Seems like forever and a day since Sean Singletary‘s shot rattled out against Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. A cold end to a bright season.
Seven months later, the sun rises again for the Virginia men’s basketball team. A star has returned to shine and a new season full of promise as well as questions loom on the horizon.
Who will replace JR Reynolds‘ scoring? Who will provide the rebounds of Jason Cain? Does Singletary, who returned for his senior season after deciding to withdraw from the NBA Draft, have to put this team on his shoulders?
Virginia knows that among all the questions they have one answer: They aren’t one-year wonders. "We’re all focused on the here and now and we want to be as good as we can be today and then do it again tomorrow, so we don’t have to go back to that time," says Head Coach Dave Leitao, who is entering his third season.
 Fawning over Sean: Head Coach Dave Leitao understands how important super-guard Sean Singletary is to the UVA men’s basketball team, but he’s got praise in store for any other players willing to step up. |
Their team, not just his team
Reynolds and Cain provided the team with a crucial component: "Leadership. They both gave us some intangibles that is going to be, at least initially, hard to replace," says Leitao. But among the 11 returning from last year’s team, no one had more impact than Singletary, who averaged 19 points per game last season. Yet Leitao stresses that this is not just Singletary’s team. "We’ve got to find that out about our team and who may be able to step into those roles and assume an identity of the team other than the obvious, Sean, who has done a tremendous job that way. But I think it’s unfair to have him shoulder the whole load."
The 2007 ACC Coach of the Year realized a few weeks back, after Singletary left practice early to receive treatment, exactly what life would be like without the ACC preseason first-team selection. "I hadn’t thought a lot about it after Sean announced he was going to put his name in and go through the whole draft process about what we’d look like had he not come back, and I got a little piece of that. We’d look a little like the Kiddie Corps, teaching Basketball 101 especially to the back court and a lot of first year guys."
The head coach understands that, while Singletary isn’t everything the team needs, his presence is indispensable. "He’s allowing us to move forward and push forward not only with this team but with this program."
The new ‘Hoo crew
Virginia welcomes in four new first-year players, each of whom have tried early on to showcase their talents.
"What I’ve tried to do even with these two classes in front us, the second year and first year, is to bring some versatility," says Leitao. "Jeff Jones, early on, shows ability to put the ball in the basket and he’s played very hard, so hopefully we’ll be able to use those two things to make us better."
Mustapha Farrakhan and Sam Zeglinski have also caught Leitao’s eye. "Mustapha can really shoot the basketball and Sam brings something different from what we’ve had in the previous two years in that he’s a consummate point guard and ‘pass first, find shots for other people’ kind of guy, and there’s always room for that." This season the Cavaliers will also get to activate Calvin Baker, who was with the team last year but had to sit out after transferring from William and Mary.
When it all begins
The Cavaliers will play 30 regular season games, including 17 games at home. Fourteen games on the schedule will come against 2007 NCAA tournament teams and six played in the NIT. Twenty-one games will be broadcast on TV. Virginia was selected fourth in the ACC Preseason Media Poll. The Cavaliers first game is Sunday, November 11, against Vermont at 2pm.
Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. 3-5pm, Monday-Friday.