UVa Insider, the column: Cavs find Hancock intriguing
UVA INSIDER FOR MAY 12, 2010
Am I wrong to think there are a lot of similarities between the Virginia football and men’s basketball programs?
It seems that both programs are on the verge of a breakthrough. They just need a quarterback.
You look at the talent that second-year football coach Mike London is starting to assemble, including most recent “commit” Kwontie Moore, and the only real hole is at quarterback.
Then, you look at a men’s basketball team that some pundits are picking for the top half of the ACC and all the Cavaliers’ need is a point guard, the position that is considered the quarterback of the basketball team.
That’s not entirely fair because the Cavaliers have a couple of veteran point guards in Sammy Zeglinski, who will be a fifth-year senior in 2010-2011, and Jontel Evans, who will be a junior.
A lot of people are down on Zeglinski because of his role in Virginia’s huge meltdown against Miami in the ACC Tournament but, just five days before that, he was terrific in the Cavaliers’ regular-season finale at Maryland.
Zeglinski hit six 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in the Cavaliers’ 74-60 victory. Moreover, he had one turnover in 31 minutes as the primary in-bounder against the Terps’ press.
Evans is quicker and a better defender, although Zeglinski is a heady player who is a much better outside shooter. The immediate problem is, neither one can make free throws.
There’s more of a long-range problem in that Evans will be a senior in 2012-2013 and the Cavaliers don’t have an obvious back-up, much less an eventual successor. Kyan Jackson was a possibility after getting out of his letter-of-intent to Providence but he decided to stay closer to his Fort Worth, Texas, home and elected to play for TCU.
ROANOKER LUKE HANCOCK, who has been released from his scholarship at George Mason, is not a point guard. But, he had a team-high 143 assists for a 27-7 Patriots’ team this season.
That’s why UVa coach Tony Bennett finds Hancock intriguing. Hancock might not be able to guard a point guard but he can distribute the ball. Here’s something else about Hancock that Bennett would have to find attractive: Hancock was an 81.0-percent free-throw shooter last season, when he was 98-of-121 from the line.
Neither Evans nor Zeglinski shot 60 percent from the free-throw line. In fact, Zeglinski shot 57.1 percent, attempting only 28 free throws in 614 minutes (1.8 per every 40 minutes). Hancock attempted 5.1 free throws per every 40 minutes that he played.
Evans averaged 2.5 free throws per every 40 minutes, which is a more meaningful comparison, given that Hancock would not be at Virginia at the same time as Zeglinski. But, Hancock isn’t going to be a point guard either offensively or defensively. He is a player who defies description, which is part of his attraction.
In the end, my guess is that Virginia offers Hancock. For one thing, the Cavaliers need to strengthen their in-state ties, although I’m not sure how many doors Hancock would open. With J.J. Redick, Josh Henderson, Ben Boggs and now Hancock over the past nine years, southwest Roanoke County has exceeded the law of averages.
WHAT THE CAVALIERS need is a Ronald Curry-type prospect who could play quarterback on the football team and point guard on the basketball team, although it’s hard to say that Curry was an unqualified success as a two-sport athlete at North Carolina.
Few Virginia fans grieved when quarterback Marc Verica used up his eligibility last season, but would they take a quarterback who could compete close to 60 percent of his passes for more than 2,500 yards and close to 15 touchdowns?
You bet they would. Or how about a quarterback who threw for 2,000 yards but completed closer to 65 percent of his passes? The first set of numbers show what Verica did as a senior. The second set showed what Verica did in 2008 as a redshirt sophomore with infinitely less experience than 2011 sophomores Michael Rocco and Ross Metheny.
The worst part about the quarterback situation for UVa fans is the uncertainty, but Verica was a two-star signee in 2006, just as Rocco was a two-star recruit in 2010. Ultimately, you’d like to get a four- or five-star quarterback, but what was there to complain about Verica except for the interceptions?
May 12, 2011 - 3:36 PM
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Stupid interceptions lose games. Plain & simple.
Review the INT vs. USC and also at the end of game vs. VT 3 years ago.
That’s all you need in order to complain. I won’t even get into compounding the situation by taking SO MANY sacks…
A mitigating factor is the high-school offense we ran ynder Groh – and the lack of a deep threat. There’s plenty of blame to go around – not an enviable position for him to have been put in….
10-4
Good Points DD…It’s like the Hoos are on the verge but…..that critical component is not in place…By the way, The Orrie still has four of eligiblity and a good run on the intra -mural scene back in the day.
Verica completed alot of passes, unfortuantely it is hard to win many games when your quarterback hands the other team points in virtually every game. Yards and completion percentages are nice individual stats, however; the only stat that matters is wins versus losses and in that category Verica was miserable. For that reason, I would take an inexperienced quarterback over Verica any day of the week and particularly on Saturdays. I think starting Verica last year was about one of the worse coaching decisions I have ever witnessed. In my opinion, UVA wins the same number of games last year no matter which of the quarterbacks play so why not start the two that will return for additional seasons.
My only hope is that London can recruit enough talent to make up for his lack of head coaching experience. I am sure he will develop into an outstanding coach over time. The question is, will there be any fans left by then.
A lot of the dissatisfaction with Verica was misplaced, in my mind. I put a bigger burden on Al Groh.
Remember in 2008, Verica was the third stringer but suddenly became the starter when Jameel Sewell had academic problems and Peter Lalich was an idiot in his personal conduct. Given those circumstances, 2000 yards and 65 per cent completed is pretty darned good. In 2009, Groh was screwing around with the spread, which is spectacularly unsuited for a classic drop-back guy like Verica. Last season was more like 2009 SHOULD have been for Verica, the maturation that comes with one full season under the belt. Had Groh not been playing with the spread, and Verica started in 2009, 2010 would have shown a quarterback with a lot more comfort and familiarity, and he could have put up some really big numbers.
I think it illustrates how important it is to allow the maturation process to happen. Whether it’s Rocco or Metheney or someone else, he’ll have three seasons to mature. As long as he continues to mature and improve, allow him to take his lumps. The Hoos won’t be contenders overnight, but give a solid quarterback time to grow in the same system, in two or three years, they could be much much more competitive.