I received word Tuesday that Virginia’s annual “Meet The Team Day” and “Media Day” will no longer be rolled together in the frustrating way of the past. For those that don’t recall, the combo-pack afternoon typically featured fans waiting in line to meet players at Scott Stadium while the media pulled several team members away for interviews. Considering the narrow time window for the player portion of the event, it was a frustrating way to conduct business for the fans and for the reporters.

Chalk this up as reason No. 429 that Mike London gets “it” where “it” means the relationship between the fans and college football and where “it” means the relationship between the players and the community that surrounds them. London said when he accepted the job that he expected his players to conduct themselves not just as premier Division I athletes, but as dedicated students and active community members.

The move is, of course, fan friendly as well. From the introductory press conference when he said he couldn’t rebuild Virginia alone to one of the earliest marketing commercials for the program and ticket sales where fans were involved in the shoot, London consistently has tried to reach out to the fans. The scrimmage at ODU (a recruiting move as well), the VAF circuit, the Ladies Night Football 101 Women’s Clinic, a Father’s Day father-son camp, and so on have all been fan-friendly events. That doesn’t even include general interactions with fans (check out this story posted by WESTENDH00 – note that this message board link will eventually expire).

The untangling of “Meet The Team Day” and “Media Day” is just another small step to re-enforce London’s ideals for the program.

Colonial Forge (Stafford, VA) quarterback Blake Frohnapfel worked with new Virginia Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Bill Lazor at the June 26 one-day camp.  The 6-6, 220-pound rising senior signal caller was impressed.

“Just listening to him talk, I can see all of the knowledge he has about the game and the quarterback position in general,” Frohnapfel said.  “I can see myself playing under him.  He knows a lot about the game.  You can tell that from only being with him a couple of hours.”

EDGE subscribers can read more on Frohnapfel, who is hoping to earn an offer from the Cavaliers.  Bryant, James Madison, Liberty and Marshall have already extended offers to the in-state standout.

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Chancellor (Fredericksburg, VA) offensive tackle prospect Sam Marshall is racking up the offers this summer.  Four schools – Duke, Louisville, N.C. State and Virginia – offered the 6-8, 260-pound rising senior within the past week according to Chargers head coach Bob Oliver.

Marshall visited Virginia last weekend and plans to visit Duke and N.C. State this coming weekend, Oliver says.  Marshall also attended Virginia’s Big Man Camp on June 19.

Stay tuned to the EDGE for more on this rising prospect later this week.

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PalmettoSports.com has a report up on Newton (Covington, GA) LB D.J. Hill.  The 6-1, 210-pound rising senior reportedly has been offered by Virginia.

The schedules for Virginia’s fall teams have been rolling out the last several days. The links to the news releases are below; make sure to check back to this post for the schedules as they come out.

• Cross Country
• Field Hockey
• Football
• Men’s Soccer
• Volleyball
• Women’s Soccer

Thompson Brown, the latest high school senior to commit to the University of Virginia, has no problem working hard in the weight room.

“His work ethic is exemplary,” St. Christopher’s head coach Michael Turner said.  “He broke his wrist right before the season last year and we caught him sneaking into the weight room when he should’ve been resting (laughs).”

At 6-4, 225 pounds, Brown is a phenomenal athlete as well.  At the Charlotte Under Armour Combine earlier this year, he posted a 4.59-second 40, a 4.29-second shuttle and a 32.5-inch vertical leap.  After starting for the Saints as a freshman and sophomore, Brown was limited as a junior due to the broken wrist and a hamstring injury.  When healthy, he starts at defensive end and running back.

Brown earned an offer after attending UVa’s one-day camp yesterday.  Turner believes that Virginia offered as a defensive end.  He committed to the Cavaliers over offers from Boston College, Duke, Maryland and Ohio.

UVa now has 16 commitments in the 2011 class.  Stay tuned for more on the EDGE tomorrow.

Kathy Phelps, mother of Damascus (MD) cornerback/wide receiver prospect Brandon Phelps, had no idea her son was ready to make his college choice yesterday.  But after finishing up an unofficial visit to the University of Virginia, he decided to commit to head coach Mike London.

“We got to the parking lot to leave and Brandon asked us, ‘Would y’all have been mad if I had committed?  Because I really wanted to do it,’” Mrs. Phelps said.  Brandon’s father, Gary, made the trip as well.  “We said, ‘no,’ and then we talked about it further.  After we talked, we went back inside and Brandon verbally committed to Coach London.”

