Given that both of this year's freshmen, Mamadi Diane and Laurynas Mikalauskas, started in the exposition game against Concordia, the youngest members of the Virginia's men's basketball team may be among the first five to take the court again tonight. Indeed, last week's decisive win demonstrated that the team's newest members have what it takes to play college ball.
"I think even if we had a full team, they would play a lot," head coach Dave Leitao said of the freshmen's performances.
In the game, Diane tallied 16 points and contributed to the Cavaliers' 43-31 rebound margin; Mikalauskas provided the strong frontcourt presence the team has been noticeably lacking.
"Our frontcourt lacks players that are physical, and Mikalauskas will bring that trait to the table," Leitao said. "We will use him early and often to get into games. The only thing we have to do now is teach him to confine it so he can stay out of foul trouble."
Originally from Vilnius, Lithuania, the 6-foot-8-inch Mikalauskas played basketball in high school for the Blue Ridge School. For the 2004-2005 season, he was not only named the Central Virginia Player of the Year by Charlottesville's Daily Progress but also was a first-team All-Central Virginia selection.
According to Diane, neither he nor Mikalauskas were very nervous about making their collegiate debut.
"That's the starting lineup we'd been working with in practice the couple of days before, so it wasn't really unusual," Diane said. "I think Coach Leitao felt that was probably the best fit for the night, and I think it worked well."
The 6-foot-5-inch Diane grew up in Potomac, Md. and played basketball in high school for DeMatha Catholic. Although he earned first-team All-Metropolitan honors from the Washington Post for 2004-2005, Leitao said Diane has exceeded expectations.
"Mamadi did not have a tremendous reputation, especially for someone coming out of DeMatha," Leitao said. "But I've been very, very pleased with him and his work ethic. He's a tremendous runner, and I've already seen his resiliency. There isn't wasted motion in his game, and I wouldn't be surprised by anything [he accomplishes], because he has the usable tools to become a better and better player as time goes on."
Virginia teammate Sean Singletary, the sophomore guard, holds a similar opinion of Diane.
"He's a real good scorer, aggressive down the stretch even in the beginning of the game," Singletary said. "We need a lot more scoring besides J.R. and I, and he needs to step up and hit some big shots. He plays hard, defends the ball real well, and that's a big plus for us."
Tonight is the Cavaliers' first regular season game, Leitao's first regular season game as head coach and the last first regular season game in University Hall. Virginia will take on Liberty at 7 p.m. and will look to improve on its 5-1 record against the Flames.
"I think we're ready at this point," Diane said. "We've made great strides since August, and I know we will continue to make great improvements. I'm real excited to start the season"
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