Thursday, February 28, 2008
Numbers don't lie; another small class likely
Transfer story omitted Minter
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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Some of the most positive correspondence that I’ve received in recent days suggests that more than a few people are interested in numbers.
Roster numbers, that is.
Just as intriguing as Virginia Tech’s 31-member recruiting class is the fact that after signing 18 players earlier this month, UVa is looking at another 18-player class for 2009.
Actually, because there were only 14 scholarship seniors on the 2007 Virginia team and the Cavaliers were at the 85-scholarship limit, the math would suggest that 18 is an excessive number.
In reality, the Cavaliers last year had to count two players who were no longer in the program – Olu Hall and Kevin Crawford – because they participated in spring drills. There has been some talk of Crawford rejoining the team, but Hall is at Kansas State.
Here is a class-by-class rundown for 2008 as the Cavaliers prepare for spring practice:
FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS (7) – Jon Copper (walk-on), Scott Deke, Byron Glaspy, Andrew Pearman, Cedric Pearman, Clint Sintim, Zak Stair.
FOURTH-YEAR SENIORS (6) – Antonio Appleby, Aaron Clark, Maurice Covington, Alex Field, Eugene Monroe, John Phillips.
FOURTH-YEAR JUNIORS (11) – Will Barker, Mike Brown, Denzel Burrell, Darren Childs, Jason Fuller, Vic Hall, Rashawn Jackson, Kevin Ogletree, Mikell Simpson, Patrick Slebonick, Brandon Woods.
THIRD-YEAR JUNIOR (1) – Nate Collins.
THIRD-YEAR SOPHOMORES (15) – Rico Bell, John Bivens, B.J. Cabbell, Isaac Cain, Darnell Carter, John-Kevin Dolce, Sean Gottschalk, Raynard Horne, Matt Leemhuis, Mike Parker, Keith Payne, Jack Shields, Joe Torchia, Marc Verica, Trey Womack.
SECOND-YEAR SOPHOMORES (5) – Danny Aiken, Jared Detrick, Ras-I Dowling, Dontrelle Inman, Peter Lalich.
SECOND-YEAR FRESHMEN (19) – Mark Ambrose, Landon Bradley, Kris Burd, Matt Conrath, Billy Cuffee, Andrew Devlin, Terence Fells-Danzer, Jared Green, Chris Hinkebein, Nick Jenkins, Dom Joseph, Anthony Mihota, Max Milien, Lamar Milstead, Chase Minnifield, Corey Mosley, Zane Parr, Aaron Taliaferro, J’Courtney Williams.
FIRST-YEAR FRESHMEN (18) – Tory Allen, Javaris Brown, Steve Greer, Jimmy Howell, Cam Johnson, Torrey Mack, Rodney McCleod, Matt Mihalik, Austin Pasztor, Colter Phillips, Mike Price, Klinton Ruff, Billy Schaultz, Riko Smalls, Aaron VanKuiken, Ausar Walcott, Devin Wallace, Rod Wheeler.
Add it up and that’s 82 players on scholarship. Let’s say that Andrew Pearman, sent home from the Gator Bowl for a disciplinary matter, does not return. That puts the number at 81. Take away 13 seniors and it would leave 68 scholarship returnees.
In the unlikely event that nobody left, UVa would be able to sign 16 or 17 recruits in 2009. But, what of the four players placed on academic suspension after the fall semester – Jameel Sewell, Chris Cook, Darnell Carter and Chris Dalton? Head coach Al Groh indicated that all four have expressed a willingness to return in 2009.
And what if Crawford comes back? Add five more returnees to the 2009 roster and the scholarship number goes up to 73.
No wonder UVa hasn’t felt safe yet in offering a scholarship to walk-on wide receivers Staton Jobe and Cary Koch. Maybe they’ll get grants in the summer, once preseason practice starts, but not now.
Reality says that not all 68 (or 73) scholarship upperclassmen will be around in 2009. Academics reared their head this year and academics aren’t about to go away.
What strikes me is that Virginia has had a fair amount of attrition by its standards and is still having trouble staying under 85. How does Virginia Tech sign such large classes and do it?
Actually, Virginia has signed some large classes of its own, including 25 in 2005, 24 in 2006 and 24 in 2007. The 2006 class, remember, was the one where eight players signed or committed to UVa but never enrolled.
So, if you’re like me and think that Virginia should have more than 18 scholarships available in 2009, rest assured that the numbers don’t support it.
READER RON WAGNER from Hendersonville, N.C., writes to say that last week’s column on transfers who have enjoyed success at other programs did not include Donte Minter, currently averaging a team-high 14.6 points and 6.1 rebounds for Appalachian State (17-12).
Wagner says that Applachian State coach Houston Fancher has been quoting as saying Minter is "the best low-post scorer I've ever coached." Minter is shooting 60 percent from the field and 73.2 percent from the free-throw line, with 132 attempts.
Like former Cavalier teammate Gary Forbes, who is scoring more than 20 points per game at Massachusetts, Minter would have had to redshirt at UVa in 2005-2006 in order to be playing for the Cavaliers this season.
Minter underwent knee surgery in the summer of 2005, just after Dave Leitao had been named coach, and had not played in a game before Leitao revealed Dec. 23, 2005, that Minter would be returning.
“He was going through some things with regard to his personal life and regard to basketball,” Leitao said at the time. “He didn’t walk in the office one day and say, ‘I don’t want to do this any more,’ without us having conversations about it.”
The point of last week’s UVa Insider was not to accuse Virginia’s coaches of running off players. Players have gone elsewhere and enjoyed success over the course of five coaching regimes (Bill Gibson, Terry Holland, Jeff Jones, Pete Gillen and Leitao) and not all of them would have had the opportunity to return.
What I would say is that the coaches should remain patient and trust their original evaluations, because, even when the jury was out, their judgments turned out to be sound in the end.
VIRGINIA LOST a respected alumnus when Greensboro sportswriter Jeff Carlton died after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 36.
I first remember Carlton covering the Great Alaska Shootout in 1990 for the Cavalier Daily and wish I had gotten to know him better over the years.
Carlton covered the ACC for many years and I last remember seeing him at the 2007 men’s basketball tournament in Tampa, Fla., where he appeared with a shaved head only weeks after surgery.
Carlton always had a smile on his face and was usually party to any activity that would rile up his Greensboro colleague and fellow former Cavalier, Rob Daniels. We’ll miss him.