Brandon Phelps chose Virginia over offers from 20-plus other schools, including Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech.  The 6-0, 170-pound rising senior will follow in his parents’ footsteps as his father played football for the Cavaliers in the ’80s.  Kathy attended UVa as well.

Phelps’ commitment gives Virginia 15 commitments in total, including yet another top 2011 prospect from the state of Maryland.  Earlier this month, the Cavaliers landed a pair of promising defensive line talents in Good Counsel (Olney, MD) DL Vincent Croce and Boys’ Latin School (Baltimore, MD) DE Marco Jones.  Earlier this spring, UVa landed commitments from DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) standouts Kelby Johnson (OL) and Jordan Lomax (DB).

EDGE subscribers can read more on Phelps later today.

The Virginia men’s basketball schedule for upcoming seasons, including 2010-2011, is taking shape based on various reports around the media. The Best Seat in the House, a Sabre radio partner, first unveiled that LSU and Iowa State would be on this season’s schedule in an interview with UVa Executive Associate Athletics Director Jon Oliver; The Daily Progress has a story up reaffirming that portion of the schedule. In addition to the Maui Invitational, The DP article also mentions Stanford and Minnesota, something that Jeff Goodman had mentioned in an offseason report, which includes dates. It seems unlikely that the Hoos will play on both Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 on the way back from Maui as reported by Goodman. In fact, we’re hearing the Iowa State game will be Dec. 30 at the John Paul Jones Arena so we updated this post to show that below.

So from what we’ve seen reported so far, the following is what UVa’s schedule is starting to look like for Tony Bennett’s second season. There are seven known games at this time; UVa played 13 non-conference games last season as part of a 31-game campaign (15-16).

• at Stanford (Nov. 18)
• at The Maui Invitational (Nov. 22-24) – other teams include Kentucky, Chaminade, UConn, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Washington and Wichita State
• at Minnesota (Nov. 29) for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge
• vs. Iowa State (Dec. 30)
• vs. LSU (Jan. 2)

George Mason also indicated in an official news release that UVa and Mason will play in 2011-2012 (JPJ) and 2012-2013 (Patriot Center).

J.R. Tucker (Richmond, VA) rising senior Michael Mey has seen action at wide receiver, linebacker, safety, cornerback and running back on the high school level.  The 6-5, 190-pound prospect came to the University of Virginia’s one-day camp last Saturday slotted as a receiver, but he left being pursued by the Cavaliers to play the defensive side of the ball.

“Coach London actually came up and talked to me,” said Mey.  “He said Coach Reid wanted to look at me up close and test my explosiveness as far as playing defense.  Coach London said they really like me but they don’t know if wide receiver is exactly right for me.  They had me do strong safety and outside linebacker drills.  I don’t think Coach Reid was expecting me to do as well as I did.  I think I impressed him.”

Mey hopes to contact the coaching staff this week to learn more about his status in terms of a scholarship offer.  At this point, Virginia has not offered.  Navy has offered, however, and a number of FCS programs are expressing interest.

I’ll have an EDGE article up on Mey later this week.

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According to PalmettoSports.com, McEachern (Powder Springs, GA) rising senior linebacker Marcquis Roberts plans to attend Virginia’s June 26 one-day camp.  Roberts reportedly has been offered by UVa.

Roberts stands 6-1 and weighs 215 pounds.

A teammate of Roberts’, 6-5, 210-pound TE Rory Anderson, has Virginia in his top five according to the same website.  TheSabre.com plans to have more on each prospect in the coming weeks.

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On the basketball recruiting front, Christ School (Arden, N.C.) shooting guard Demarcus Harrison did make it up to UVa’s Elite Camp.  I’ll have more on Harrison’s visit tomorrow on the EDGE.

The 6-4, 180-pound rising senior boasts offers from BYU, College of Charleston, Virginia and Wisconsin.  This was his first visit to Virginia.

So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye to Virginia’s spring sports. After baseball’s 11-0 shutout loss last night (ouch) another season is in the books for the Wahoos. Congratulations to all the athletes in all of our spring sports for a superb effort this year. We were robbed, I tell you!

The focus now turns to football and the topic at the forefront right this second is conference realignment and expansion. Most importantly, what should the new conferences call themselves?!?! Kidding, kidding.

