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Frustrating Lax game against a team that barely got in

This is utterly embarrassing watching John Hopkins making falling down, no look , with no speed on the ball, trickle pass Barrett that seems to have the vision and depth perception of a cross eyed kid.

He has stopped ONE from going in the net all game and every other one that was able to go in, went in, including the behind the back, no look, falling over players to bounce/dribble in right past Barrett.

Why was Marino benched on an off day last year, and Barrett gets this long leash game after game?

I have watched him these past two years and to be honest if this is the best Goalie UVA can put out there we are going to have a rough two more years. His hand/eye coordination has not gotten better since day one. I have coached baseball, softball and other sports that require hand and eye coordination, including unarmed self defense and it just seems the ball is by him before he reacts most of the time. He seems to not know where it is.

Some of the other boards have also been complaining why Starsia gives him such a long rope and lets the games get out of hand and still will not pull him.

I know I will catch some flack about this, but I'm an old salty retired military guy that is also a diehard UVA fan.

I just don't know why Marino is sitting the bench with this extremely off day. Should have been replaced after the second embarrassing falling down on the back, no look toss that went in with him sitting on his back side.

I want this team to return to the glory years of Lacrosse but this was one of the most humiliating losses I have seen over the last 20 at least. To lose to a team that barely got in and to have them score 99 percent of balls that could make it in the net and Barrett only stopped one from going in is epic failure both on the coaching staff and the goalie. I don't like to call out kids but this one can not go unchecked if this program ever wants to return to championship games in the next two years.

My younger brother, whom some of you may have met at football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer games just called me and he has season tickets for the big three and couldn't stand to watch another minute.

He brought up how he had the opportunity to meet Marino's parents and saw them buying UVA stuff the last time he saw them also wonders why Marino is still on the bench after the first 5 goals were scored and how easy they looked to get. This has to be one of the biggest embarrassing losses in the school history along side the Chaminade loss when Ralph was here. GO HOOS!
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To believe or not to believe?

I was printing out my football tickets last night game by game. As the last game printed out, God whispered to me, "This is the year". I was allowed a glimpse of the mayhem and my old ass running out onto the field to celebrate.

I then thought, God has more important things to do than to communicate to me about a frivolous football game. But then I thought, she is all powerful and watches over each and every one of us so why not?

Do you believe or do you not believe that this is the year UVA beats those bloated bastards?

Pitching help for next year is on the way.

It is hard to tell, but Connor Eason may be the best of a nice group. Eason is 6'3' 210 lefty. In two recent games he threw a 1-hitter as Hickory blanked Indian River 4-0 and a 3-hitter defeating Menchville 7-0. He reportedly throws around 94. We will also add another lefthander, Daniel Lynch, from Freeman. They will be joined by four right handed pitchers - Grant Donahoe, Chasdin Harrington, Grant Sloan, and Evan Speriling.

WAR ROOM-- 5.8.15

The WAR ROOM is back and this edition is full of hoops recruiting scoop! While the Cavaliers will have one official visitor on Grounds this weekends, we'll start with the recruitment of one of the most talked about players in the Commonwealth who himself is coming off a visit to UVa. We'll give you the very latest on his recruitment and tell you how we see things. Then we'll get to the official visitor, how we see that playing out, and where the Hoos go from there should they lock up a commitment. We'll also touch on another four-star power forward who says UVa is among his top six. Do the Cavaliers really have a chance or is there one school that should be considered the heavy favorite?

As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!

The latest on Diakite

While UVa will be hosting an official visitor this weekend, we have to start today's edition with where things stand in the recruitment of four-star Rivals150 power forward Mamadi Diakite following his official visit last weekend.

Coming out of that trip, sources felt pretty confident that the Cavaliers remained the team to beat. In talking to various sources throughout the week, that remains the case. The sticking point seems to be the timeframe or plan on where things go for the Blue Ridge standout.

