With all of the speculation surrounding this year's basketball team, the return of one player is reversing the criticisms of the naysayers of Virginia basketball.
When Colin Ducharme bowed out early in the 1999 campaign - after playing only in one game and totaling 12 minutes of playing time - the Cavaliers were forced to face the season without the help of their only legitimate force in the middle.
"The loss [of Colin Ducharme] was immeasurable," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "It was about as big a loss as you can have, because of our lack of strength."
The Cavs definitely missed the presence of the 6-foot-9 center last season, being out-rebounded at an average of nine boards per game.
After breaking his left ankle, Ducharme underwent surgery that forced him to miss the entire season. But while Ducharme's return to the Cavalier squad is an important boost, the strides he made in the offseason could be even more crucial.
"Sometimes you can turn a negative situation into a positive one, and it is definitely looking positive at this early stage," Gillen said. "He's really hungry now, and he has worked hard on his game - it might be the hardest he's worked in the offseason."
It is expected that Ducharme will bring back to the team a new defensive attitude with his ability to block shots as the leading shot blocker on the team for two consecutive years.
He will be able to take up space in a lane that was a virtual runway for Virginia opposition last season, something the Richmond, Va., native always has done well, but the summer also gave him an opportunity to add a new dimension to his game.
"The injury may be one of the most significant things to happen to me in terms of basketball, because if that had not happened to me, I don't think that I would be the changed player that I am," Ducharme said. "It has propelled me in a positive direction."
Ducharme slimmed down to a svelte 235 pounds, which will help him play in the high-speed offensive and defensive sets of this year's team.
"I feel more fluid, and I think that I will have no problem keeping up and getting back and playing defense," he said. "Now I'm coming in to the gym every day and working in different areas of my game like my ball handling, and I think it has paid off."
The most important element of Ducharme's transformation is the return of his passion for the game. Ducharme once admitted to have taken a punch-the-clock attitude to the game, where the work was getting done, but the little extra was not there.
The ankle injury has played a major role in his new outlook.
"Being away from the game an entire year was hard - I still keep the thing that was holding my ankle together on my key chain as a reminder," Ducharme said. "Whenever there is a tough time, I have a reminder of what I have been through, and it makes me realize what an opportunity I have, and that I can't let that go to waste."
Virginia will not let his talent go to waste and expects the big man in the middle to be around for the next two seasons, since Ducharme was granted a medical redshirt that will allow him to play through the 2000-2001 season.
Ducharme's new attitude, along with the old aggressiveness and tough play, will be just what the Virginia basketball squad needs to be an impact team in the ACC this season.
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