I’m throwing a few questions your way, Sabre commentators: Do you think Virginia should seek to leave the ACC? If so, why and where should we go? As it stands now, the ACC is missing out on the big money revenue of a lucrative TV contract the likes of which are seen in the SEC and the new PAC-Televen. Should the conference go after any new additions to become a SUPERCONFERENCE? For the record, that term really annoys me.

The Orlando Sun-Sentinel has a Q&A with ACC commissioner John Swofford in which The Commish says only a little about the ACC’s TV contract-in-the-works.

Stewart Mandel over at S.I. says that everyone won with the recent bout of conference realignment. Everyone, that is, except the fans.

In more localized ACC-related tidbits, Paulus the Younger has left UNC for Virginia’s second-most despised in-state foe.

WR Johnny Williams down at Duke has made some changes this offseason that might have some opposing offenses (yes, you read that correctly) sweating.

Finally, non-divisional foe Florida State, who is making a trip up to Charlottesville this year, is even bigger and scarier than before. Eep.

Virginia addressed the defensive side of the ball with its last two commitments, scoring Norcom (Portsmouth, VA) free safety Kameron Mack and, today, securing a pledge from Phoebus (Hampton, VA) linebacker Caleb Taylor.   Norcom head coach Larry Archie had the following to say about Mack’s talents…

“His range is important because of his size and he has pretty good speed,” Archie said of the 6-5, 200-pound rising senior.  “He has a pretty good football IQ.  His position coach, Rudy Howard, takes him and other guys out to Mount Trashmore in the offseason and they work hard.  They watch a lot of film.  Kameron has a good football IQ.”

Of Taylor, a 6-0, 230-pound prospect, Phoebus head coach Stan Sexton said, “I coached against him and I’ve coached him.  Caleb is just an all-around linebacker.  He is a big, physical kid and he also has good speed.  He is fast enough to cover kids out of the backfield.  He may not look like a million bucks, but he still had a good build.”

Read more on the EDGE about Virginia’s newest commitments.

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UVa held its first rising junior/rising senior one-day camp of 2010 today and at least one prospect came away with an offer.  Cave Spring (Roanoke, VA) rising senior linebacker/safety Michael Cole, a 6-2, 200-pound prospect, received an offer from head coach Mike London at the end of camp.

Cole now boasts offers from Duke, Maryland, Virginia and Virginia Tech.  He plans to visit Duke next weekend and will follow that with a trip to Penn State for camp.

Stay tuned to the EDGE for more on Cole and the one-day camp.

The Virginia baseball program hosts the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time this weekend when Oklahoma visits Davenport Field. I caught up with a couple of the Cavaliers this week and here’s what Tyler Wilson and John Hicks had to say about hosting a Super Regional and making the “Sweet 16” round in back-to-back seasons.

How exciting is it to be hosting the program’s first Super Regional?

Wilson: “It’s so exciting. I mean this is the first time we’ve hosted and winning a regional last week in front of the home crowd, it was really an atmosphere I’ve never really experienced. The mood in the dugout, the emotion was just so incredible. We fed off the crowd, there was a lot of intensity, and I’m so excited to see what the faithful will bring out this weekend being the first Super Regional and I’m really excited to go out there and throw in front of them.”

Hicks: “Oh yeah, we’re really excited. … In the locker room, you can tell everybody is in a great mood and ready to get after it again. We know we’re going to have a great match-up with Oklahoma and we’re excited for it.”

Can you talk about making back-to-back Super Regionals, essentially the Sweet 16 of your sport, for two straight years? That’s something that is big for the program.

Wilson: “Definitely. It really just goes to show the great things that Coach O’Connor is doing here with the program and Coach K and Coach Mac at the same time. It shows that the University of Virginia is really on the right path with regard to a bright baseball future and it’s great just to be a part of it. We’ve really turned over a new leaf and I think there are some really special things to come here for this team.”

Hicks: “Definitely. This is the first time we’ve ever hosted a Super Regional at Davenport Field. Our fans are just awesome right now. They’re backing us and the energy here for the regional was unbelievable and it should be better for the Super Regional. The program is really taking off. Coach O’Connor has done an amazing job with this program and having the players ready to play every day and just giving them the quiet confidence that everybody is going to pick each other up, that the guy behind you is going to get a hit and stuff like that.”