Originally Posted by
Patrick Yates
Outside of Singletary, there is probably not a single kid at UVA who would even be on Duke or UNC's team, or at least, none that would play anything other than mop-up minutes. Last year there were whispers by well known columnists (articles no longer up) that Leitao was a nightmare to play for and that he ran down kids routinely, and that he was abusive on the sidelines.
Much like Bob Knight, it is easy for a player to look past this if the team is winning and talent is flowing into the program. Neither is true at UVA. Leitao may be a heck of a tactician, but his style is more suited to mid majors, where the level of athletes dictate that the players need the school (scholarship, education, etc) more than the school need the players. At high majors, top schools, even Duke and UNC, need the players at least as much as the players need the schools. Lets face it, Davis, Monroe, Singler, Hansborough, etc, could have gone anywhere in America and played, a lot. To keep winning, top schools must bring in top kids. That is hard to do if you constantly abuse the kids. It shows on TV, and I assume it shows on recruiting visits.
As for Davis at UVA, as I said earlier, the talent wasn't there. When Singletary leaves, there is no evidence that UVA will have a capable PG to get Davis the ball, unlike at UNC. Even if Williams had committed to UVA, he seems more suited to SG, at least in the short run. So, given that Davis probably needs a quality PG to feed him the ball, UNC was a better fit. There is enough talent in place that ED can develop as a player without being chained to the low post like at UVA (cause at 6-8 and 225, which may be generous as far as weight, he has no realistic pro career as a PF, not when the 6-9 245lb Hans has his size questioned).
Personally, I thought UVA might squeek it out, but I thought that it would be sentimental and foolhardy choice on ED's part. (I was hoping for UCONN instead).
But, like I said, first nail in Leitao's coffin. VTech is decent, and UVA will start a big slide this year. That seat will be red hot by May of 09.
Patrick Yates