Virginia

Three Stars of the Day: Alexander, Baker, Carroll

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:26:09 -0800

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Joe Alexander - West Virginia

Scored 32 points for the second game in a row in a big win over Pittsburgh

Calvin Baker - Virginia

Hit the game-winning three with 4.2 seconds left against Georgia Tech

Jaycee Carroll - Utah State

The Aggies won their 3rd straight behind Carroll's season-high 33

Other Top Performers

Joe Ballard - Florida A&M - The junior guard had the best game of his career with 19 points and 9 assists

Previous Stars of the Day

March 3rd - Kevin Love, UCLA

March 2nd - Tyrese Rice, BC

February 28th - Rob McKiver, Houston

February 26th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

February 25th - DJ Augustin, Texas

February 20th - OJ Mayo, USC

February 19th - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

February 18th - John Bryant, Santa Clara

February 17th - Johnson/Teague, Wake Forest

February 15th - Tyrese Rice, Boston College

February 12th - J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State

February 10th - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

February 9th - Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN

February 7th - Ronald Ramon, Pittsburgh

February 6th - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

February 4th - Todd Golden, Saint Mary's

February 3rd - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

January 30th - Chase Budinger, Arizona

January 29th - Beasley/Walker, Kansas State

January 28th - Chris Godzinski, Wofford

January 27th - DeMarcus Nelson, Duke

January 26th - Hackett/Lewis/Mayo, USC

January 24th - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

January 22nd - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

January 21st - DJ Augustin, Texas

January 20th - Dezmon Harris, Weber State

January 19th - James Gist, Maryland

January 18th - Abbott/Harden, Arizona State

January 17th - Dionte Christmas, Temple

January 14th - Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

January 11th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 9th - DJ White, Indiana

January 8th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 7th - Wayne Ellington, UNC

January 6th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

January 5th - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

January 3rd - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

November/December Star of the Day Archive

Daily Dribble: Friday Report Card

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:31:22 -0800

The Report Card

A - Big West Race

The battle for top spot in the Big West is shaping up to be an exciting race. The top four teams in the conference met last night with Pacific beating Northridge in OT and UCSB getting the best of Fullerton. These four teams are now all within a game of each other. Northridge is still the favorite in my opinion, as their schedule shapes up nicely.. with a challenging road game at Fullerton, but otherwise home games or easy road games remaining.

B - Pittsburgh

When Levance Fields and Mike Cook went down right before New Year's, this team looked like it might collapse. But since the Dayton debacle, the Panthers have hung tough in Big East play and currently sit at 6-4 after Ramon's buzzer-beater upended West Virginia. The Panthers did enough in their non-conference schedule so that anything over .500 in league play should situate them nicely for the Big Dance. The rest of their schedule is by no means a walk in the park, four road games at Marquette, ND, WVU, and Syracuse remain, which is why last night's win was so important.

C - Shaun Pruitt

Watching the senior hit only 1 of 7 free throws, including two at the end of the 2nd OT that could have won the game, was painful. But it pains me to put Pruitt low on the list, because he's one of my favorite players in the Big Ten, is the team's most consistent player, and he's worked hard to improve since freshman year.

D - Virginia

Remember when the Cavs beat Arizona back in November and then almost beat Syracuse a couple weeks later. They were 10-2 heading into January 1st, but are just 1-8 in 2008.. must have been some bad champagne on New Year's. Obviously the increased talent-level of the ACC competition is a big reason for the struggles, but they're not even coming close to winning games. Making things worse, its not like youth is an excuse. Singletary & Joseph are seniors, and Diane is a junior.

F - Illini Nation

Enough with the Eric Gordon obsession. It's not his fault your coach can't recruit.. brought in nobody with talent last year, and has no one good lined up for next year. At one point during the game, the announcers mentioned that this team "has more talent" than a 10-14 team. But that's completely wrong. This team barely has the talent of a 10-14 team.. but Weber's coaching (he can't recruit but he can coach) keeps them in games.

The Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

Previous Best / Worst

February 6th - Chris Lofton / Dick Vitale

February 5th - Bob Knight / Josh Heytvelt

February 4th - New York Giants / Washington State

February 1st - Nevada / Penn

January 31st - Kansas State / St. John's

January 29th - Winthrop / Dyson & Wiggins

January 28th - Rutgers / Doris Burke

January 25th - Ron Hunter / Princeton Offense

January 23rd - Kentucky / Archbishop Burke

January 22nd - DJ Augustin / Scott Sutton

January 21st - New York Giants / Marquette

January 20th - Maryland / ESPN.com editors

January 18th - Cleveland State / Marquette

January 17th - Drake / HP Laptops

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky

Cousy Award Finalists

Press Release — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:30:34 -0800

2008 BOB COUSY AWARD PRESENTED BY THE HARTFORD FINALISTS

DIVISION I
DJ Augustin Texas
Darren Collison UCLA
Devan Downey South Carolina
Jamont Gordon Mississippi State
Mike Green Butler
Dominic James Marquette
Ty Lawson North Carolina
Eric Maynor VCU
Tyrese Rice Boston College
Brian Roberts Dayton
Derrick Rose Memphis
Sean Singletary Virginia

DIVISION II
Luke Cooper Alaska - Anchorage
Johnny Reibel Rollins

DIVISION III
David Arsenault Grinnell College
Andrew Olson Amherst College

Three Stars of the Day: November 18th

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:44:21 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

Continuing a new daily feature on Collegehoops.net, the Three Stars of the day. We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Daniel Hackett - USC

Overshadowed a bit by Mayo, Hackett quietly had 22 points on an efficient 6-9 shooting, along with 10 boards, and 10 assists

Sean Singletary - Virginia

Not the best shooting night for Singletary, but his 24 and 8 assists and big shots down the stretch pushed Virginia to a win at #17 Arizona

Terrence Williams - Louisville

Triple-doubles don't happen every day in college basketball (despite two yesterday), so Williams' 14, 13, and 12 boards is special regardless of the opponent

Other Top Performers

Michael Beasley - Kansas State - The freshman, who should be a regular on this list all season, had 28 points and hauled in 22 rebounds

Cedric Jackson - Cleveland State - The transfer did everything in the Vikings big upset of Florida State, with 27, 8 boards, 4 dimes, and even 4 steals

Jason Thompson - Rider - The senior had another monster day with 23 points and 21 rebounds in a win over Delaware

Previous Stars of the Day

November 16th - Jon Brockman, Washington

November 17th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 18th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

Interview: Virginia Coach Dave Leitao

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:26:49 -0700

The start of Dave Leitao's career at Virginia was similar to his previous stop at DePaul. A first season that resulted in an NIT bid, followed by a 20+ win second season that resulted in a second round NCAA Tournament loss. Virginia fans are hoping that this year's team can break out of the mold and surpass the return NIT trip the Blue Demons took in Leitao's third year. With star guard Sean Singletary back, its certainly possible the Cavaliers could be dancing for a second straight season:

CHN) Based on what you saw last year, what’s the biggest improvement your team needs to be successful and get to the next level?

“We’ve got to continue to get better defensively. We’ve made defense a staple of our program and I thought we were pretty good at it, but I think there’s always room for improvement. I think particularly our younger guys need to get better that way.”

CHN) Are you settled with your starting lineup? Expect any particular battles for the open spots?

“No, we are not settled on a starting lineup. As a matter of fact, after Sean Singletary I would imagine that every position is open. There are a number of battles that are ongoing and will be ongoing to determine what will be our starting lineup.”

CHN) It might be hard to pick one, but who is the most talented player you’ve ever coached?

“You’re right, it’s hard to pick out one. I’ve answered that question before two ways. The most talented individual is probably Ray Allen. But for one season, the best season a guy’s ever had was Donyell Marshall his junior year. He had a phenomenal year.”

CHN) Talk about one or two guys who stand out as being underrated contributors to your team’s success.

“Tunji Soroye stands out because he’s quiet and he does a lot of things that help a team win that don’t go in the box score. Another guy who’s probably underrated is Adrian Joseph. He’s been stable for us and he’s made a lot of big baskets.”

