It appears that CTB is showing interest in New Zealand power forward Matthew Freeman. He is in the class of 2016. He's from the same high school as Jack Salt!

He is 6'9" and can shoot the deep ball, drive the lane and not afraid to take it to the rack.

One could only hope Coach Bennet can land this one!

Wouldn't that be ironic that SKJ pulled his commitment and we end up landing a guy like Freeman.

He reminds me of a taller Jeff Lamp when he arrived at UVA.

Great stuff from Whitey Reid in this Q&A with Tony Bennett.

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This has to be the third or forth recruit over the last 4 or 5 years in our back yard that goes somewhere else.

It doesn't show we are even on his list at this point.

So what are the chances he goes to VT or nearby competition down the road.

I trust CTB on why he hasn't given this guy a real strong look, while he had SKJ and chasing MD. But now that SKJ has pulled his verbal and MD has become less than guaranteed, why haven't CTB and staff attempted to make a bigger push?

Brad, Has that ship also sailed?

The only UVA recruit selected in the draft was Jake McCarthy, and I would be very surprised if he decides to sign. He and Dozier both have a good chance to get playing time in the outfield with the Hoos next year. Comer should be a capable backup for Thaiss as a catcher. Karstetter and Weiler could get playing time depending on what Pinero and LaPrise decide to do. In addition, there are several incoming pitchers who are capable of stepping up next year.

Great sign for UVa to get him on Grounds.

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Highlights from his senior season.

If you haven't found the time to listen to the podcast yet - this should probably be the one you give us a shot..

He covers his draft prospects, the UVa coaches, his breakout player for us next season, interacting with fans on twitter.. and more!

Corey Evans, a scout for D1 programs also joins us to discuss Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy.

Hope you enjoy it.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-6k5vf-569a5c#.VXj0hwuUx2E.twitter

Good stuff from the folks at VaSportsTV as the team began summer workouts today.

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Ferber takes a look at what awaits the Wahoos when they arrive at the College World Series. And needless to say, the pod is pretty stacked.

Link: Breaking down UVa's pod in Omaha

A few interesting things to follow as the draft starts tonight...

Where will the draft eligible juniors go... specifically Kirby, Sborz, Waddell, and McCarthy. I don't expect Kirby or McCarthy to return, but I could see Sborz and/or Waddell coming back depending on where they go. We could lose 2 weekend starters and our closer.

Other draft eligible players include: La Prise, Coman, Doherty, and Rosenberger.

For anyone following recruiting... any baseball commits we should keep an eye on in draft?

It's all about controlling the conversation.

From the UK article on SKJ...


Using composite recruit rankings:

All Cal's own UK recruits that have been drafted were ranked as top 25 players out of high-school with the exception of Eric Bledsoe (#55). 12 of the 15 drafted Cal recruits were actually top 12 or better. "Lowly ranked" Willie Cauley-Stein (#39) will buck the trend this year.

Every one of Cal's 7 UK NBA lottery draftees was also a top 5 high school recruit. I don't count Kanter (HS#8) who never actually played at UK.

Every one of Cal's UK NBA lottery draftees also left after their freshman year - i.e. after 6 months of Cal "development"

If Towns (2014#7) and Lyles (2014#13) go in the lottery this year as expected then technically SKJ is correct. Cal will have succeeded in turning players "not in the top five" into lottery picks - and after just 6 months of skill development.

p.s.

To be fair, Calp played a part in developing inherited JUCO Josh Harrellson into a second round draft pick in 2011 - so there is that example, though I doubt he leads with it.

down to the bottom of the page? I scroll up to the top, then it moves me down to the bottom again. It does this like 2 or 3 times and finally stops. It is extremely annoying. Anyway that can be fixed? Anybody else have this problem?

where is the scoop on the Arizona QB transferring to UVA?

Saw current Capital One standings today, UVA is #2 in Men's sports and #6 in Women's. Average the two together and we are the number one athletic program overall. Only one close overall was Stanford which was slightly behind.

Shows what we already know, Littlepage runs a top notch athletic program, if not for one glaring flaw. Address Oliver and the horrid football program now.

Can finally confirm that UVa has landed a commitment this morning from three-star receiver Aidan Howard.

New Zealand 4 star pf 2016 says UVA one of the schools interested in him. See main board...Any traction here??

So I got to looking at the standings and what is left this morning. Some interesting thoughts ...

The CWS and Outdoor Track Championships are all that remain, but both are "Group B" big point sports. OTF Championships start tomorrow in Eugene. There are potentially 120 points to be earned by winning both titles (for frame of reference, tOSU leads the standings with only 93 and we're right behind with 89). I had NO IDEA that UVa men's track is currently ranked in the top 10, ranked 8th currently. In these sports, points are biggest for titles/"finals"/"semis" -- 60-36-30-24, then the dropoff to 18-15-12-9-6-3 for finishing in the top 10.

Interestingly, several teams at the CWS are ranked very highly in men's track (Florida 1, LSU 4, Arkansas 5, Virginia 8), so there could be a big swing if a team pulled a double or even a title and a top 4 (good for 96/90/84 points). Luckily for us, those other teams at both championships are way behind us in the standings and would need one of those championship-top 4 double results (LSU-24, FL-14, ARK-10 currently). We are not out of reach from TCU either (back, but at 43, so a title would vault them up quickly). Oregon could be the biggest concern, currently 28 points behind us and ranked #2 in track. A title for them on home turf means we have to perform well in both sports to stay ahead of them.

So, we have to root for TAMU, Southern Cal and Georgia at the OTFC (or more specifically root against Oregon, LSU and Arkansas), root for Vandy/Miami when they are not playing us at the CWS and we need to win a game or two at the CWS. 0-2 from either LSU or UF would be ideal, but preferably LSU, as would any win for us over ARK/UF/LSU. A top 5 finish at OTFC would go a long, long way to winning the whole thing. TAMU and Georgia going 1-2 in track would seal the deal for us, as would either one of them winning and us getting one win in Omaha (I think).

Why is London still insisting on this brand of football? Very few teams can run power football with two backs and even the teams who run it out of the spread have talented O-lines.

The Cavs had only 12 TDs and six first downs on 84 carries in the red zone, and four-year starter Kevin Parks was the most to blame for that inefficiency. He averaged 3.94 yards per carry with just four touchdowns for the season, and only one of his 26 red zone runs resulted in a first down.

If Parks had issues what makes you think Smoke or Hamm will be any better?

This philosophy and lack of great O Line depth is one of his undoings, but maybe if we tried getting to the edge with some imagination maybe we can win some games this year. I think Johns inside the 20 can help with his feet if the TE's coming along like I think we can.

There's apparently going to be a summer series to keep an eye on. Good stuff.

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That was intense, and I have never seen poorer officiating in crunch time like that.