CHARLOTTESVILLE—Want to follow the senior season of U.Va. basketball recruit John Brandenburg? 

  His hometown newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, makes it easy to do so.  This link provides about all of the statistical information on Brandenburg that you could want.

  Brandenburg is a 6-11, 230-pound center from DeSmet Jesuit High.  Two of Virginia’s top three centers this season—Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella—are seniors, and Brandenburg could be a candidate to start as a freshman in 2007-08.  He’ll have to stay healthy, though, which has been a problem for him in high school.

  As a junior, Brandenburg missed six games because of ankle and back injuries, and he’s hurt again.
  “We’ve shut him down for awhile,“ DeSmet coach Bob Steiner told me over the phone yesterday, “and don’t know when he’ll be able to go again.  He’s got recurring back issues.“

  Brandenburg played in the Spartans’ first four games before sitting out their win over Beaumont on Tuesday.
 
  “Basically, it seems to be the same [back] issues we had with him last year,“ Steiner said.  By holding Brandenburg out now, the Spartans’ staff hopes to solve the problem because it worsens.

  Brandenburg is averaging 9.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.  Those are modest stats, but it’s worth noting that DeSmet (2-3) is averaging only 46.8 points.  This is a program that, since 1970, has won five state championships and advanced to the state semifinals eight other times, but DeSmet doesn’t showcase individuals.

    As a sophomore, Brandenburg averaged 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds; as a junior, 8.2 and 7.9.
 
  “Nobody in DeSmet history has put up eye-catching numbers,“ Steiner said.  “That’s the beauty of the program; we’re all about seven or eight guys.  nobody’s bigger than the team.“

    To wit: The leading scorer in school history, 1997 graduate Matt Baniak, averaged 14.7 points for his career.  No. 2 on DeSmet’s list is former Indiana Pacers big man Steve Stipanovich.  He averaged 16.9 points in his 90 games on the Spartans’ varsity.

    “That’s the way it’s always been,“ Steiner said, “and it won’t change.“

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(NOTE: This was originally posted Dec. 5)

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—Periodically, I exchange e-mails with Michele Talamazzi, a sportswriter in Italy who covers Vanoli Soresina, the pro basketball team for which former U.Va. star J.R. Reynolds plays in that country.

    When I logged on this morning, waiting for me was a message from Michele.  He was kind enough to prode a link to J.R.‘s latest game-winner, which gave Vanoli a 103-101 victory and improved its record to 8-2.  Check it out:

    http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=-d0XK3JK15w

    In an e-mail to J.R., I asked him if he’d called “bank” on his shot.  “Ha ha,“ he replied.  “I called after it went in.“

    Reynolds, of course, is the 6-2 guard who teamed with Sean Singletary to give Virginia one of the nation’s best backcourts in 2005-06 and ‘06-07.  A former star at Roanoke Catholic and Oak Hill Academy, Reynolds was second-team all-ACC last season.

    Without Reynolds, Virginia is 6-1 heading into its game with Syracuse (5-2) tonight at John Paul Jones Arena.
  Snow is falling as I type this, so the weather could be an issue tonight.  But U.Va. is expecting an unofficial visit from Josh Hairston, a sophomore from Courtland High in Spotsylvania.  Hairston, a 6-7 forward, is perhaps the top prospect in the state’s Class of 2009, and U.Va. is among the schools from which he has scholarship offers.  He might choose his college before the end of this school year.

    In Courtland’s season-opener last night, Hairston scored a game-high 26 points in a 65-64 victory over Brooke Point.  He made one 3-pointer.

—30—

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—In its bid to sell its allotment of 13,500 tickets for the Gator Bowl, U.Va. is closing in on five figures.

    A school spokesman said that 9,263 tickets had been sold as of late this afternoon.
   
    That total, however, doesn’t reflect all the tickets sold to Virginia fans planning to attend the Jan. 1 game in Jacksonville, Fla., which doesn’t seem to be an attractive destination this season.  (See the attendance at the ACC championship game in Jax.)

    Some fans choose to buy tickets from outlets other than the U.Va. athletic ticket office.  Those tickets don’t count toward the school’s allotment.

    In a news release that also was e-mailed to U.Va. supporters Tuesday, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage noted that a poor turnout at the Gator could hurt the Cavaliers in “the selection process for future bowl games. I understand traveling to Charlotte or Atlanta is easier and less expensive than the trip to Jacksonville, but I know our fans will have a great time if they make the decision to attend the game.“

    U.Va. (9-3) will face Texas Tech (8-4) in the Gator.

    As Virginia has done when sales have been slow for other bowls—such as the MPC Computers in Boise, Idaho, in December 2004—the university is asking fans who are unable to attend the Gator to consider buying proxy tickets.  They’ll be given to at-risk youths through the Jacksonville Children’s Commission.  The proxy tickets are tax-deductible.
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    CHARLOTTESVILLE—Two of Dave Leitao’s centers—Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella—are seniors, and another U.Va. big man, Lars Mikalauskas, is a junior.  Leitao’s basketball team is well-stocked with perimeter players, but the Cavaliers need to replenish their frontcourt for 2008-09 and beyond.

