Thursday, April 03, 2008
Cavaliers cautious with Zeglinski's rehab
Groh hails linebacker corps
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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Generally speaking, coaches clam up when talk turns to injuries, but there are just enough exceptions that a reporter has to keep asking.
Such was the case Monday, when Virginia men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao participated in a season-wrapping teleconference that lasted nearly 30 minutes.
It was the first time Leitao had gone into much depth about sophomore forward Will Harris, a prognosis that was published in The Roanoke Times’ print edition and elsewhere, but I also thought he had some interesting thoughts on freshman point guard Sam Zeglinski.
Zeglinski, who has a strong case for an extra year of eligibility based on a hardship appeal, underwent ankle surgery January 25 and was still on crutches six weeks later. When Virginia played in the College Basketball Invitational from March 18-26, he had his right ankle in a boot.
“He’s probably another month from being on both of his feet,” Leitao said. “I think, in this case, he has to be totally healthy until we move forward.
“We can’t afford any setbacks, so we’ll take it really conservative. At the same time, I think it would be a positive if he would do some things very lightly on it – shoot, shoot free throws, kind of get a little bit of jogging in.
“I’m not going to rush anything.”
The biggest question about Virginia’s 2008-2009 team is the backcourt, specifically a replacement for point guard Sean Singletary, a three-time, first-team All-ACC selection who had more than 2,000 points in his career.
Zeglinski certainly will get a shot at the position. Sophomore Calvin Baker, a transfer from William and Mary, got most of the time at the point when Singletary was rested this year.
Rival coaches have scoffed at the notion that 6-6 signee Sylven Landesberg would be given a chance to play point guard for the Cavaliers, but it’s hardly out of the realm of possibility.
(Incidentally, Landesberg will be recognized as a second-team All-American in this week’s Parade magazine. Previously, he was named a McDonald’s All-American).”
“Whether [Baker] did a good job, a great job or an OK job, he was our back-up point guard,” Leitao said. “Relieving him of some of that duty would be good, but, at the same time, having those three guys as our option is something that we’re preparing for.”
One of the issues that has been simmering below the surface is Baker’s scholarship status. He paid his way this year but played close to 800 minutes.
“He and I haven’t sat down and talked about the season yet,” Leitao said.
Does Baker deserve a scholarship?
“In a lot of ways, yes,” Leitao said. “In some ways, maybe no. He’s a terrific kid who probably has done a lot to put himself in a very good position. But, again, it’s programmatic in nature.
“As we look at Calvin’s situation, obviously the two of us will talk about him specifically but it also will have a side to the program and making sure we do everything for everybody’s best interests.”
In other words, the Cavaliers this season had the NCAA-maximum 13 players on scholarship. Three of them were seniors. Virginia signed three players during the fall.
One of the scholarship seniors on this year’s team, Tunji Soroye, has expressed interest in applying for a fifth year of eligibility. Leitao hasn’t found a scholarship for Soroye, much less Baker.
What’s more, UVa is continuing to recruit players for 2008. In addition to 6-foot-7 Lilburn, Ga., forward Wesley Witherspoon, who visited Virginia in early March, the Cavaliers are recruiting Portland, Ore., point guard Paul McCoy.
IT’S NO NEWS after four years that UVa football player Jon Copper has a strong work ethic, but Cavaliers’ coach Al Groh isn’t skimping on the praise for any of his senior linebackers – Copper and Antonio Appleby on the inside, and Clint Sintim on the outside.
“Here’s three guys, as a unit, who have logged a high number of games and the intensity of their focus in the spring has been as strong as anybody on the team,” Groh said.
“Maybe some of the players who are craving playing time could take a lesson from watching those guys, who already have gotten it but are hungering to get better.”
Copper, Appleby and Sintim have played in a combined 111 games during their UVa careers, with 89 starts.
