Battle, and Battle was a high school linebacker too.
If Bailey gets to Charlottesville, anyway. At least as of April, he hadn't really shut off his recruitment. Not too surprising for a guy who jumped at his first offer, which came from coaches that aren't around any more. I'd still be surprised if he decommitted, but no predictions from me along those lines.
Predictions along career lines, though: both linebacker and safety are tough places to break into as a freshman. Bailey's medium-low ratings are pretty consistent, and he comes from a school with plenty of visibility. Somewhere in the mid-30s to 40th best player in Louisiana, a high two-star or low-three star type. Bailey's not going to crash the lineup right off the bat; a redshirt season is a lock and a half. One of Bailey's strengths is his smarts, which actually kind of plays against him in the London regime: a 4.2 student like Bailey is would have had a leg up on the competition learning Groh's intricate NFL-style defensive schemes. Jim Reid's are simpler, which might nullify his advantage somewhat. He'll be in a big mix for playing time, so if he starts - whether as a safety or a linebacker - it'll probably be as a junior at the earliest.
Friday, June 25, 2010
pick your Cavalier of the Year
A tad cheesy but unavoidably true, the comment left on one of the nomination posts:
Brittany Kalkstein and Paige Selenski
Drew Courtney/Michael Shabaz and Chris Henrich
Diego Restrepo and Scot Robison
Danny Hultzen and Monica Wright
Robby Andrews and Sarah Tacke
Ken Clausen and Lauren Perdue
There are national champions, record-breakers, all-Everythings, and a hell of a lot of ACC Somethings Of The Year. Some athletes are standing out in a long and proud tradition, others are carrying their teams to unexplored heights. Nearly every time I wrote one of these, I'd convinced myself that's who should get the nod; still, as always, I make no endorsement.
The poll is on the right. You have til the end of the July 4th weekend - specifically, Monday the 5th. Go.
These are and will be ALL WINNERS! Can you imagine trying to pick a single winner? Just an honor to be named among this group!And yet a winner must be chosen. Time to hand out the trophy. Choosing from twelve extremely deserving nominees, that's the hard work. Which I leave to you, cause I'm lazy like that. As a refresher, here are your choices, should you need to read about them again:
Brittany Kalkstein and Paige Selenski
Drew Courtney/Michael Shabaz and Chris Henrich
Diego Restrepo and Scot Robison
Danny Hultzen and Monica Wright
Robby Andrews and Sarah Tacke
Ken Clausen and Lauren Perdue
There are national champions, record-breakers, all-Everythings, and a hell of a lot of ACC Somethings Of The Year. Some athletes are standing out in a long and proud tradition, others are carrying their teams to unexplored heights. Nearly every time I wrote one of these, I'd convinced myself that's who should get the nod; still, as always, I make no endorsement.
The poll is on the right. You have til the end of the July 4th weekend - specifically, Monday the 5th. Go.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
FOV Cavalier of the Year, #11/#12
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide: that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight.
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Ken Clausen and Lauren Perdue.
Ken Clausen - Men's lacrosse - Defense
Team accomplishments:
- #1 seed in NCAA tournament
- NCAA Final Four
- ACC champions
Personal accomplishments:
- Tewaaraton Trophy finalist
- USILA first-team all-American
- Schmeisser Award recipient as nation's outstanding defensive player
- USILA Scholar All-American
- All-ACC selection
- Lowe's Senior Class Award finalist
There was no doubt about this one: Clausen was the country's top defenseman, period. There was a little question before the season about how UVA might replace a few key departures on the defensive side of things, but Clausen put those questions to rest, quickly. He led the ACC in turnovers caused and was always assigned to the opposition's best player, which he usually shut right down. It's not often a defenseman is selected as a Tewaaraton finalist; in fact, Clausen is only the second long-stick player ever selected for invitation to the awards banquet, and first since 2005.
UVA is known for churning out top-notch goal scorers: over the years, players like Matt Ward and Ben Rubeor and Danny Glading pass through, and you chalk them up for 30 goals and maybe a Tewaaraton finalist nomination. But none of them have been three-year all-Americans: Ken Clausen is the first Cavalier to claim that honor. And by starting every game in his career, he shares with Brian Carroll the UVA record for games played with 70. Chances are it'll be years, if ever, until we see another UVA defenseman of Clausen's caliber.