We've been told that Diakite's parents left the United States with every intention of letting Diakite and his mentor, Hassan Fofana, handle things from here on out. At first, our understanding was that UVa expected word to come within a week or two. In talking to a source Thursday night, while it might still play out that way it remains unclear if that's a definite or not. At this point, Fofana is still in Africa and presumably, nothing will happen until he returns. The end of the month seems more likely but even that might be wishful thinking.

Now, there's been some talk in the last few days about Diakite possibly reclassifying to 2015 and enrolling much earlier than expected. We finally got some definitive word from one key source (the same one that said Kenny Williams to UVa was far from a done deal, by the way) and the answer was that no, it's not something that's been talked about and truthfully, while it would be great in some ways it would be incredibly tough for Diakite to do. Remember, he arrived in the United State last January, so getting him enough core courses and then through the clearinghouse alone would likely be a nightmare, the source said. We got the impression that UVa would love to have Diakite period no matter when he gets to Charlottesville but that the chances of this being a real option were just not favorable.

The way we see things with Diakite right now, we still think you have to view Virginia as the odds-on favorite but there are unknowns to be mindful of going forward. For example, Fofana is someone that we think has Diakite's best interest at heart (he himself felt like he got some bad advice before he landed at Maryland) and he's someone that knows Tony Bennett from having been recruited back in the day. But outside of that, it's hard to know which schools really resonate. The fact that it appears to be a field of UVa, USC, and Washington, with Fofana living on West Coast, would seem to imply that maybe the thought is that having Diakite close is a good ting. The biggest unknown is that Diakite's likes and dislikes among the three schools remains something of a mystery.

So, we're not saying you shouldn't be excited about UVa's position. We just have to caution (especially in light of last weekend) that what buzz is out there right now could be something like an echo chamber and we might not have a lot of clear answers until a decision gets made. If our sources are to be believed, the when on that is still TBD.

Looking to close

The official visitor coming in this weekend, of course, is three-star Wisconsin shooter Sam Hauser, a player that we've said in the past Bennett really likes. In fact, our sources say he's been manning the wheel on this recruitment. Needless to say, the staff will be looking to pick up a commitment from the 6-foot-6, 180-pound Stevens Point (WI) native.

What we've heard about his recruitment is pretty clear: Marquette thought he was all but done prior to scheduling the UVa visit. Now, the staff there is nervous that they won't get the visit that's planned (he also has a trip set up to Creighton as well). Not only is Bennett leading the charge but assistant coach Brad Soderberg is from the area. Making this all the more interesting is that Hauser's younger brother, Joey, is already looking like one of the top prospects in the region in the class of 2018 and many believe he's the better of the two. So this could be a spot where UVa is lining things up for a while.

Now, having said all that, word is that his parents will come with him on his visit, which we've heard will run Saturday into Sunday. And as we alluded to above, Bennett likes Hauser a lot. There's some thought that while adding Williams would've given UVa a great shooter, one benefit to adding Hauser is that he's a shooter that can be on the floor with guards rather than taking time at one of the guard positions. Either way, Bennett has always been and will likely always be a bird-in-hand recruiter. He's not going to slow play a kid like Hauser for the chance to get someone else. Like it or not, that's going to be the way he does it and this recruitment is no different.

Making Cook's top six

Finally this week, we wanted to touch on what we're hearing about four-star power forward Tyler Cook. The Cavaliers managed to make his final six this week along with Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, and Missouri. In talking to sources, it's clear to us that Mizzou is the team to beat for the 6-foot-8, 240-pound big man. But Soderberg really has gotten UVa in the mix with Cook, the No. 79 player overall in the Rivals150.

We're hearing the Wahoos are pushing hard for a visit and it's more than likely that they'll get one. They see Cook, a physical and big bodied player, as a perfect compliment to Sacha Killeya-Jones. The problem right now in terms of getting him is that the Tigers really are in a great spot and have recently hired Corey Tate to be an assistant coach after he coached the St. Louis Eagles AAU team that Cook plays for. As you might imagine, that's quite a hill to climb but right now, UVa is doing all it can to be a factor in this recruitment.

That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!

Non-Revenue sports roundup

Mixed results from the weekend. Overall, we should be pretty happy with the results.

