Last Thursday morning, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down with first-year Virginia men's basketball coach Tony Bennett for an interview.
[caption id="attachment_32575" align="alignleft" width="184" caption="Sophomore forward Chelsea Shine ranks second on the team in scoring behind senior guard Monica Wright, averaging 7.9 points per game.
I've long been a bigger fan of college basketball than I have of the NBA, and the reason actually has less to do with basketball than you might think. Even though the NCAA has some crazy rules in many sports, the game rules are pretty similar to the pros when it comes to basketball.
[caption id="attachment_32540" align="alignleft" width="253" caption="Junior forward Will Sherrill (above) had to carry the Cavalier offense after sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg got into foul trouble.
They've conceded they are not the most athletic team. Or the biggest. Or the most talented. Sixteen games into the season, the Cavaliers took pride in their ability to win games with superior team defense, despite their other shortcomings.
[caption id="attachment_32537" align="alignleft" width="195" caption="Freshman guard Lexie Gerson contributed to the Cavaliers' 57-55 win against the Yellow Jackets.
[caption id="attachment_32535" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The wrestling team played two ACC foes this weekend, topping the Tar Heels and falling to the Hokies.
[caption id="attachment_32533" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Four swimmers set pool records in the dual meet against Duke Friday afternoon.
[caption id="attachment_32511" align="alignleft" width="205" caption="Sylven Landesberg, the 2008 ACC Rookie of the Year, will lead Virginia against award runner-up Al-Farouq Aminu and the Demon Deacons Saturday in Winston-Salem.
[caption id="attachment_32509" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Though she only scored three points in 22 minutes, junior guard Paulisha Kellum delivered the game-winning basket in Virginia's victory against Boston College.
Out with the old, in with the new. Groh is gone, Mike London returns. After a nine-loss season, including one to FCS school William & Mary, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage decided he had had enough.
[caption id="attachment_32506" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Senior Brent Jones only needed 15 seconds to pin third-ranked Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma.
The No. 9 men and No. 11 women swim and dive teams will resume ACC action this weekend at Duke and North Carolina. The Cavaliers (5-1, 2-0 ACC) hope to pick up where they left off last Thursday when they defeated nationally-ranked Florida State, 161-134 and 163-123, respectively.
[caption id="attachment_32478" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Senior guard Monica Wright was selected as a preseason All-American and was recently put on a midseason short list as a candidate for the Wooden Award.
[caption id="attachment_32476" align="alignleft" width="252" caption="New defensive coordinator Jim Reid hired Mike London at the University of Richmond 15 years ago.
If you read any magazine or newspaper during the weeks leading up to the new year, chances are high that you encountered at least one ranked list of "The Best of the Aughts." No topic was spared from these insufferable countdowns.
If John Paul Jones Arena were a basketball player, you could say that it had a great rookie season, abruptly retired and took two years off and is now back in the game at the same high level it was at three years ago. As a fourth-year student, I have to say that I'm practically giddy about how life has returned to JPJ.
[caption id="attachment_32433" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Sophomore midfielder Tony Tchani, an integral part of the Cavaliers' national title squad, declared for the Major League Soccer draft and was selected second overall by the New York Red Bulls.
[caption id="attachment_32430" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Virginia coach Mike London served as defensive coordinator for the Cavaliers from 2006-07.
I was spoiled rotten during the holiday season - like a fat kid finding a stocking stuffed full of candy on Christmas - with the success of my two favorite sports teams, the Cavaliers and the Dallas Cowboys.