Lauren Perdue - Women's swimming & diving - Freestyle
Team accomplishments:
- ACC champions
- 9th place at NCAA championships
Personal accomplishments:
- ACC Freshman of the Year
- ACC Championships Most Valuable Swimmer
- Two-time ACC Performer of the Week
- 5 All-American events and 1 honorable mention
- 3 individual and 4 relay ACC championships
- 3 UVA records and 1 ACC record
A champion swim team needs a champion freestyler - a point I made when it was Scot Robison's turn in the spotlight. Lauren Perdue is a champion freestyler as well as an ACC record holder (200 yard freestyle.) Those are the kind of accolades you expect for a veteran swimmer; Lauren Perdue is a freshman. She stepped right in and anchored our relays, won multiple events at the conference meet, and finished fifth in the nation in the 50 free and 8th in the 200.
The UVA Invitational was a perfect microcosm of the way Perdue's career might be expected to go. She led off the 400 free relay with a 100-yard swim of 49.06, which set a new pool record. The old record was set by....uh, Lauren Perdue, about an hour prior in the individual 100 yard swim. That record broke the old record held by.....yes, Lauren Perdue, which she'd set the day before. Breaking her own records - I think there's a lot of that in her future.
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Ken Clausen and Lauren Perdue.
Ken Clausen - Men's lacrosse - Defense
Team accomplishments:- #1 seed in NCAA tournament
- NCAA Final Four
- ACC champions
Personal accomplishments:
- Tewaaraton Trophy finalist
- USILA first-team all-American
- Schmeisser Award recipient as nation's outstanding defensive player
- USILA Scholar All-American
- All-ACC selection
- Lowe's Senior Class Award finalist
There was no doubt about this one: Clausen was the country's top defenseman, period. There was a little question before the season about how UVA might replace a few key departures on the defensive side of things, but Clausen put those questions to rest, quickly. He led the ACC in turnovers caused and was always assigned to the opposition's best player, which he usually shut right down. It's not often a defenseman is selected as a Tewaaraton finalist; in fact, Clausen is only the second long-stick player ever selected for invitation to the awards banquet, and first since 2005.
UVA is known for churning out top-notch goal scorers: over the years, players like Matt Ward and Ben Rubeor and Danny Glading pass through, and you chalk them up for 30 goals and maybe a Tewaaraton finalist nomination. But none of them have been three-year all-Americans: Ken Clausen is the first Cavalier to claim that honor. And by starting every game in his career, he shares with Brian Carroll the UVA record for games played with 70. Chances are it'll be years, if ever, until we see another UVA defenseman of Clausen's caliber.
Lauren Perdue - Women's swimming & diving - Freestyle
Team accomplishments:
- ACC champions
- 9th place at NCAA championships
Personal accomplishments:
- ACC Freshman of the Year
- ACC Championships Most Valuable Swimmer
- Two-time ACC Performer of the Week
- 5 All-American events and 1 honorable mention
- 3 individual and 4 relay ACC championships
- 3 UVA records and 1 ACC record
A champion swim team needs a champion freestyler - a point I made when it was Scot Robison's turn in the spotlight. Lauren Perdue is a champion freestyler as well as an ACC record holder (200 yard freestyle.) Those are the kind of accolades you expect for a veteran swimmer; Lauren Perdue is a freshman. She stepped right in and anchored our relays, won multiple events at the conference meet, and finished fifth in the nation in the 50 free and 8th in the 200.
The UVA Invitational was a perfect microcosm of the way Perdue's career might be expected to go. She led off the 400 free relay with a 100-yard swim of 49.06, which set a new pool record. The old record was set by....uh, Lauren Perdue, about an hour prior in the individual 100 yard swim. That record broke the old record held by.....yes, Lauren Perdue, which she'd set the day before. Breaking her own records - I think there's a lot of that in her future.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
the recruit: Adrian Gamble
Time for another regularish offseason feature, and by regularish I mean sooner or later I'm getting through every one of these, but on no set schedule. We need to get up to speed on the 2011 commitments and find out what these guys are all about. Why not sooner? It helps to be able to compare the services' rankings on these guys and see who's full of crap and who isn't. Usually it's all of them at one point or another. Anyway, we go in order of commitment and that means starting with someone whose association with UVA is now almost a year old.
