Thursday, August 19, 2004
Ahmad Brooks is back
Albert impressive on the hoof
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's UVa Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks has rejoined the football team after a two-day leave of absence. He attended UVa's media day today and will return to practice Friday.
That's news as of 5 p.m. today, Thursday. Earlier today, I said that if I had to lay odds, I'd say the chances are greater that Ahmad Brooks will play football for Virginia in 2004 than in 2005.
On the other hand, if Brooks returns from a leave of absence with a renewed commitment to college football, it might be a double bonus for the Cavaliers.
The exact nature of the "personal issues" that sent Brooks home to Woodbridge has not been revealed. We know more about what it was not.
Head coach Al Groh said Wednesday that he had not seen final grades for the summer session, so, while it's conceivable that Brooks could be in academic difficulty, that was not the issue behind his departure.
It also seemed unlikely that Brooks was in legal difficulty. He was charged with possession of marijuana after pot was found in a car in which he was riding in May 2003, but he pleaded no contest and the charge was dismissed in January 2004.
Brooks was placed on six months' probation and was required to perform 24 hours of community service. A Southwest Virginia judge said Wednesday that it would be highly unlikely that a case would be dismissed if community service had not been completed.
When Groh said Wednesday that Brooks was enjoying a "great" training camp and that his attitude had been "terrific," I was in no position to dispute him, having attended one of the six practice sessions that were open to the media. That was one of the two practices Brooks missed.
However, it was widely reported that Brooks had not been wearing one of the orange jerseys awarded to the defensive starters, so, presumably, something was at work. There is no more gifted UVa defender.
If I'm not mistaken, Brooks indicated when he signed with Virginia that he was planning to complete his college eligibility, but he has the kind of talent and bloodlines, as the son of ex-Washington Redskins defensive lineman Perry Brooks, that would make him a likely first-round NFL choice.
In the past, Brooks would have had to wait until the spring of 2006 to make himself available to the NFL, but he comes under the new Larry Fitzgerald exemption. Fitzgerald played two years at Pittsburgh, but, because that was preceded by a year in military school, three years had elapsed since his high school graduation and he was allowed to go to the NFL.
The same would apply to Brooks, who graduated from Hylton High School in 2002, spent the fall of 2002 at Hargrave Military Academy and enrolled at Virginia in January 2003.
Virginia should be happy that outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock didn't look into the same option because Blackstock spent a full year at Fork Union Military Academy before enrolling at Virginia in the fall of 2002. This will be his third year at UVa.
In Groh's three seasons at Virginia, only one Virginia player with remaining college eligibility has made himself available to the NFL Draft, wide receiver and kick returner Tavon Mason, who went undrafted in the spring of 2002. It could happen this year with Brooks, Blackstock and tight end Heath Miller.
A respected source earlier today told me that Brooks whould be back in a week's time, maybe even UVa's media day today, and almost certainly will play Sept. 4 in the opener at Temple. From a talent standpoint, the Cavaliers should value every game they have him.
MAYBE IT WAS THE NUMBER "3," but Olu Hall looked more like a running back or a safety when I met him Saturday at Hargrave Military Academy's annual football media day.
"It's the number they issued me," said Hall, a defensive end at Robinson High School last year, when he was rated the No. 1 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. "The player makes the number, I think."
Hall, listed at 6 foot 4, said he weighs between 220 and 225 pounds and said, had he worked, that he could have gotten up to the 260 or 270 pounds desirable for defensive end, the poisition for which some teams projected him. To me, it doesn't appear that he has that kind of frame and that he is physically well-suited to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme.
Hall, who signed with Virginia in January, said he remains committed to UVa and Hargrave's relations with the Cavaliers are such that Hargrave coach Robert Prunty is certain to shield him.
Hall would like to enroll at Virginia for the second semester, if he gets the test score he needs on the SAT, but UVa does not make a regular practice of enrolling students, athletes or student-athletes at mid-year. Hall's coach at Robinson, Mark Bendorf, has said that Hall will benefit from a year of prep school from a playing standpoint.
"I agree with him; I've still got a lot to learn about playing linebacker," Hall said, "but I was still really upset when this happened. I had a 3.2 [grade-point average] my junior year and a 2.7 my senior year. I never thought that qualifying would be an issue."
VIRGINIA FANS SADDENED by the loss of the state's top-ranked line prospect, Boston College-bound Pat Sheil, would be heartened by the sight of Hall's Hargrave teammate and fellow Virginia signee, Brandon Albert, who was listed at 6-7 and 340 pounds when he got to Hargrave.
I wouldn't say Albert looks lean, but he isn't fat.
In fact, if Albert gets his test score -- and he lacks only 20 points -- he may play basketball for Hargrave. He averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds last year at Glen Burnie (Md.) High School.
Albert was recruited by mid-major Division I basketball programs, "but I thought the possibility of making the NFL was greater than playing in the NBA as a 6-6 or 6-7 power forward," he said.
Albert said he was recruited by ex-UVa assistant Kevin Ross before Ross joined his father's staff at Army and, when UVa line coach Ron Prince followed up, the Cavaliers became the only Division I-A program to offer him a scholarship.
Albert had failed a grade in Rochester, N.Y., before joining his brother, ex-Maryland football player, Ashley Simms, in the Baltimore area. Albert got back on track by going to night school and summer school and it wasn't long after he started playing football that he "knew I could play at the next level," he said.