WGOLF finished 5th in their regional to advance to the NCAA championships for the 8th time in their 12 year history.

Both MTEN and WTEN advanced to Sweet 16 in Waco. #3 seed men beat St. John's 4-0 and Minnesota 4-0. Will face Columbia (who upset #14 Ole Miss) in next round. #9 seed women beat VCU 4-0 and South Carolina 4-2. Will face #8 Baylor (in Waco) in next round. We lost to Baylor 6-1 earlier in the season but we were missing our top players to illness. We actually had to forfeit one doubles match and one singles match. We are at full strength now and it should be a completely different match.

Baseball took the series against Duke. However, we missed out on the sweep by losing Game 2 9-7 giving up 6 runs in the Top 9. We finish the season with a home game against Richmond on Tuesday and a road series against UNC.

MLAX got crushed by Johns Hopkins 19-7. WLAX beat Winthrop 18-6 before falling to Penn State 13-11. Both men and women were 7-seeds in their tournament and failed to live up to their seeding. Disappointing end to the seasons.

Baseball: UVa beats Duke, takes series

From UVa:

Virginia Defeats Duke, 4-2, to Claim Series
Sborz pitches seven innings of one-run baseball in UVa win

The Virginia baseball team earned a series win over Duke with a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon in front of 4,118 fans on Senior Day at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (29-19, 12-15 ACC) won the series with the Blue Devils (28-21, 8-18), two games to one.

“I’m as proud of our team as I have been of any team, the fact that we responded like we did and Josh Sborz responded like he did,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Certainly how we lost last night in the ninth inning, there are a lot of teams that would pack it in and say maybe it’s not our weekend or maybe it’s not our year, but this team kept fighting and was led by Josh Sborz, and we did some really good things offensively.”

In his second start of the season, Josh Sborz (Jr., McLean, Va.) worked seven innings of one-run baseball to earn the win. Sborz (2-2) allowed eight hits and one walk while striking out three. Adam Haseley (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) worked the final two innings to earn his first college save. Duke starter Bailey Clark (3-5) took the loss after giving up three runs (two earned), three hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Robbie Coman (Jr., Lake Worth, Fla.) and Daniel Pinero (So., Toronto, Ontario) each had a pair of hits, while Pinero also scored twice. Kevin Doherty (Jr., Laytonsville, Md.) drove in a pair of runs. The Cavaliers finished with seven hits, while Duke had nine.

Virginia took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Doherty bounced a two-out single into right field to score Smith and Coman.

The Cavaliers pushed their lead to 3-0 in the third inning. After Virginia loaded the bases with one out, Smith drew a walk to force in Pinero. UVa added a run in the fifth inning against reliever Sarkis Ohanian on a Kenny Towns (Sr., Burke, Va.) sacrifice fly.

Duke loaded the bases with none out in the sixth inning on consecutive singles by Peter Zyla, Mike Rosenfeld and Cris Perez. After Phillips hit a sacrifice fly, Sborz induced a foul pop up from Kenny Koplove before getting Justin Bellinger to fly out to center to end the threat and leave runners at the corners.

The Blue Devils got a leadoff home run to right field from Jalen Phillips to begin the ninth inning. With one out Haseley walked Bellinger, but pinch hitter Ryan Day grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

Prior to the game, Virginia honored its three seniors – Towns, Thomas Woodruff (Clifton, Va.) and Kevin Radford (Norfolk, Va.) – in Senior Day ceremonies.

Virginia plays its final home game of the season at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Richmond. The Cavaliers wrap up the regular season Thursday through Saturday at North Carolina.
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A few thoughts on recruiting in general

Just some random thoughts from a fan. . . . ok, ok, a raving lunatic fan, but still a fan.

Point #1, we haven't seen the ceiling on Tony's recruiting yet.

