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Gillen gets help Cavaliers coach glad to have more players in 2nd year
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 07:14 PM
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Night and day. That was a popular phrase Wednesday at Virginia's basketball media day. Transfer guard Keith Friel used it, and so did veteran center Colin Ducharme. "Night" was last season. As in nightmare. The Cavaliers finished 14-16 and a dead-last 4-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It could have been worse, considering first-year coach Pete Gillen inherited a team with only seven scholarship players and had to round out his roster with walk-ons culled from a student-body tryout. Or that Ducharme, the starting center, broke his ankle two days after the season-opener and was lost for the year. Even the roof at University Hall was falling down. In short, other than the emergence of freshman Chris Williams as the Cavaliers' best player -- he averaged 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds -- and overwhelming choice for ACC rookie of the year, things could only get better. And it looks like they will. Ducharme is back, or at least most of him. The 6-foot-9 bruiser dropped 15 pounds, which should help him keep up with the Cavaliers' run-and-gun offense. Gillen says missing last year made Ducharme a hungrier player. "He used to just punch the clock," Gillen said. "He worked the two hours but didn't do any extra." He'll also get some help. Virginia also adds three-point sharpshooter Friel, who had to sit out last season after transferring from Notre Dame. Then there's a recruiting class rated one of the tops in the nation, headed by New York high school point guard Majestic Mapp. "We're going to have some options," Gillen said. "We can play big, we can play small." Gillen promised to play 10 players a game. Last year he was lucky to suit up that many. In a way, Gillen had an easy time of it last season. He rotated seven players, hoping to keep at least five fresh and out of foul trouble. When he couldn't, he turned to his walk-ons, who were well-meaning and hardworking but weren't about to lift the Cavaliers out of the ACC basement. This year, he has four starters back and several newcomers who should push for playing time. Mapp garnered the headlines, but he also opened the door for other recruits who became convinced Virginia was on the way up. Mapp called a few guys, like D.C.-area standout Roger Mason, "and let them know they wouldn't be the only ones here." It worked. Mason, a 6-5 guard, signed, as did Travis Watson, who led one of the top programs in the country last year at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson. Virginia also picked up Stephane Dondon, a quadrilingual, 6-8 forward from Toulouse, France, who played at a junior college last season. "We had only seven guys last year," Ducharme said. "This year we're competing at every position." Besides Ducharme and Williams, the Cavaliers also return junior Donald Hand, their leading scorer last year; reserve small forward Adam Hall; and guard Chezley Watson. Hand averaged 17 points per game last year on 38 percent shooting and should start at point guard. But Gillen said Hand's role will have to change. "He's still got the green light to score, because that's his first inclination," Gillen said. "But he's gotta understand that this year he's got other good guys around him." Friel should also push for minutes. He said sitting out last year was unbearable, but admits in hindsight it was probably a good season to miss. Now, Friel hopes his shooting -- he hit eight three-pointers for Notre Dame against Syracue - will open things up for the Cavaliers up-tempo offense. "I really compliment Coach Gillen's system well because with the up-tempo and pressing we get a lot of open shots," Friel said. "In the half-court set, they stay right on me so that opens things up in the middle." Virginia opens practice Saturday. The season begins Nov. 19 against Elon.
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