  One target is John Brandenburg, a center from St. Louis who returned the other day from an official visit to Stanford.  Brandenburg’s other finalist is Virginia, which he visited last month, and a decision is imminent.

    The Cavaliers’ chances are probably better with Assane Sene, a 7-footer from Senegal who attends South Kent School in Connecticut.  U.Va. assistant coach Bill Courtney and South Kent coach Raphael Chillious have been close friends for years, and Leitao is well-connected with others who’ll be involved in Sene’s decision.

    Sene, one of four Senegalese boys featured in a documentary, called “Hoopland,“ about basketball and Africa, took an official visit to U.Va. this past week.

    “He absolutely loved Virginia,“ Chillious told The Times-Dispatch this morning.  “He’s going to take a lilttle time to let his visit marinate and decide if he’s going to visit anywhere else or make his decision soon, but he really, really liked it.

    “It just confirmed a lot of what he felt about Virginia going in, in terms of obviously the facilities and the school, but even more so Coach Leitao and his relationship with his players. That’s very important to him.  And the guys were great.  He said he really loved them.  They weren’t a bunch of guys who just wanted to go out and party and stuff.  They hung out and were really good friends, so he appreciated that.“

    Connecticut and Syracuse are among the other schools trying to get an official visit from Sene.

    U.Va. has had a strong international flavor in recent years.  The 2008-09 roster includes two Nigerians (Soroye and Solomon Tat), a Lithuanian (Mikalauskas) and a Trinidadian (Adrian Joseph).

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—Two of Dave Leitao’s centers—Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella—are seniors, and another U.Va. big man, Lars Mikalauskas, is a junior.  Leitao’s basketball team is well-stocked with perimeter players, but the Cavaliers need to replenish their frontcourt for 2008-09 and beyond.

  One target for 2008-09 is John Brandenburg, a center from St. Louis who returned the other day from an official visit to Stanford.  Brandenburg’s other finalist is Virginia, which he visited last month, and a decision is imminent.

    The Cavaliers’ chances are probably better with Assane Sene, a 7-footer from Senegal who attend South Kent School in Connecticut.  U.Va. assistant coach Bill Courtney and South Kent coach Raphael Chillious have been close friends for years, and Leitao is well-connected with others who’ll be involved in Sene’s decision.

    Sene, one of four Senegalese boys featured in a documentary, called “Hoopland,“ about basketball and Africa, took an official visit to U.Va. this past week.

    “He absolutely loved Virginia,“ Chillious told The Times-Dispatch this morning.  “He’s going to take a lilttle time to let his visit marinate and decide if he’s going to visit anywhere else or make his decision soon, but he really, really liked it.

    “It just confirmed a lot of what he felt about Virginia going in, in terms of obviously the facilities and the school, but even more so Coach Leitao and his relationship with his players. That’s very important to him.  And the guys were great.  He said he really loved them.  They weren’t a bunch of guys who just wanted to go out and party and stuff.  They hung out and were really good friends, so he appreciated that.“

    Connecticut and Syracuse are among the other schools trying to get an official visit from Sene.

    U.Va. has had a strong international flavor in recent years.  The 2008-09 roster includes two Nigerians (Soroye and Solomon Tat), a Lithuanian (Mikalauskas) and a Trinidadian (Adrian Joseph).

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—As much as U.Va. football fans—and his coaches—might wish otherwise, Chris Long will be out of eligibility after this season, and he’ll leave a huge void on the defensive line.

    So who’ll take No. 91’s place at end in 2008?  The front-runner for the job figures to be Alex Field, a junior who’s the top reserve at that position this year. But Sean Gottschalk is likely to get significant playing time next season, too, even if he doesn’t win the starting job.

  Gottschalk, a 6-4, 270-pound redshirt freshman, is a graduate of Deep Run High, where his coach was former U.Va. player Lenny Pritchard.  Gottschalk’s parents also have degrees from Virginia.

  On the two-deep, Gottschalk is listed as Long’s backup, but he was primarily a spectator in the Cavaliers’ first three games.  That changed Saturday, when No. 99 was usually on the field when Georgia Tech was in obvious passing situations at Scott Stadium.

    Coach Al Groh, on his Sunday night teleconference with reporters, complimented Gottschalk.

    The Cavaliers have been “looking for a little more firepower at that spot” in their nickel and dime defenses, Groh said, and Gottschalk’s “game has come along nicely ... He earned time there, and he did a pretty nice job with it for the first time out.  He didn’t hit any home runs, but he did a nice job with it.“

    At 6-7, 280 pounds, Field is a huge man whose game is based on strength.  Physically and athletically, Gottschalk is more like Jeffrey Fitzgerald (6-3, 280) and Long (6-4, 279), the quickest set of ends Groh has had in his seven years as coach at his alma mater.

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—John Brandenburg, a 6-10 center from St. Louis who is one of Virginia basketball coach Dave Leitao’s chief targets in the Class of 2008, has decided to take another official visit before choosing a college. 