Name: Adrian Gamble
Position: WR
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
School: Independence
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 175
ESPN: 77, three stars, #66 WR
Rivals: NR
Scout: two stars
This wasn't even a recruitment; at least, not a public one. Gamble came to camp in Charlottesville last year and was offered a scholarship on the spot by the Groh regime when they saw his speed and jumping ability. Figure out the wide receiver stuff later, I guess. He committed before you're even able to get your offer in written form. Gamble plays for basically the top high school football program in the state of North Carolina, which makes it difficult to crack the roster; by the time of his commitment, he'd still actually never started a game for his varsity squad.
Independence is a really high-profile school; therein lies some of the silliness. Rivals has handed out their stars by now, but Gamble remains unrated because somehow (I'm guessing this is why) they have no film of one of the starting receivers on the top program in an important southern football state. ESPN has a pretty full evaluation, but a really bogus 40 time for the guy: 4.76. That's like, linebacker territory. Al Groh didn't offer a wide receiver who'd never played varsity football because of his 4.76 40 time.
Still, I think ESPN's is the fairest evaluation. Read the report and it's easy to see that the ratings they give him are based on a future projection. Of all the players already committed to UVA for 2011, Gamble is the one most worth watching during his senior season; he'll be a feature guy surrounded by talent, so it'll be important to see some major production.
Gamble is the only wide receiver in the class so far, but it's a near-certainty that won't be the case on Signing Day. When he arrives for fall practice, there'll be three scholarship senior WRs and three more scattered around the other classes - a really thin group, barring some position switches. A big senior season could see him arrive with similar credentials and expectations as Tim Smith, who stepped right into the lineup as a freshman, and likewise there'll probably be open playing time for a 2011 freshman as well. Whether Gamble is ready for it will depend a lot on how 2010 goes.
Name: Adrian Gamble
Position: WR
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
School: Independence
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 175
ESPN: 77, three stars, #66 WR
Rivals: NR
Scout: two stars
This wasn't even a recruitment; at least, not a public one. Gamble came to camp in Charlottesville last year and was offered a scholarship on the spot by the Groh regime when they saw his speed and jumping ability. Figure out the wide receiver stuff later, I guess. He committed before you're even able to get your offer in written form. Gamble plays for basically the top high school football program in the state of North Carolina, which makes it difficult to crack the roster; by the time of his commitment, he'd still actually never started a game for his varsity squad.
Independence is a really high-profile school; therein lies some of the silliness. Rivals has handed out their stars by now, but Gamble remains unrated because somehow (I'm guessing this is why) they have no film of one of the starting receivers on the top program in an important southern football state. ESPN has a pretty full evaluation, but a really bogus 40 time for the guy: 4.76. That's like, linebacker territory. Al Groh didn't offer a wide receiver who'd never played varsity football because of his 4.76 40 time.
Still, I think ESPN's is the fairest evaluation. Read the report and it's easy to see that the ratings they give him are based on a future projection. Of all the players already committed to UVA for 2011, Gamble is the one most worth watching during his senior season; he'll be a feature guy surrounded by talent, so it'll be important to see some major production.
Gamble is the only wide receiver in the class so far, but it's a near-certainty that won't be the case on Signing Day. When he arrives for fall practice, there'll be three scholarship senior WRs and three more scattered around the other classes - a really thin group, barring some position switches. A big senior season could see him arrive with similar credentials and expectations as Tim Smith, who stepped right into the lineup as a freshman, and likewise there'll probably be open playing time for a 2011 freshman as well. Whether Gamble is ready for it will depend a lot on how 2010 goes.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
FOV Cavalier of the Year, #9/#10
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide: that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight.
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Sarah Tacke and Robby Andrews.
Sarah Tacke - Softball - Right field
Team accomplishments:
- First-ever selection to NCAA Tournament
- School-record 13 victories
Personal accomplishments:
- NFCA first-team All-Region
- Team BA and RBI leader
- ACC Player of the Week for 9-15 March
- Second-team all-ACC
Of the tremendous team accomplishments - conference and national championships, #1 rankings, Final Fours, and the like - achieved by UVA athletic squads this year, being a lowly regional third seed seems small in comparison. But by making the tournament for the first time ever, the softball team gave UVA a distinction: All 25 sports currently sponsored by UVA have now received bids to their respective NCAA national championships at some point in their history.