We shouldn't confuse current status as the end strategy. When Tony first arrived he probably had to disguise himself as an Encyclopedia salesman just to get in the door with many recruits (I know, I know, you younger guys have no idea what I am talking about). Recruiting is like politics, it is the art of the possible. Because Tony signed certain guys doesn't mean he thought they were the ultimate recruits for his program. You have to sign the best players you can land that fit your system. As we've seen, the quality of those recruits have gradually improved as the program is proving itself to be competitive nationally. I think that will continue, especially if we can break through to the Final Four within the next 3 or 4 years. I don't think we're going to be a program that recruits on the level of Kentucky or Duke when it comes to ranking services every year. Those are unique situations where the staffs virtually "select" rather than recruit prospects. I don't think we need to recruit on their level to beat them. They will always have "young" teams and a mature team of developed talent can match them and beat them.

Point #2, I don't think we need to stock up and one and done recruits.

The success of Duke and Kentucky seem to have some folks convinced that a team must have one and done players to compete for the championship. I don't agree. Wisconsin didn't have any one and done players. In fact, Wisconsin only has one top 50 recruit on the team and half of their minutes are played by recruits that weren't in the top 150 by most or all national recruiting services. Frank Kaminsky wasn't a top 250 recruit. What a team does need are one or more "go to" players that can put the ball in the basket when the offense isn't working. Players sufficiently talented to defeat opponents' defenses and score. NBA level players in college can fit that bill and that's where some of the one and dones come in. But, it doesn't have to be a one and done type. Kaminsky and Dekker weren't. More often than not, the key baskets for Duke during the season came from Quinn Cook, a senior. Senior Jerian Grant from Notre Dame took them to the cusp of the Final Four.

Imagine for a moment if UVA had senior Mike Scott on the team last season? I'm not sure they would have lost a game. Remember, all losses were within 6 points and all because UVA just couldn't put the ball in the basket for lengthy droughts. A guy like Mike Scott could have made a huge difference. During his senior season, everyone designed their defense to stop him and couldn't do it. It doesn't take a 5 star, it could be a 3 or 4 star with potential to be developed into a NBA level talent.

Point #3, balance may be more important than individual star power for UVA.

I've seen some concern expressed that the perimeter players recruited for the class of 2016 may not be the highest level athletes. Unless your system is built on full court pressure and beating the other team down the court to score, I think that athleticism can be overrated, particularly when compared to "skill level." Granted, you do have to have sufficient athleticism to be able to defend against some opponents. Marial Shayok is probably in the top 10 - 15 percentile of athleticism for college hoops players next season. Darius Thompson may be in the top 5 percentile. Isaiah Wilkins is up there as well. Sacha Killeya-Jones is well above average in athleticism and, if we are fortunate enough to land him, Mamadi Diakite is probably in the top 1 percentile.

What UVA missed last year was not athleticism but skill, shooting skill. The offense provided shots but we couldn't put the ball in the basket. We couldn't hit a jump shot some games. Recruits like Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome and Sam Hauser provide shooting, as well as good overall floor games to help create open shots for others. I'm sure Tony would love for them to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound as well, but the ability to make jump shots is the priority when you look at the returning players on the team. Shayok, Thompson, Wilkins, et al, can take care of the Sports Center highlight dunks. We need some guys who can shoot the dang ball.

Again, look at Wisconsin. There are two athletes on that team, the rest are average to a little above average athletically but they are ALL very skilled. Their big guys can shoot the ball (see SKJ) and they all play as a team.

In contrast, Clemson, Florida State, and Georgia Tech had very athletic teams last season but they lacked "skill." If you have to lean one way or the other, I'd lean toward skill and that seems to be Tony's strategy.

Summation:

I think Tony's strategy is generally sound. I admit that I have some "WTF?" moments at times with his recruiting but I tend to be a little reactionary. For example, I wasn't a fan of pursuing Kenny Williams but that's history now. Tony has certainly targeted top talent over the years like Kyrie Irving, Marcus Page, Justin Jackson,etc., but UVA is not a sexy choice and still isn't. He has to figure out how to win with the next level recruits. For his system he seems to heavily value "skill" and with the Bennett model being pretty much the same as what we see with Wisconsin, I'd say he's right. However, he tries to balance the "skill heavy" approach with athletes like Akil Mitchell and Isaiah Wilkins to compensate when UVA must match athletic teams.