CHN) What do you think will be the hardest game on this year’s schedule?

“I think they’ll all be pretty difficult. We’ve got 16 difficult ACC games to play plus the conference tournament, but I think all of the games are pretty difficult.”

CHN) Realistically, what should UVA fans and media expect from your team this year?

“Realistically, a team that gets better week by week. We’re not necessarily starting over again, but we’ve got some holes we’ve got to fill. From an expectation standpoint, we’re going to get better and we’ll work our tails off every night.”

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview & Awards | More Interviews | Discuss the Preview

2007-2008 Virginia Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:21:54 -0700

Virginia Cavaliers

Overall Rank: #31

Conference Rank: #5 ACC

2006-07: 21-11, 11-5, 1^st (t)

2006-07 postseason: NCAA

When Sean Singletary opted to pull out of the NBA Draft, Virginia fans everywhere let out a big sigh of relief. Singletary averaged 19.0 points, 4.7 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals as a junior. Those are some lofty numbers, but without J.R. Reynolds by his side, Singletary will be asked to do even more for this team.

Who’s Out:

Reynolds added 18.4 points, 3.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game during his senior season. With Singletary, the duo was one of the most dynamic and dangerous in the nation. What happens without Reynolds on the floor remains to be seen. Jason Cain started 29 games and averaged 6.8 points and a team high 6.3 rebounds. His presence under the basket will be missed greatly since he was often the only reliable rebounder on the team.

Who’s In:

A quartet of guards will come in and help try and replace the numbers of Reynolds. Calvin Baker was named to the CAA All-Rookie team two years ago when he averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 assists at William and Mary. The 6-2 Newport News native will not put up those type of numbers with the Cavaliers, but the sophomore at least has some experience. Mustapha Farrakhan and Jeff Jones are the future wings of the teams. Both are superb shooters and will provide a spark off the bench in that regard. Jones can handle the ball as well and could play the point if he needed to. At 6-4, he has the size to help out on the glass, but Coach Dave Leitao will have to work on his defense if Jones wants to see quality minutes this year. Point guard Sammy Zeglinski is not as highly touted as Farrakhan and Jones, but he is a smart floor leader who can hit the long ball. He will have to gain some strength in order to get to the basket more efficiently, but that will come with time. It is Mike Scott who may make the biggest impact this year. The 6-8 power forward is a good athlete with deceptive quickness. He will not bang inside that much and prefers facing the basket, but he could find his way into the rotation up front as a freshman.

Who to Watch:

It is that frontcourt that has the big questions. Somebody has to step up and take over the rebounding that is left behind by Cain. Tunji Soroye is not the most dynamic frontcourt player on the team, but he is a good rebounder. That alone will probably get him a starting spot, but when he is on the floor do not expect much offense coming from the paint. The other true post players on the team are Laurynas Mikalauskas and Ryan Pettinella. Mikalauskas earned 12 starts last season but, like Soroye, is not much of an offensive threat. At 6-8, Jamil Tucker has the size to play the four as well. Adrian Joseph and Will Harris are more talented forwards, but are ideally small forwards and moving them to the four will hurt the rebounding for a team that will already struggle in that department. Joseph was the team’s sixth man last year and averaged 7.2 points per game. He will likely find a starting job this year.

Final Projection:

Singletary needs a partner in the backcourt and it will be Mamadi Diane. The 6-5 junior is a decent shooter and was third on the team in scoring last year behind Singletary and Reynolds. Being able to move Diane to the two guard spot instead of the three should help the Cavaliers’ rebounding numbers. Suddenly the team has a bigger frontcourt. They just need to develop those skills and work hard on the glass to replace Cain. This team will depend on Singletary a lot and if he struggles, so will Virginia. However, Singletary rarely struggles and when he is on a roll, the team will follow him…all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Sean Singletary, Senior, Guard, 19.0 points per game

