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A slightly different way to look at our football recruiting

I looked at the Rivals list of UVA offers by position, and this is what I found.
QB - we offered 6 4* and 3 3*; we got 1 3*
RB - we offered 1 5*, 1 4*, and 6 3*; we got 1 3*.
WR - we offered 8 4* and 16 3*; we got 5 3*.
TE - we offered 4 4* and 4 3*; we got 1 3*.
OL - we offered 14 4* and 15 3*; we got 3 3*.
DE - we offered 5 4* and 13 3*
LB - we offered 1 5*, 7 4*, and 11 3*
DB - we offered 1 5*, 4 4*, and 11 3*; we got 1 3*
ATH - we offered 1 5*, 3 4*, and 8 3*; we got 1 3*
DT - we offered 3 5*, 2 4*, and 7 3*
On the defensive front 7, we have not received a single commitment who is rated as a 3* or 4* recruit by Rivals.. I would not want to be the DC two years from now.

Austin Nichols' impact on the upcoming year

In addition to the great points brought out in Brad Franklin's and David Teel's articles, I'm pretty excited about the impact Austin Nichols' will have on the upcoming 2015/2016 season. I remember Tony saying a few years back when we were depleted due to several injuries, that the biggest impact not having his injured players available was in practice - that it was hard for his guys to stay sharp when they had to practice against the walkons and Jason Williford (no offense, Jason.) What a bonus it will be for our bigs to have to go up everyday in practice, on both ends of the floor, against a guy the caliber of Nichols! I look for this to especially help Anthony Gill as well as the younger guys. With the graduations of Darion and Akil the past two years, replacing their defensive ability in practice is huge!
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Tony's change of recruiting philosophy

What a great day to be a fan when we went for a five star recruit and there's the fold next season on top of a class that could be stellar and potentially a game changing guard in 17. Posted the other day about recruiting not where needs to be yet, but we clearly see it's going there now. I want to talk about how Tony changed his philosophy after his first few classes. Granted he didn't have the luxury early on to recruit top-notch players because we weren't any good yet, but the players that we're getting now seem to be legit for the most part on day one versus some guys we took and didn't pan out (James Johnson is on my speed dial). Whether a system fit on defense or guys simply couldn't cut it in the ACC or it is a little bit of both because some guys did have success at other schools, Tony is finding the fine balance between his defensive system, using transfers to his advantage and getting shooters and scorers who can control the game on offense to make our defensive game plan a lot easier. Let's be perfectly honest, as good as the pack line is as a philosophy,teams will slowly have enough film to pick it up, but the more we score the basketball no matter how much they pick it up the harder it will be with the shorter shot clock to stay in games when teams are having to jack up shots. I know the staff is a defense first staff, but I have to know that the more we score the better our defense becomes simply by the fact teams then have to come down and jack up shots and we don't get out rebounded very much. The recruiting philosophy has definitely shifted starting in the 16 class to get players that not only are long, but can play on the offensive end and knock down shots. The way he's changing his philosophy now I'm not even sure Tobey would fit the current mold he's going for as our bigs seemingly need to be more like DA, AM, IW. And my post other day wasn't to bash the staff, but acknowledge that we are one elite player away from being really good, but at the same time their philosophy on the recruiting end has changed so much that getting our elite player may not even matter because we're getting multiple players who can do multiple things in our system. Not going to lie, if we don't at least make the Final 4 by 2018 I'll be more than bummed because things are just going so far up the sky is the limit. Just so wonderful the administration picked the right coach in basketball, now God only can help us in that sport formally known as football.
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Manute Bol's Son

Did anyone see his highlights on Sportcenter tonight (Monday)? The kid is 6' 10", 15 years old, and is built just like his dad was. The difference was his son was hitting 3 pointers and outside jumpshots from 15+ feet in addition to throwing down dunks and blocking every shot taken near the rim. Unfortunately, I think they said he was living in Kansas, but if he decides to leave the state, hope springs eternal!

  • Poll
Trying to gauge the feeling on the Board about hoops transfers

Would you like to see UVa active in the transfer market year-to-year?

  • Yes, it's a great way to fill needs and get experienced players

    Votes: 63 61.2%
  • Sometimes, with the right situation, but not on a yearly basis

    Votes: 40 38.8%
  • Heck no, I want them in Blue and Orange straight from HS

    Votes: 0 0.0%

So, we've lost numerous players to transfer, but we've now added our third transfer in three years (seemingly very important too, AG has been a stud, time will tell for DT and AN, though both appear to be unquestionably "good" pickups). So is this just a confluence of circumstances, or should it be viewed as a trend? Is it a good way to operate?

I see the positives and negatives, but generally think it's a good sign for UVa. Getting proven college players who are willing to sit the year, learn the system, and know TB's commitment to D can't be a bad thing. Maybe guys are starting to notice the development TB and staff offer to get to the league ...

Some real nice pub for UVA.

1) I am watching the high school tournament on ESPNU. The announcers had a lot of nice things to say about the play of Kyle Guy, the talent of Austin Nichols, and the recruiting ability of Tony Bennett.
2) I visited my son and daughter, and they gave me several different newspapers from Omaha, which they had received from a friend. The papers were dated at the time of the CWS. Several articles were effusive with the play and demeanor of the UVA baseball team. There was nothing that has not been posted on this site, but it is still nice to know that folks 1,800 miles away are saying the same things..

Question on DeAndre Hunter

What do you know about DeAndre Hunter? Apparently, Tony just offered him. He was at the NBPA Top 100 camp - do you remember anything about him? (I realize he wasn't one of your target players to watch.) He's got great length for a wing player - 6'7", 185 and long arms like Shayok. He's class of 2016 and has a nice offer list, including UConn, N.C. State, Tennessee, Miami, and others.

BB recruiting still not there yet

While we certainly await The Visit this weekend from a certain player that could take the team to another level, I still know in my heart that it's going to take a longer run for us to beat out some of the bluebloods for recruits. For most kids UVA basketball is just getting started as a national threat which I think we have the staff to continue that trend, but we still aren't beating the schools who are on the historic level for certain players. Can we honestly say we've gotten that one recruit yet that will put us over the top? No, but the staff has done a great job developing the kids that we do get which puts the staff in the top seven of development in my opinion throughout the country, but for us to really take it to the next level we are going to need that kid in the 16, 17 or 18 class to finally really put us on the map. To be honest we know some people in the media and certain fan bases are waiting for us to fall off and as long as Tony Bennett is the coach that's not going to happen. Wisconsin showed you don't need five star recruits all over the board to get to the title game, but getting just one of those players can be the difference between the Final Four and getting to the title game or winning the thing which I think Virginia can do in the next four or five years with this coaching staff.

Talk about reloading

Tobey leaves.....replaced by Nichols
Gill leaves....replaced by Diakite. (you just have to trust me on this)
Nolte leaves.....replaced by Huff
Brogdon leaves.......replaced by Guy
Perrantes leaves.....oh wait, he has another year, of well, his replacement arrives a year early.....Jerome


SK-J, wherever you land, you may find yourself eyeing Charlottesville wishing you had stayed committed. This thing ain't no joke over here.
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OT: Little help, Pan Am games, Volleyball question

I was watching the gold medal game from a lobby, sound down. I noticed that there was a little guy on one side of the court who had on a black jersey and hardly ever went for the ball. I then noticed that another appeared on the opponent's side of the court, little guy and with black jersey unlike his teammate's jerseys. Then I noticed the guy disappeared. I then noticed he came back. It was almost like an extra man/penalty box type situation. Does anyone know the rules and particulars behind this?
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