ACC InDepth | Can Cavs turn the corner under Bennett?
Before leaving, former UVa. basketball coach Dave Leitao did the program a big favor. He convinced four-star recruit Tristan Spurlock to stay in the fold.
“I was to the point where I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know if I was going to stay, I didn’t know if I was going to go. I have lots of friends from the Boo Williams team who definitely were trying to get me to go to their schools, and that definitely was something I was looking forward to,” said Spurlock, a 6-7, 215-pound small-forward sharpshooter who had been recruited by Leitao and his staff for three years before committing to the ‘Hoos before his senior season at Word of Life Christian Academy in Woodbridge.
But in the end, when everything was going down with Leitao, who resigned in March after Virginia posted its worst season in 40 years, “Coach Leitao called and told me to wait,” Spurlock said.
“He told me not to get out of my letter of intent. A lot of other people, family and friends, were telling me to get out. A lot of people in the organization told me I should get out. But he definitely didn’t. He told me to stay. He told me to wait for the new coach, to see who it was going to be,” Spurlock said. Read more
Report: Bennett named new hoops coach at UVa.
Tony Bennett. Not the singer. The basketball coach. At the University of Virginia. The two-week search for a replacement for Dave Leitao is over. A report in the Times-Dispatch Monday afternoon has Virginia hiring Bennett away from Washington State, where the 39-year-old rang up a 68-30 record in three seasons and was named the 2007 Associated Press national coach of the year after guiding the Cougars to a 26-8 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. Read more
Report: UVa. fires Dave Leitao
A report on CBSSports.com this afternoon has Virginia firing men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao.
According to the report, the move was initiated with the goal in mind of making a run at Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel.
Capel, a Duke alum, was a candidate for the job four years ago while he was the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Leitao’s teams at Virginia went 63-60 in his four years in Charlottesville, highlighted by a 21-11 record and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006-2007 that saw Leitao voted the ACC coach of the year.
- Story by Chris Graham
Remember when UVa. basketball meant something?
It’s been a long, long time since Virginia basketball was relevant. But remember those days? When UVa. was 50-2 at home during the Ralph Sampson era? When Final Fours seemed a distinct possibility every November, and if the ‘Hoos didn’t win a game or two in March Madness something seemed wrong with the world? Read more
Leitao Post Mortem
Wanna know why the administration at the University of Virginia pulled the trigger on Dave Leitao so fast? The number one reason has to be economics. The average attendance in the 3-year-old John Paul Jones Arena this season was 10,219. Which, sure, is better than what UVa. used to get in the 8,400-seat University Hall, but in the 15,600-seat John Paul Jones Arena, well, you’re talking about an average of more than 5,000 empty seats per game. Read more
Scott German | Diane, ‘Hoos surprise Terps in finale, 68-63
It’s been a long trying season for Virginia on the hardwood, but Saturday afternoon the Cavaliers may have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Overcoming another horrendous start, Virginia dealt Maryland a crippling 68-63 defeat in Jon Paul Jones Arena. And fitting enough it was Maryland native Mamadi Diane delivering the lethal blow to the Terps. Read more
The World According To ChrisGraham.com: The team that revived Wahoo Nation
Posted by afp on June 15, 2010 · Leave a Comment
That’s counter to our nature as UVa. sports fans. We’re so used to losing the big game that the question isn’t whether we’re going to win or lose, it’s how are we going to blow it this time. O’Connor had everybody but the OU fans in attendance last night convinced that Game 3 of the Super Regional was going to be little more than a coronation that was going to end with a dogpile of orange and blue.
Link to column on TheWorldAccordingToChrisGraham.com.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with al groh, brian o'connor, dave leitao, jeff jones, pete gillen, terry holland, uva super regional, uva. baseball, uva. basketball, uva. football, wahoo nation