Mamadi Diane, Junior, Guard, 9.6 points per game

Adrian Joseph, Senior, Forward, 7.2 points per game

Jamil Tucker, Sophomore, Forward, 3.4 points per game

Tunji Soroye, Senior, Center, 2.1 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview & Awards | Discuss the Preview

Sean Singletary Returning to Virginia

Jeff Borzello — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:07:53 -0700

2007-08 Early All-American Team Projection

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:05:37 -0700

This early projection of the 2007-08 All-American teams will be updated as official NBA Draft decisions are made. First Team All-American G. Sean Singletary G. Chris Lofton F. Brandon Rush F. Julian Wright F. Tyler Hansbrough Second Team All-American G. Darren Collison G. Chris Douglas-Roberts G. Drew Neitzel F. Chase Budinger C. Brook Lopez Third Team All-American G. DJ Augustin G. Dominic James F. Terrence Williams F. Michael Beasley F. Richard Hendrix Fouth Team All-American G. Mike Conley G. Javaris Crittenton G. Derrick Rose F. Ryan Anderson C. Taj Gibson Next Ten: Jon Brockman JamesOn Curry Stephen Curry Wayne Ellington Josh Heytvelt Marcelus Kemp DeMarcus Nelson Tyrese Rice Rodney Stuckey Bill Walker Others in Consideration: Jeff Adrien, Jaycee Carroll, Dionte Christmas, Joe Crawford, Joey Dorsey, Eric Gordon, AJ Graves, Ty Lawson, Tasmin Mitchell, Jason Smith

NBA Draft Profile: Sean Singletary

Jeff Fox — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0700

NBA Draft: Sean Singletary

College: Virginia

Class: Senior

Stats: ESPN.com

Position: PG/SG

Height: 6”0”

Weight: 185lbs

Accolades: Third Team All-American – NABC (coaches association) (07), First Team All-ACC (07), First Team All-ACC (06), All-ACC Freshman Team (05).

Scouting Report: A well-decorated explosive scoring guard.

Strengths: Scoring – Singletary can be an explosive scorer – he had over 10 games with 20+ points his junior year. Fantastic rebounder for his height. Deep range on his jump shot. Great free throw shooter.

Weaknesses: Lack of height – Singletary is listed at 6’0” but that is probably a bit of a stretch. Very turnover prone. Is he a true NBA point guard – definitely too small for the off guard spot. Shoots from the field and from long-range for a very poor percentage. Is a volume shooter – averaged close to 14 shots a game his last two seasons.

Projected 2007 Draft Range: Early second round pick (2007 or 2008).

Consensus: Despite having a fantastic junior season, Singletary could use another year in college to work on his game. While it is doubtful he is going to go through a growth spurt at this age, he would be wise to return for his senior year to work on becoming a more consistent shooter and refine his point guard skills.

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NBA Draft Profile: JR Reynolds

Jeff Fox — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0700

NBA Draft: JR Reynolds

College: Virginia

Class: Senior

Stats: ESPN.com

Position: PG/SG

Height: 6”3”

Weight: 188lbs

Accolades: Second Team All-ACC (07), Third Team All-ACC (06), Second-Team All-ACC Tournament (05), All-ACC Freshman Team (04), Mr. Basketball – Virginia – high school (03).

Scouting Report: A big time player in a big time conference.

Strengths: Big scorer – Reynolds can explode at times, as he did against Wake Forest this year when he netted 40 points. Can score off the dribble and with step-back jumpers. Deep range on his jumper. Very strong and muscular body. Good rebounder for his position. Decent assist man his last two years in school. Great free throw shooter.

Weaknesses: Turnover prone – barely had more assists than turnovers his senior year. Doesn’t shoot the collegiate three for a very high percentage. Is a “tweener” – not a true NBA point guard prospect and too small for the two spot. Not an accurate shooter – more of a “volume shooter”.

Projected 2007 Draft Range: Mid to late second round pick.

Consensus: Reynolds needs to show that he can play the point guard position in the NBA at both ends of the floor if he plans on sticking around awhile in the League. However, he has shown he can be an explosive scorer and has a strong body, which will help in the pros.