I think UVA can win by developing 3 and 4 year players. It's not as easy as just drafting NBA ready recruits like Duke does, but we were perhaps one Mike Scott away from being undefeated this season. Even without a Mike Scott, a couple shooters like Kyle Guy and Sam Hauser would have made a big difference.

And, it's darn hard to argue with 60 - 11 the last two seasons.

We might just look back at today's baseball game as the game

that kept UVA out of postseason play. Waddell got past a shaky first two innings and pitched shutout ball for the next five innings. UVA took a 7-3 lead into the 9th innings and gave up 6 runs and lost 9-7. As much as I respect Oak as a coach, I felt that he thought he was playing with house money. As soon as a couple of Duke players got on base with one out, I thought (and stated) that he should bring in Sborz to get the final two outs. Instead, he went with Bettinger and Rosenberger, and the rest is history. I realize that if they had stopped Duke with no more than 3 runs, we would have a fresh Sborz for Sunday's game. I felt that unless we won today, tomorrow's game might be almost meaningless.
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Baseball: Duke, UVa split first two games of series

From UVa:


Game 1

Virginia Defeats Duke, 3-1
Cavaliers score two runs in eighth inning en route to series-opening win

The Virginia baseball team scored two runs in the eighth inning to snap a 1-1 deadlock en route to a 3-1 triumph over Duke Friday evening in the opener of a three-game series at Davenport Field. Matt Thaiss (So., Jackson, N.J.) hit the go-ahead RBI double with one out in the eighth inning to lift Virginia (28-18, 11-14 ACC) to the victory.

“That was a great opening win for our team,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “We just hung in there and grinded. (Duke starter) Andrew Istler is very good. He pitched well down there last year and beat us, and he pitched great again tonight. It wasn’t easy for Connor Jones. He had six walks and his command wasn’t great, but he made big pitches and that is what I was most proud of. That’s what separated him tonight from where he was five or six weeks ago. He would have some walks a few weeks ago and then give up the big hit to break it open, and he didn’t do that tonight.”

Virginia starter Connor Jones (So., Chesapeake, Va.) gave the Cavaliers seven solid innings. Despite walking six batters, Jones surrendered just one run as well as five hits while striking out eight. In his last three starts – all UVa wins – Jones has a 2.08 ERA over 21 2/3 innings and has struck out 30.

Kevin Doherty (Jr., Laytonsville, Md.) worked a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win and improve to 3-1, while Alec Bettinger (So., Woodbridge, Va.) fired a scoreless ninth inning to claim his second save.

Istler (5-4) gave up three runs (two earned), six hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings in taking the loss for Duke (27-20, 7-17).

Both teams finished with seven hits. Pavin Smith (Fr., Jupiter, Fla.) picked up a pair of hits and an RBI, while Kenny Towns (Sr., Burke, Va.) had a single and an RBI and reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Andy Perez and Jalen Phillips each had two hits for Duke.

After sitting a 1-1 deadlock since the fourth inning, Virginia forged ahead in the eighth inning. With one out, Daniel Pinero (So., Toronto, Ontario) reached on a fielding error by first baseman Justin Bellinger. Thaiss then lined a ball just inside the first-base line and down into the right field corner, with Pinero motoring all the way around to score. Facing reliever Sarkis Ohanian, Towns was hit by a pitch, and Smith followed with a single to right to plate Thaiss.

Duke put Phillips on second base with one out in the ninth inning, but Bettinger struck Bellinger out looking before picking Phillips off second to end the game.

Virginia jumped out quickly with a first-inning run as Adam Haseley (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a Pinero groundout and scored on a two-out single by Towns. Duke tied the game in the fourth as Mike Rosenfeld drew a two-out walk and scored on a double to left from Cris Perez.

The Blue Devils threatened to take the lead in the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out, but Jones struck out Max Miller before getting Peter Zyla to ground to second to end the inning.