    His finalists are Stanford and Virginia.  Brandenburg took an unofficial visit to Stanford early last month and an official visit to U.Va. two weekends ago.  He has struggled to reach a decision since then and so has opted to take another look at the Cardinal.
 
    Brandenburg will visit Stanford next weekend and “make a decision after that,“ his father, Jim, said in an e-mail to The Times-Dispatch this morning.

    LARAMIE, Wyo.—U.Va. might have set a record today for the shortest walk-through ever by a college football team.

    The Cavaliers, whose hotel is about 45 miles away in Cheyenne, pulled up to the University of Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium in three chartered buses around 3:40 p.m. local time.  They headed back to Cheyenne about 35 minutes later.

    In the interim, U.Va.‘s players and coaches trooped off the buses, checked out the visitors’ locker room and, finally, walked the length of the field and back.  Not a play was run or a formation practiced.

    The Cavaliers had taken care of that stuff earlier in the day during a practice in Cheyenne.  The trip to Laramie, Al Groh said, was to allow his players “to see the environment, check the field out, make any decisions on what shoes to wear, get their lockers set, and just give them the opportunity to get out of that hotel and get over and see where the game’s going to be.“

    War Memorial, whose 30,514-seat capacity is half that of Scott Stadium, has a FieldTurf surface.  The Wahoos will feel right at home.

    “We practice on it every day,“ Groh said.
    Virginia and Wyoming meet tomorrow at noon Mountain time.  The earliest the Cavaliers could play at night this season would be Sept. 22, when Georgia Tech comes to Scott Stadium.  U.Va.‘s Sept. 8 game against visiting Duke will start at noon, as will its Sept. 15 game at North Carolina.  The starting time for the Georgia Tech game probably will be announced Sept. 10.

    CHARLOTTESVILLE—At long last, the University of Virginia’s football recruiting class for 2008 includes a player from a high school in this state.

    Klinton Ruff, a 6-4, 300-pound senior from Norview High in Norfolk, committed to U.Va. today.  He broke the news to Virginia defensive coordinator Mike London in a morning phone call.

    “Coach London was screaming and hollering,“ Ruff said.

    Ruff, a solid student, also received scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Connecticut and East Carolina. 

    Virginia has long been his favorite, however, and he decided to “get it over with so I can go through the season and not have to think about it any more.“  He’s projected to play defensive end for the Cavaliers.

    Ruff is the 13th player to commit to U.Va. for 2008.  But one of those recruits—Matt Zubyk—reportedly has switched his commitment to Stanford.  Zubyk is a punter from San Diego whom former U.Va. kicker Michael Husted recommended to the Virginia coaching staff.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—The talk of training camp at U.Va. has been the play of wide receiver Dontrelle Inman.  Don’t be shocked if the 6-3, 185-pound true freshman from Batesburg, S.C., breaks into the starting lineup this season.

“He’s got a chance,” wide receivers coach Wayne Lineburg said Sunday. “The thing he has is, he’s got really, really good instincts.  He’s a smart football player.  This is early on now, early on in practice, but he’s a tough kid.  As far as where he is mentally now, he’s way ahead of where a lot of freshmen are mentally. He just knows what’s going on.”

That Virginia’s corps of receivers keeps taking blows has increased the likelihood that Inman will play a leading role this season.  First, Kevin Ogletree, the Cavaliers’ leading receiver in 2006, suffered a major knee injury during spring practice.  He’s coming off surgery and isn’t expected back this season.  Kris Burd, a true freshman from Matoaca High, had season-ending back surgery last week.  Most recently, Cary Koch hurt his knee in practice.  The injury isn’t consider major, but it will sideline the transfer from Tulane for a while.

Inman’s classmates include another wideout who may play this season: Jared Green, son of former Redskins great Darrell Green.  The younger Green didn’t put up big receiving numbers at Oakton High School, and he was considered something of a project when he signed with U.Va. in February.  But he’s impressed the coaching staff thus far.

At 6-2, Green towers over his famous father.  But he inherited one of Darrell Green’s trademarks: speed.

“Fast,” Virginia coach Al Groh said when asked how Jared Green looked in practice.  “Real fast.”

Inman, who wears the No. 81 jersey that previously belonged to Deyon Williams, doesn’t have that kind of speed, but he runs precise routes, has excellent hands and is adept at leaping to make catches.

A knee injury limited Inman to five-and-a-half games as a high school senior, one reason perhaps that he wasn’t considered a big-time catch when he committed to U.Va. in December.  But even before he learned about Ogletree’s setback, Inman expected to play as a true freshman.

Green wasn’t so sure. 

When he heard that Ogletree had torn an ACL, Green recalled, “What I said to myself was, ‘Let’s get ready for anything that will happen.’  My goal coming in here was to be prepared for whatever comes at me.  Kevin Ogletree to me is like a big brother.  I think he’s the greatest.  I watch his film, and I try to emulate a lot of things that he does …  But as a wide receiver coming in, as a younger guy, of course this opens up the door, and I’m saying to myself, ‘Hey, I got to help the team.’  Whatever me and all the other wideouts can do to help and fill that spot, let’s do it.”