Everybody knows about the most famous athlete ever to come out of Harrisonburg High School who went to the University of Virginia.

That was 1979 Harrisonburg graduate and basketball star Ralph Sampson, who became a three-time national player of the year in college.

"I don't remember when we've had another one," said Joe Carico, who has been at Harrisonburg for 18 years, the last three as athletic director.

Virginia would be happy if its newest oral commitment from Harrisonburg, football running back Alex Owah, has anything close to Sampson's impact.

"He's a very good football player," said Carico, who also serves as offensive coordinator for the Blue Streaks. "Our challenge offensively is what to do when we're not giving the ball to Alex."

Owah, the youngest of three Owah brothers who have starred at Harrisonburg, rushed for 2,071 yards and scored 25 touchdowns this past season.

Owah is rated the No. 11 junior in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. Carico speculates that the Cavaliers' 9-3 record may have increased their in-state influence after getting commitments so far from only one of the top 25 seniors.

UVa linebackers coach Bobby Diaco was the lead recruiter for Owah, but Carico noted the contribution of first-year Cavaliers assistant Wayne Lineburg.

"Wayne had a lot to do with it," Carico said. "In my opinion, Wayne Lineburg is the new Danny Wilmer."

Carico coached at James Madison University with Wilmer, who later worked at Virginia and recruited the likes of Tiki and Ronde Barber, Shawn Moore and Thomas Jones for the Cavaliers.

"It starts with his father, Norm, and the Lineburg family," said Carico, referring to Wayne Lineburg's father, the longtime coach at Radford High School before his 2006 retirement.

"Wayne went to Virginia, then he coached at William and Mary and Richmond. He's a [state of] Virginia guy."

Peerman progressing

Junior running back Cedric Peerman, the ACC rushing leader at the time of a foot injury in Virginia's sixth game, was walking unaided Sunday following surgery for a Lisfranc or mid-foot injury.

"There was no trouble diagnosing it," said Peerman, who hopes to be running in a week. "They knew what it was. It was just a matter of whether it would heal on its own or would require surgery."

Peerman, a cheerleader during Gator Bowl workouts, did not know at the time of his injury at Middle Tennessee State that he would be out for the season.

"I thought I might go back in the game," said Peerman, who underwent surgery Nov. 14 and was in a cast or walking boot for more than a month.

Detroit Lions running back Kevin Jones was able to play this season for the Detroit Lions after undergoing surgery last December for a Lisfranc fracture.

"It's not reassuring to see [Jones and others] have the injury," Peerman said, "but it's reassuring to see them come back and perform the way they have."

Simpson speaks

Peerman's successor as Virginia's No. 1 tailback, Mikell Simpson, said he never thought that he would miss the Gator Bowl even though he did not arrive in Jacksonville until Dec. 27, two days after the rest of the team. Simpson had an academic matter that needed to be resolved.

It involved more than just waiting for his grades to be posted, Simpson admitted.

"It was something I needed to do," he said.

Simpson played sparingly in UVa's first seven games, then became the Cavaliers' primary offensive threat.

"Things started changing a lot," he said. "Everything was tough this year, academic- and football-wise. Any time you get in a situation like that, it's going to wake you up, [but] I wasn't concerned about it."

Connection

It has been 27 years since Virginia head coach Al Groh spent one season as a Texas Tech football assistant, but not everybody is gone from the Groh "era" in Lubbock, Texas.

Gator Bowl functions have reunited Groh with Red Raiders athletic director Gerald Myers, who was the Texas Tech men's basketball coach from 1971-1991

It was Myers who hired current Texas Tech men's basketball coach Bobby Knight, who was a colleague of Groh's when both were coaching at Army in the late 1960s.

Groh said he hasn't spoken to Knight since the Gator Bowl pairing was made.

"But ironically, shortly after the match-up was announced, I started reading one of his books," Groh said. "So, in an impersonal way, I guess he's been talking to me for a couple of weeks."