Game 2


Duke Defeats Virginia, 9-7
Blue Devils rally in ninth inning to even series

Duke scored six runs in the ninth inning to rally and top the Virginia baseball team, 9-7, Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 4,394 at Davenport Field. Justin Bellinger hit a two-out, two-run single to break a 7-7 tie as the Blue Devils (28-20, 8-17 ACC) evened the series with the Cavaliers (28-19, 11-15) at a game apiece.

Virginia finished with 10 hits, with seven coming from the middle of its batting order. Robbie Coman (Jr., Lake Worth, Fla.) picked up three hits, while Kenny Towns (Sr., Burke, Va.) had a pair of doubles and scored three runs, while Pavin Smith (Fr., Jupiter, Fla.) also had two hits. All seven Virginia runs came with two outs. Duke finished with a season-high 16 hits.

Reliever Alec Bettinger (So., Woodbridge, Va.) took the loss and fell to 3-3 after giving up four runs in the ninth inning. Virginia starting pitcher Brandon Waddell (Jr., Houston, Texas) worked into the eighth inning and totaled seven innings, giving up three earned runs, 10 hits and a walk while striking out four.

Duke reliever Jack Labosky (2-0) earned the win after working 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Kenny Koplove picked up his 11th save by working a perfect ninth inning. Starter Dillon Haviland worked six innings, giving up five earned runs, six hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Duke rallied from a four-run deficit by sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run ninth inning. With one out, Max Miller singled home Ryan Day, and six of the next seven Duke batters reached safely. Peter Zyla doubled, and Mike Rosenfeld followed with a two-run double to cut the Blue Devils’ deficit to 7-6. Bettinger hit Cris Perez with the next pitch, and UVa brought in David Rosenberger (Jr., Bethlehem, Pa.). Jalen Phillips slapped a single to left to load the bases and Koplove hit a sacrifice fly to right to tie the game. After Phillips stole second to put runners at second and third, Bellinger cranked a single to right to score both runners and give the Blue Devils the 9-7 lead.

Duke grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Zyla grounded out in the first inning to score Andy Perez, who hit a double to lead off the game. UVa countered with two runs in its half of the first, getting back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Smith and Coman.

The Blue Devils came back with two runs in the second on a two-run double by Perez, but UVa tied the game in the third on a two-out RBI single from Coman.

UVa forged ahead in the fourth inning on a two-run double from Matt Thaiss (So., Jackson, N.J.) and added a pair of runs in the seventh inning on RBI singles from Smith and Joe McCarthy (Jr., Scranton, Pa.).

The series finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Prior to the game, UVa will hold Senior Day ceremonies.

Hoos take first game from Duke 3 - 1.

Jones started for UVA and struggled by giving up 5 hits and 6 walks, but he was strong with runners on base and gave up the only run in the 7 innings that he pitched. Doherty pitched the 8th and earned the win as UVA scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to break the tie. Bettinger earned the save in the 9th. Thaiss, Towns, and Smith each drove in one run for the Hoos.

OT: KY politics the Christian Laettner label

Pretty funny that Laettner is being used to describe a less than favorable accusation against a political candidate

Calling Heiner “the Christian Laettner of Kentucky politics,” Comer again accused Heiner’s campaign of being behind a story that appeared in the Courier-Journal this week in which Marilyn Thomas, a woman Comer dated while they were both students at Western Kentucky University, alleged that Comer physically and mentally abused her.

Sad when

Our best offensive player for the coming football season is a transfer. In a nutshell if London doesn't make it past this year player development on that side of the ball will be one of his many downfalls. That said Thrope has a chance to get us a few wins that put us in a bowl

DeSue ready for summer camps

2018 QB Tyler DeSue was one of the players featured in my recruiting notebook today.
Here's the link to the story: VA Recruiting Notebook
Here's the video interview I did with him: DeSue ready for summer camps
Here's the section specifically about DeSue:

Virginia was the first school to offer the 2018 quarterback. It has been a little while since DeSue visited Charlottesville, but he is planning on making the trip again this summer. Miami and Florida State have been showing some interest and he plans on camping at both schools in addition to Virginia.
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