Helping to captain the team to their highest point of achievement ever is Sarah Tacke, the best hitter on the team by a long margin. Top fielder, too: Tacke had more assists and putouts with no errors than any ACC outfielder. Her batting and slugging averages were good enough for 4th and 3rd in the ACC, respectively. Tacke has been the team's leading batter for two years running and leading slugger for three; captaining the team to its first-ever NCAA tournament is a terrific cap to a terrific career and well worth a COTY nomination.
Robby Andrews - Men's track and field - Middle distance
Team accomplishments:
- 9th-place finish in Program of the Year Award
Personal accomplishments:
- Indoor 800 meter national champion
- Outdoor 800 meter runner-up
- Anchored UVA's first Penn Relays championship relay (4x800m) since 1943
- ACC's Indoor and Outdoor Performer and Freshman of the Year
- NCAA Outdoor All-American (800m)
It's impressive enough to be the ACC's undisputed top track athlete and sweep the ACC's indoor and outdoor awards for Performer and Freshman of the Year. So would a national championship be sufficient icing on the cake? The man he beat - by one-hundredth of a second - is no slowpoke: Oregon's Andrew Wheating, the second-place finisher, spent his summer of 2008 in Beijing, running in a little competition they hold every so often called the Olympics.
Andrews surprised the field there; after again topping Wheating to bring home UVA's Penn Relays (about as prestigious a track event as you'll ever see) 4x800 title, he won't be a surprise any more. Track & field coach Jason Vigilante is one of UVA's bright young coaches, and like swim coach Mark Bernardino, he's elevated UVA's track program to top-ten status in the country. Andrews is perhaps his brightest star and has UVA on (forgive plz) the right track.
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Sarah Tacke and Robby Andrews.
Sarah Tacke - Softball - Right field
Team accomplishments:
- First-ever selection to NCAA Tournament
- School-record 13 victories
Personal accomplishments:
- NFCA first-team All-Region
- Team BA and RBI leader
- ACC Player of the Week for 9-15 March
- Second-team all-ACC
Of the tremendous team accomplishments - conference and national championships, #1 rankings, Final Fours, and the like - achieved by UVA athletic squads this year, being a lowly regional third seed seems small in comparison. But by making the tournament for the first time ever, the softball team gave UVA a distinction: All 25 sports currently sponsored by UVA have now received bids to their respective NCAA national championships at some point in their history.
Helping to captain the team to their highest point of achievement ever is Sarah Tacke, the best hitter on the team by a long margin. Top fielder, too: Tacke had more assists and putouts with no errors than any ACC outfielder. Her batting and slugging averages were good enough for 4th and 3rd in the ACC, respectively. Tacke has been the team's leading batter for two years running and leading slugger for three; captaining the team to its first-ever NCAA tournament is a terrific cap to a terrific career and well worth a COTY nomination.
Robby Andrews - Men's track and field - Middle distance
Team accomplishments:
- 9th-place finish in Program of the Year Award
Personal accomplishments:
- Indoor 800 meter national champion
- Outdoor 800 meter runner-up
- Anchored UVA's first Penn Relays championship relay (4x800m) since 1943
- ACC's Indoor and Outdoor Performer and Freshman of the Year
- NCAA Outdoor All-American (800m)
It's impressive enough to be the ACC's undisputed top track athlete and sweep the ACC's indoor and outdoor awards for Performer and Freshman of the Year. So would a national championship be sufficient icing on the cake? The man he beat - by one-hundredth of a second - is no slowpoke: Oregon's Andrew Wheating, the second-place finisher, spent his summer of 2008 in Beijing, running in a little competition they hold every so often called the Olympics.
Andrews surprised the field there; after again topping Wheating to bring home UVA's Penn Relays (about as prestigious a track event as you'll ever see) 4x800 title, he won't be a surprise any more. Track & field coach Jason Vigilante is one of UVA's bright young coaches, and like swim coach Mark Bernardino, he's elevated UVA's track program to top-ten status in the country. Andrews is perhaps his brightest star and has UVA on (forgive plz) the right track.
