Cavaliers' three-game Canadian tour begins today
The Virginia men's basketball team left the University today for its first preseason exhibition tour in four years.
In 2000, the Cavaliers traveled to the lush lands of Belgium, Germany and France. Today, their destination is Montreal, Canada.
Montreal may not be as lavish as the setting that saw Virginia win five in a six-game stint against European club and professional teams, but this trip isn't intended as a luxurious vacation, nor is it all about winning, Virginia coach Pete Gillen said in a teleconference Monday.
"We're going to try to win, but it's more about giving experience to different guys," Gillen said.
The team was allowed to hold 10 practices in preparation for the trip, beginning in mid-September. Those sessions, though shorter than usual to avoid early-season burnout, have given the Virginia coaching staff a look at what they have to work with come the regular season in November. But a starting lineup is still illusive.
"It's tough to tell," Gillen said. "The veterans are doing a good job, but first-year guys are doing well also ... we're going to start different guys and different combinations ... it's a learning process for me to see what we have and what combos seem to be efficient."
The Cavaliers play Royal Military College tomorrow, Concordia University Saturday and McGill University Sunday to round out the three-game trip.
Clark most improved, Smith ready for action
Among the topics discussed in Gillen's Monday teleconference were two of the newly appointed senior tri-captains, Jason Clark and Devin Smith.
Gillen pegged Clark as the most improved player from what he's seen in practice thus far. The 6-foot-8-inch, 240-pound senior played in only the final 19 games of last season because of academic ineligibility in the fall semester, but was a defensive hawk, recording a team-high 31 blocked shots.
Smith, a senior serving his second-straight season as a tri-captain, appears close to 100 percent after undergoing back surgery in the offseason for an injury that hampered him most of last year.
"He's free from pain," Gillen said. "He gets a little stiff afterward but he practices and he plays pretty well."
Singletary completes guard trio
Gillen praised the play of freshman point guard Sean Singletary. The 6-foot, 180-pound ball handler from Philadelphia will join sophomores T.J. Bannister and J.R. Reynolds in the backcourt this season.
"He's got quickness," Gillen said of Singletary. "He makes people better, gets in the lane and creates shots ... he's a very unselfish player."
-- Compiled by Becky Piedel
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