The Fanatic Magazine - A student-run sports magazine for the UVA fanatic

A Season That Gives Reason To Hope

Written by Michael Garcia

Thursday, 22 March 2007

    This was a pivotal year for the future of Men’s Basketball here at UVA. It marked the opening of the state-of-the-art, $130 million John Paul Jones arena, which promised to draw more fans and enhance recruiting. It signified the end of the honeymoon period with head coach Dave Leitao, whose team acquitted itself well in his first year considering a significant amount of talent lost to transfers. In 2007, however, his team would need to improve to match quickly increasing pressure and expectations, and most importantly, the past year was the best chance in a long time for the program to break out of the malaise that had gripped it since the Cavaliers’ last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001. If the season was a successful one – say, if the ’Hoos finished at least .500 in the ACC and won a few games in the NIT – it could be a harbinger of prosperous times ahead for a program termed a “sleeping giant” by basketball announcer Mike Gminski. If not, it would be a disappointing climax to the anticipation built up by the opening of JPJ and the hope for change brought by Leitao’s arrival.
    The verdict? By and large, the 2006-2007 season was shockingly successful for these Wahoos. John Paul Jones Arena instantly proved itself one of the toughest venues in the nation for opposing teams to play in. In its opening game, Virginia rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to shock the then-#10 Arizona Wildcats, one of the premier programs of the last two decades. The Cavs went on to post a 16-1 record in the new arena’s inaugural season (their one loss at home came by one point to a competitive Stanford squad), including an 8-0 record in ACC play. A year removed from a very much average season, (15-15 including a record of 7-9 in ACC play) Leitao coached the Wahoos to a 21-11 and was named ACC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press.
    The most exciting part of the season by far was Virginia’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years. The selection committee rewarded the Cavs’ season with a 4 seed in the South region. Virginia crushed 13 seed Albany in the first round, 85-57, but then fell in its second round match-up to 5 seed Tennessee by a score of 77-74. Had junior point guard Sean Singletary’s three pointer gone down instead of rimming out at the buzzer of the Tennessee game, the game would have gone into overtime and the Wahoos could still be standing in the round of 16. Despite a heartbreaking loss in the NCAA Tournament, Virginia basketball proved they belong in the postseason, playing up to its seed and avoiding any real upsets (Tennessee was a 2 point favorite over Virginia). The Wahoos’ performance in the Big Dance was a fitting end to a very good, but not great, season.
    However, that assessment does not mean there were only good times throughout this basketball campaign. This season was, after all, a roller coaster ride; from the emotional first game, to the disaster in San Juan, to the thrill of beating Gonzaga and Duke, to disappointment of a season-ending surrender of first place in the ACC, this year certainly had its fair share of peaks and valleys. After starting out 4-0, the Cavs lost a buzzer-beater at Purdue in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge. After winning its next two contests, the ’Hoos went to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout, but left their game in the states. Virginia suffered two embarrassing losses, by 11 to Appalachian State and by 24 to Utah, before winning a 59-52 contest against Division II Puerto Rico-Mayaguez to hang on to its last shred of confidence. The Wahoos won their next two, including a clobbering of perennial powerhouse Gonzaga, before losing their next three to Stanford and on the road against UNC and BC.
    It was at this point in the season, with a 9-6 (1-2 ACC) record, that Virginia reached a crossroads. The team had been extremely inconsistent at this point, and coach Leitao and company had to right the ship if they wanted to earn a much-coveted bid to the NCAA Tournament, or less-coveted bid to the NIT. The Cavaliers saw this opportunity to turn their season around and seized it, winning their next seven games. This streak included a sweep of Maryland, a terrific road comeback against then-#19 Clemson, and an absolutely thrilling come-from-behind home win against then-#8 Duke. The ’Hoos dropped their next game to rival Virginia Tech, won their next two, only to lose in stunning upset fashion at cellar dweller Miami, won two more (including a revenge win over VA Tech), and went into Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with a chance to win the ACC regular season title outright.
    The Cavaliers were shocked again in that game against Wake Forest, a team that had only pride to play for that day. But it was still a pleasant surprise for Wahoos everywhere to check the ACC standings at season’s end and see their Cavaliers tied atop the conference standings with legendary program North Carolina. A first quarterfinal loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament caused some concern, but did little to dim the joy and excitement from a surprisingly successful, overachieving year. Overall, the 20-10 (11-5) finish was more than acceptable for a team unanimously picked by the media to finish eighth in the ACC before the season, and the NCAA Tournament win – the program’s first since 1995 – was icing on the cake.
    The Cavaliers were led this season by senior guard J.R. Reynolds and junior guard Sean Singletary; this duo, by March Madness, had earned acclaim from many college basketball pundits as one of the top backcourt tandems in the country. Reynolds posted 18.4 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game to earn third-team All-ACC honors. Singletary averaged 18.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.6 boards to garner first-team All-ACC and third-team All-America honors (one of only 2 true point guards out of the 15 recipients to garner All-America honors). After the dynamic duo, a number of role players chipped in to contribute in certain aspects of the game: senior Jason Cain led the team with 6.3 rebounds per contest, sophomore Mamadi Diane averaged 9.6 points per game and came up huge in some prime-time contests (25 points against Arizona, 26 in the first win against Maryland), and junior Adrian Joseph shot 35% from three point range.
    Unlike as is the case in some out-of-nowhere campaigns, this season is doubtfully a one-hit wonder for the Cavaliers. Only two players (Reynolds and Cain) will graduate, and Virginia has a strong recruiting class in the backcourt as well as a promising transfer from William & Mary in guard Calvin Baker. Leitao wants to play a difficult but publicity-heavy schedule for next season, and he and his staff have worked hard on the recruiting trail. If the fans can make the atmosphere at JPJ as difficult for opponents next year as it was this year, the Wahoos will always be a threat to win at home. And, if Cavs fans learned anything from the 2006-2007 men’s basketball team, it is that the unexpected is always possible. This year was a crucial year in shaping the future of this program, and from the excitement of the new arena to the unexpectedly strong performance of the team, it looks like Virginia Basketball took a step in the right direction. Hope and optimism are plentiful within this program. Looks like somebody finally awoke the giant.