Monday, June 21, 2010
useful stuff update: getting thin edition
Another big wave of commitments means it's time to fix what needs fixing. And what goes up must come down: Jeff White also breaks the news of a number of departures for the year - some permanent, others not - that also necessitates an update to the depth chart as well as the recruiting board. Let's have at it:
- Surprising amount of attrition sees five players leave the team: WR Quintin Hunter, WR Javaris Brown, OT Lamar Milstead, DE Tory Allen-Ford, and CB Javanti Sparrow. The explanation for Sparrow involves privacy laws and the possibility of return for 2011, which decrypts as "academic issues." So Sparrow may end up returning as did, for example, Chris Cook and Jameel Sewell. And he has a redshirt year to use, courtesy of Al Groh's "slashing and burning of our future," as some like to call it. The rest are out.
- On the flip side, scholarships are given to WR Matt Snyder and K Robert Randolph.
- I've also updated, by the way, the spaces for the '11 commits. The latest, Kevin Green, probably isn't going to a quarterback at all, but what the hell, he goes there for now. I don't think he's on board for his quarterbacking so much as for his overall athleticism.
Impact? First, by my count, 82 scholarships spoken for; we'll be a few shy this year. Second, a little extra space, but not a lot, opens up in the recruiting class of 2011. Sparrow's scholarship hopefully won't be open, but the shuffling basically adds two free spaces. There's a bare, absolute minimum now of 16 members of the class; 14 are spoken for, 15 if you count Clifton Richardson as a commit, which I don't, yet. 20 was the old target; I'm thinking 22 now. This is the silver lining, and it's a big one, because spaces are quickly coming off the board and there are some primo targets left.
Second, depth at cornerback just went from a big issue to a big big issue. I know Mike London wants speed at linebacker but can we really be carrying 11 linebackers and five cornerbacks? Five scholarship players is not a cornerback depth chart, it's a cornerback kiddie pool. Depth is suddenly a problem at receiver too, with just seven scholarship players there. Wide receiver just became a priority for this class.
Speaking of this class, let's have a look at the new, updated recruiting board:
- Moved TE Darius Redman, LB Caleb Taylor, and S Kameron Mack to orange, and added ATH Kevin Green there too.
- Removed a few players with whom our chances have fallen from near zero to actually zero: ATH Lafonte Thourogood, WR Quinta Funderburk, and OT Cyrus Kouandjio.
- Removed a couple more players who it doesn't look like we'll get involved with: LB Myles Jackson and WR Melvin Robinson.
- Removed ATH Chris Hall, who's now a Hokie.
- Moved DE Norkeithus Otis from yellow to red.
- Moved QB Kevin Hogan and OT Jay Whitmire from yellow to blue.
- Also, notably, moved LB Curtis Grant from yellow to blue. This isn't because Grant has narrowed down his list or anything. D-I schools can still be divided into two groups: those who've offered Grant, and those who figure they wouldn't have a chance. But the fact is, Grant has been to UVA a lot this spring. Charlottesville is something of a weekend hangout. This is a recruitment UVA fans will be glued to the same way we were for Morgan Moses. Might as well act like it.
- Surprising amount of attrition sees five players leave the team: WR Quintin Hunter, WR Javaris Brown, OT Lamar Milstead, DE Tory Allen-Ford, and CB Javanti Sparrow. The explanation for Sparrow involves privacy laws and the possibility of return for 2011, which decrypts as "academic issues." So Sparrow may end up returning as did, for example, Chris Cook and Jameel Sewell. And he has a redshirt year to use, courtesy of Al Groh's "slashing and burning of our future," as some like to call it. The rest are out.
- On the flip side, scholarships are given to WR Matt Snyder and K Robert Randolph.
- I've also updated, by the way, the spaces for the '11 commits. The latest, Kevin Green, probably isn't going to a quarterback at all, but what the hell, he goes there for now. I don't think he's on board for his quarterbacking so much as for his overall athleticism.
Impact? First, by my count, 82 scholarships spoken for; we'll be a few shy this year. Second, a little extra space, but not a lot, opens up in the recruiting class of 2011. Sparrow's scholarship hopefully won't be open, but the shuffling basically adds two free spaces. There's a bare, absolute minimum now of 16 members of the class; 14 are spoken for, 15 if you count Clifton Richardson as a commit, which I don't, yet. 20 was the old target; I'm thinking 22 now. This is the silver lining, and it's a big one, because spaces are quickly coming off the board and there are some primo targets left.
