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| Fire? Brimstone? Hanukkah? You better believe it. |
It is my estimation that there are 3 athletic programs that were in need of purifying and I am going to use this article to do just that. Each of the 9 candles (8 days plus the main one) will represent one aspect of the programs purification that deserve to be celebrated. That works as a connection right? I think so. Let’s get into it.
1. The Villains
This is going to make it easy to figure out who the 3 programs are so this will be a good start. On the first night of the Wahooze Hanukkah we celebrate the villains, the people responsible for the demise of the programs. The people to celebrate are Al Groh, Dave Leitao, and everyone involved with the baseball program. Why celebrate them you ask? Because doesn’t it feel that much better knowing that you root for a team that was at the bottom, or on the brink of oblivion, and has now risen from the ashes. Al Groh left the football program literally in shambles, which may not entirely be his fault. Getting one year station to station contracts really handicaps you when it comes to recruiting, but so does being a crusty old douchebag. Recovering from a program that decimated by neglect presents a tough challenge for anyone, making success that much sweeter.
Dave Leitao, while he could get decent players, was so loud and vulgar on the sideline that he might have done more damage to the basketball program than Al Groh did, because while the team sucked, he wasn’t an embarrassment to the university. Dave Leitao made JPJ a terrible place to go see a game, unless you enjoy seeing a giant man volcanoing profanities at his players. Baseball was just about left for dead when Coach O’Connor got to town. It was well known that he may very well have been the last coach UVA Baseball had. All 3 factors deserve to be celebrated, and remembered, so we can remember where these programs have come from, and where they hope to go in the future.
2. The Saving Grace
The second night of the Wahooze Hanukkah Celebration celebrates the Saving Graces. These are the players that were left in the various programs that will help turn their programs around. They’re like finding a needle in the haystack, if that haystack is something terrible. Like old leaky car batteries. Moving on. The players celebrated are Mike Scott and Perry Jones. 
While Dave Leitao could recruit decent players he could never seem to bag the kids that were good basketball players. With the exception of Sylven Landesberg no one that Leitao brought in really showed much of anything other than being athletic. I submit Solomon Tat for review. The only player left over that proved to be a dominant ACC force and probably the savior of the Hoos for this season is Mike Scott. He was a gift getting a medical redshirt for last season allowing him to come back and shoulder the load for the Hoos this year. As the workhouse Scott, a double-double machine, is allowing Coach Bennett’s young players to develop around him and not putting the pressure on them, and Coach Bennett really, to prove that they can become “The Guys”. Having a player like Scott is so important to a young team and is really a gift, making him a savior of the program.
Perry Jones got the nickname superman this season and for good reason. Looking at the players we had on this team we desperately needed a player who could step up and single handedly win game for us, a player who could take the pressure off of the young QB, and a player that could be the focal point of the offense. While we were skeptical at the beginning of the season we had that player this year in Perry Jones. Jones became the game changing player that teams knew they had to focus on which allowed players like Mike Rocco to be taken out of the spotlight and be able to develop their talents at their own pace. Did it work? Absolutely. Is anyone concerned, or as concerned about the quarterback position going into this bowl game as they were at the beginning of the season? Not at all. 3. The Game Changing Recruits
On the third night of the Wahooze Hanukkah Celebration we celebrate the Game Changing Recruits. The kids that are drinking the Kool-Aid of the new program and let you know what to expect in the future. These players get you excited about the future and what is to come. The players we will celebrate are Justin Anderson and Danny Hultzen.Anderson has yet to arrive on grounds but the buzz about him is immense. When was the last time you saw a UVA recruit on ESPN? Never? That’s what I thought. The fact that we could swing JA is a testament to how much people have bought into this program. He could very well be one of the biggest recruits we have ever gotten to UVA. And unlike Landesberg, he appears to be coming for all the right reasons. While I don’t think he will do all 4 years here, which if he is as talented as he is billed to be he won’t, I do like that he knows he may have to fight for PT in his first season and still wants to come here. That speaks to his character and more importantly the faith he has in this program.
Danny Hultzen was the best player we’ve ever had. Period. I will argue that point until the day I die. His talent transcended anyone this team has had and brought the team to a new level. If you want to see the impact a true stud recruit can have on a program look at the baseball team. Hultzen brought it at the plate and on the mound and brought the program to heights it had never seen. His buying into the O’Connor philosophies changed the program.I am saving a spot in this post for Stefon Diggs, who I think could be this kind of talent for the football program. Are we going to land him? No idea. Will he be a program changing kind of recruit if we do? Absolutely.
