2007-2008 ACC Team Preview #8

Virginia Cavaliers

Good news - Sean Singletary is back. Bad news - J.R. Reynolds is not. This means there is a lot of uncertainty for 2007 ACC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year Dave Leitao. Last year the team returned 5 starters, but this year Leitao himself is not even sure who the starters will be.

Key Losses: The biggest loss for UVA is the loss of 1 part of arguably of the best backcourts in the country, in the person of J.R. Reynolds (18.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 3.7 apg). That loss alone amounts to 23% of the teams scoring. The Cavs also lose Jason Cain, who was the leading and only consistent rebounder at 6.3 per game.
(32% of scoring, 26% of rebounding, 34% of assists).

New Additions: The Cavs bring in 5 freshaman this year and William and Mary transfer Calvin Baker. The top newcomer will likely be 6'4" Jeff Jones, who is very good athlete and shooter. Mustapha Farrakhan (grandson of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan) is another 6'4" guard who could also contribute. 6'8" forward Mike Scott, who really likes to play facing the basket, could also see some time in the rotation. 6'0" Sam Zeglinski, who attended the same Philadephia high school as Singletary, could provide some minutes at the point.

Projected Lineup:
PG - Sean Singletary (6'0", Sr.)
SG - Mamadi Diane (6'5", Jr.)
SF - Adrian Joseph (6'7", Sr.)
PF - Jamil Tucker(6'8", So.)
C - Tunji Soroye(6'11", Sr.)

Key Reserves:
SG - Jeff Jones (6'4", Fr.)
PG - Calvin Baker (6'2", So.)
PF - Laurynas Mikalauskas (6'8", Jr.)
PF/C - Ryan Petinella (6'9", Sr.)
SF - Will Harris (6'6", So.)
G/F - Solomon Tat (6'5", So.)
SG - Mustapha Farrakhan (6'4", Fr.)
F - Mike Scott (6'8", Fr.)

Outlook: UVA returns as regular season co-champions, and while a repeat isn't likely, Singletary won't let them slip very far. Someone will need to step and fill the scoring void left by the departure of Reynolds. Beyond Singletary the next leading returning scorer is Diane, who averaged 9.6 per game last year. Either he or one of the freshmen (the best candidate is probably Jones) will likely have to step up offensively. The biggest question for this team is the unknown and who beyond Singletary will play a key role. This is a big reason why there are 8 key reserves listed - any or possibly even all of these could make an impact at some point this season.

Virginia plays some strong teams out of conference this year, with a visit to Arizona on November 17th, a home game against Syracuse on December 5th, and a January 3rd game at Xavier. Despite the keys losses the team returns the biggest key and should be Dancing come March.

Prediction: 8-8 Finish, T-6 in ACC; 19-10 Overall

ACC Preview #7 - Wake Forest
ACC Preview #6 - Virginia Tech
ACC Preview #5- Miami
ACC Preview #4- Florida State
ACC Preview #3- NC State
ACC Preview #2- Clemson
ACC Preview #1- Georgia Tech