Second, depth at cornerback just went from a big issue to a big big issue. I know Mike London wants speed at linebacker but can we really be carrying 11 linebackers and five cornerbacks? Five scholarship players is not a cornerback depth chart, it's a cornerback kiddie pool. Depth is suddenly a problem at receiver too, with just seven scholarship players there. Wide receiver just became a priority for this class.
Speaking of this class, let's have a look at the new, updated recruiting board:
- Moved TE Darius Redman, LB Caleb Taylor, and S Kameron Mack to orange, and added ATH Kevin Green there too.
- Removed a few players with whom our chances have fallen from near zero to actually zero: ATH Lafonte Thourogood, WR Quinta Funderburk, and OT Cyrus Kouandjio.
- Removed a couple more players who it doesn't look like we'll get involved with: LB Myles Jackson and WR Melvin Robinson.
- Removed ATH Chris Hall, who's now a Hokie.
- Moved DE Norkeithus Otis from yellow to red.
- Moved QB Kevin Hogan and OT Jay Whitmire from yellow to blue.
- Also, notably, moved LB Curtis Grant from yellow to blue. This isn't because Grant has narrowed down his list or anything. D-I schools can still be divided into two groups: those who've offered Grant, and those who figure they wouldn't have a chance. But the fact is, Grant has been to UVA a lot this spring. Charlottesville is something of a weekend hangout. This is a recruitment UVA fans will be glued to the same way we were for Morgan Moses. Might as well act like it.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
FOV Cavalier of the Year #7/#8
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide: that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight.
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Hultzen and Monica Wright.
Monica Wright - Women's basketball - Guard
Over the next two weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Last year's winner was Danny Hultzen; today's athletes are Hultzen and Monica Wright.
Monica Wright - Women's basketball - Guard
Team accomplishments:
- #5 seed in NCAA tournament
Personal accomplishments:
- Set UVA women's all-time scoring record
- ACC Player of the Year
- ACC Defensive Player of the Year
- 4-time ACC Player of the Week
- WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year
- AP first-team All-American
- #2 overall selection in WNBA draft
Last year, Wright shared this nomination with teammate Lyndra Littles, because it seemed way unfair to pick one and not the other, so similar were their accomplishments. This year, and no insult meant to the rest of the lady hoopsters, but it'd be an insult to Wright to put anyone on her level. An absolute no-brainer choice for ACC POTY, Wright averaged 23.7 points a game, which was over four more than second place. She actually averaged more points (25.7) in ACC competition - almost seven points higher than the next gal. And her record-breaking 2,136th career point came just past halfway through the season. She finished with 2,540 points, third on the ACC's list.
Scoring is one thing; earning accolades on both ends of the court as the conference and national defensive POTY really rounds out the resume. 2nd in the nation in steals per game goes nicely with her 7th-place ranking in nationwide scoring. Monica Wright finishes up her career at UVA as far and away the best and most-accomplished women's basketball player the school has ever had.
Danny Hultzen - Baseball - Pitcher
Team accomplishments:
- First 50-win season in school history
- #1 seed in ACC tournament
- #5 seed nationally
- NCAA regional and super-regional host
Personal accomplishments:
- ACC Pitcher of the Year
- First-team all-ACC
- Baseball America 2nd-team All-American
- Howser Trophy semifinalist
- CoSIDA 2nd-team Academic All-American
Back for more. Last year's winner only improved with age, as Hultzen avoided the sophomore slump and locked down Friday nights for Hoo baseball. Finishing with an 11-1 record and a 2.78 ERA - outstanding in the bigs, and extraordinary in a metal-bat league - Hultzen held opposing hitters to a paltry .193 batting average. Hultzen's record would have been spotless but for a 1-run output by the offense against Wright State. Following another early hiccup in which UVA faltered late against NC State after Hultzen had departed the game (thereby not earning the loss), the team would not lose another Hultzen start the rest of the season - a two-month stretch.
For his efforts, the ACC declared him Pitcher of the Year, ahead of two MLB 1st-round picks in UNC's Matt Harvey and GT's Deck McGuire. Only fair, as Hultzen outdueled them both in UVA wins and earned the win himself against McGuire. Whether Hultzen earns a second COTY win in a row is up to you, but there's no chance he'll ever be our first four-time nominee; another season like this one will get him a top-five draft selection of his own.
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