Al Groh has put his "rebuilding" process on a fast track for success, all due to this past weekend's spring game.
Anyone who went to the spring game must have felt it in the atmosphere. It was certainly a fan-friendly affair. There was free food for the students, bounce houses (or moon bounces or moon walks, the correct title is still being debated in my apartment), a combine challenge, a student that was inches away from winning tuition for a year and a lucky individual who won a Toyota Tundra, season tickets and more. This good use of marketing brought a pretty solid crowd to Scott Stadium to observe the spring game.
The actual game was not extraordinary but showed some promise for the future. Christian Olsen looked solid, as did several of the new linebackers, running back Mikell Simpson and others. However, the players in the game do not prompt my earlier statement.
Future players, namely one, attending the game are what have caused my wave of enthusiasm. Somewhere amidst the games, food and football, two top-100 players, who will be high school seniors next year, committed to play for Virginia in 2007.
The first player was so excited about committing to Virginia he did so that very day. J'Courtney Williams, a six-foot-four-inch, 212-pound linebacker will be suiting up for the Cavaliers in the fall of '07.
While Williams was an excellent pick-up, his commitment was nowhere near the importance of adding Peter Lalich. Lalich is a six-foot-five-inch, 235-pound quarterback from Springfield, Va. who is currently the 53rd best player, sixth best quarterback, in the country. He is the most highly touted quarterback that has ever committed to play for Virginia, besides Ronald Curry who backed out of his commitment.
Lalich passed for 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns this past season and is known for having a strong arm and good speed for his size (rivals.com lists his 40-yard time at 4.65 seconds). He turned down offers from the likes of Michigan, Miami, N.C. State, Maryland and Oklahoma. He also received interest from Florida, Florida State, the University of Southern California and many more.
Lalich's credentials are certainly outstanding, and I personally cannot wait to see him light up the scoreboard for the 'Hoos, but his play alone is still not what has prompted me to say Groh's "rebuilding" process has been put in fast-forward. Comments like the following do.
"It's not over," Lalich said in response to a question regarding his recruitment process, according to DailyProgress.com, "Because I'm going to start recruiting guys to come to Virginia with me."
What type of guys might Lalich encourage to join him at U.Va.? Perhaps, one of the other top-75 players in his class that joined him at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, where he made first-team All-Combine, will follow him to Virginia. One such player, whom Lalich made friends with, according to dailypress.com, could be wide receiver Greg Little of Durham, N.C. Maybe it will be one of his other friends, such as tailback Max Millen of Yorktown, Va., whom timesdispatch.com said is friends with Lalich.
This is what is most exciting. By signing early with Virginia, a highly coveted player such as Lalich will cause other top players to consider Virginia as an option. Rivals.com currently lists four of their top-50 juniors as being interested in the Wahoos. Maybe now that number will increase and some of those players will sign with Virginia. Either way, Virginia has become a viable option for the nation's best talent, and this makes Groh's "rebuilding" job much easier.
Like almost every other columnist, this will be my last column for The Cavalier Daily. I would briefly like to thank those that have helped me throughout the year. Shout out to the entire Cavalier Daily staff, my family, Amber, my roommates, E.B., the movie "Dodgeball," Chuck Norris, Terrell Owens, Marcus Vick, David Stern, Ashy Larry, beer pong, Jmac and CT, the WHEEZ, laffy taffy, Don Magic Juan, his green hat, purple drink, Hank "Nasty" Nacey, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Brian Boitano, the orange iguanas, crabcakes, cookie ice cream surprise and, last but not least, my good friend, Lionel Ritchie.
Read More
Volleyball holds off Boston College in tight five-set win
By Lauren Halak | 22 hours agoSenior outside hitter Elayna Duprey led the team throughout the match with 22 points and 18 kills.
Virginia annihilated 41-14 in a must-win contest versus North Carolina
By Peter Kriebel | 2 days agoJust about everything that could have gone wrong for Virginia football went wrong.
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