4. The New Facilities
On the fourth night of Wahoo Hanukkah we celebrate New Facilities. If you watched our trouncing of Oregon last night you saw what a great facility can mean to your program. Eugene, Oregon sucks. Who would want to go there realistically when also getting offers from places like sunny Miami or Southern California? What makes Oregon great is the investment in facilities that they have made. Yes it helps to have Nike giving you a blank check every year but a solid investment in facilities does nothing but help you develop your programs. Adding seats to Davenport, and building JPJ and the new indoor practice facility provides such a boost to a program that it will improve our standing with recruits drastically and put our program even more on the map.
5. The Great Staff
On the fifth night we celebrate the great Coaching Staffs of the team. Not the head coaches but the assistants who really make the team go. When you look at the current coaching staffs you see why the results are coming. Names like Bill Lazor, Anthony Poindexter, Ritchie McKay, and Karl Kuhn help to take programs to the next level. When you look at the head coaches they are more of a figurehead of the program while positional coaches are the ones that really get into the coaching nitty gritty with the players. Having a strong foundation of quality assistants is paramount to a successful program.6. The Great Coaches
On the sixth night we celebrate the great Head Coaches. Coach London, Coach Bennett, and Coach O’Connor are the most responsible for the turnaround of these programs. They have taken their own personality and stamped it on the program. You can see Coach London’s passion on the football field, Coach Bennett’s defensive mind on the basketball court, and Coach O’Connor’s attention to detail on the diamond. Each of these men are perfect for what they need to be to succeed at UVA. They can attract their kind of players, and those players are perfect UVA students. In Coach London’s case he is rebuilding a reputation of an entire program into something that kids want to come play for. His passion and intensity plays well with the players, while the programs family attitude and commitment to academics is what reels in the parents. London is building the program into something special that the school and the state can have pride in, while not sacrificing the integrity of the university to do so. He is the perfect Coach for this school and we should pay him anything to stay.
Coach Bennett has some enormous shoes to fill, not from Coach Leitao, but just based on the history of the program. Kendall asked me whether I thought UVA was a football or basketball school when I first started writing here and I answered with neither, but the more I think about it the more I think this is a basketball first school. UVA has never had a real storied football tradition to the extent that basketball has. That being said it will be interesting to see if Coach Bennett can rebuild that level of success. Reestablishing Virginia Basketball to the level it once was, especially playing the kind of fundamental and defensive oriented basketball he teaches, will be a welcome sight not only in Charlottesville, but in all of ACC country.
Coach O’Connor is exactly the baseball coach I would draw up if I had to list good attributes. He is exceptionally knowledgeable of the game and stresses that to his players. When you look at the players he has you know he is going to get the best out of them. Look at Keith Werman. Is he doing anything but shag balls for another program? No chance. But with Coach O’Connor you see his ability to see the finer points of the game and turn Keith into an indispensible part of the team. Having a smart coach like that who demands so much of you from the mental side is fantastic to see. 7. The Redemptive Wins
The seventh night of the Wahooze Hanukkah Celebration celebrates Redemptive Wins. Wins that let us know that the team has or is about to arrive on the scene. These are wins like the UC Irvine win in the Super Regionals last year, or the win at home against Georgia Tech in football, or upsetting Minnesota and Michigan on the hardwood. These wins are to be savored for what they are and the national attention they give the program. They comfort us in our times of doubts, and let us talk a little smack to other fans who may doubt us. In reality, getting big wins is what being a fan is all about. It affirms your belief in your team and all the stress they have put you through, and gets you excited for what is to come in the future. 8. The New Expectations
The eighth and final night of the Wahooze Hanukkah Celebration celebrates Future Expectations. With big wins come big expectations and so far baseball is the only program to live up to the hype. Basketball is in a tournament or bust season and looks well on their way to the dance, while football is playing in a pretty good bowl game. The question is do these programs have staying power in their current positions. Are our programs to the point where we can expect to get to good bowl games, to make the dance, and possibly to contend on a national level? Not yet. But do we think they are on their way? Of course. These expectations are the way we keep the program growing and moving forward and how we can ensure that these programs stay at this level.9. The Administration
I’m going to use the last candle in the Wahooze Menorah, the middle candle which is used to light all the others, to praise the Administration. Craig Littlepage and Teresa Sullivan have done a fantastic job revitalizing these programs. One of the first articles I ever wrote was about how having a good sports team benefits the college as a whole. And both of these administrators seem to not only realize that, but embrace it. I must admit I am a little surprised to see this take place. I remeber when I first arrived at UVA we were having huge problems with football players being arrested, to the point that it was giving the University a bad name Seeing this reinvestment in the program and the other major athletic programs demonstrates a fantastic new commitment to athletics at UVA. Having a good sports program makes everyone involved with the University proud and makes us fans especially proud to be Wahoos, and very excited to celebrate our past, present and future. Happy Hanukkah everyone and Go Hoos!
Mike, this is a great post. Exactly the reason I invited you to join Wahooze. Thanks for posting, and mazel tov.
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