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Virginia Cavaliers (2001: 20-9)

The following team preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at this and all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.

Will this be the year that impish Pete Gillen finally grows up? OK, that might be asking a little too much for the ACC's biggest kid since Jim Valvano.

But going into his fourth year at Virginia, this should at least be the year Gillen's program matures, if not the coach himself.

He has a solid foundation built around three seniors, three juniors and a red-shirt sophomore who was injured a year ago.

There is a total of four starters returning from last year's 20-9 team, making the Cavs one of the most experienced teams in the league, behind only league power Maryland.

Considering Gillen started with six healthy scholarship players and seven walk-ons in his first season after taking over for Jeff Jones, it's a well-stocked pantry that should keep the Cavaliers among the best teams in the nation, as they were for most of last season.

"I think we have a chance to be an exciting team,'' said Gillen, who was rewarded by the school with a new contract worth a reported $9 million over the next 10 years. "I think we can compete at a high level."

There are some areas where the Cavaliers need to improve. With only one little-used player taller than 6-8 on his roster, Gillen has had to make do with junior Travis Watson as his center for the last two years.

With more inside help this year, the Cavaliers could be a serious force in the ACC this season. More inside bodies would also help the Cavaliers' defense, which tuckered out at the end of last season.

Overall, with the addition of four freshmen who can contribute immediately, the Cavaliers will be quicker and more athletic this season. They will have more options, if not more size, underneath. And they will have more experience than just about any other team in the league.

Projected starters

PG - Majestic Mapp (6-2, 183 lbs., R-SO, #11, 5.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 topg, 0.7 spg, 18.7 minutes, .335 FG, .320 3PT, .604 FT in 1999-2000, St. Raymond's HS/Harlem, N.Y.)

With his passing and play-making abilities, Mapp is more the kind of point guard Gillen likes to have running his team, one who thinks pass first, points second.

And with the departure of four-year starter Donald Hand, Mapp is slated to step in immediately in the point-guard position, assuming his reconstructed knee allows him to play when practice starts in October.

Mapp blew his right knee out last August while playing in a pickup game on campus, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and forcing him to miss all of last season. That left the Cavaliers with only Hand at the point-guard position. He handled those responsibilities capably, but Mapp is more suited to Gillen's style.

SG - Roger Mason Jr. (6-5, 201 lbs., JR, #21, 15.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.3 topg, 1.1 spg, 32.0 minutes, .476 FG, .442 3PT, .884 FT, Good Counsel HS/Silver Spring, Md.)

Just as quickly as the Cavaliers moved up in the national polls, Mason became the team's offensive centerpiece.

The athletic guard with the sweet shot more than doubled his freshman scoring average, jumping from 7.6 points a game two years ago to a team-leading 15.7 points a game last season, good enough for sixth in the ACC.

And the good thing for the Cavaliers was that Mason kept getting better and better, averaging more than 18 points over the Cavs' last 10 games and scoring a season-high 30 in the season-ending NCAA loss to Gonzaga.

Mason's shooting touch was apparent from the 3-point line and the free-throw line. He led the league with an 88.4 free-throw percentage, at one time hitting 45 consecutive free throws. And he would have been at the top of the league's three-point shooters if he had made six more long-range shots.

Gillen believes that all Mason, a third-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore, needs is a little more experience in big-time game situations, which he got this summer as a member of the USA Basketball team that won the bronze medal in the World University Games in Beijing, China.

Mason was the U.S. team's third-leading scorer, averaging 13.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in eight games while shooting 51.9 percent from the floor.

SF - Adam Hall (6-5, 200 lbs., SR, #31, 10.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.6 topg, 1.2 spg, 26.8 minutes, .506 FG, .269 3PT, .642 FT, Katy HS/Katy, Texas)

There's probably no better defensive player in the ACC and only a few better in the country than Hall, the athletic small forward who loves to play a 94-foot game.

Hall held Duke's Jason Williams to a 5-for-21 night. Clemson's Will Solomon found out how good Hall is when he went 2-for-14 and scored only 10 points against Hall's defense.

But Hall has some offensive skills, too. He's been a steady contributor for three years, averaging 10.8 points as a freshman and 10.1 points in both his sophomore and junior seasons. He led the team in field-goal percentage at 50.6 percent, but that almost seems low considering how many of Hall's baskets were swooping, crowd-pleasing dunks.

PF - Chris Williams (6-7, 206 lbs., SR, #33, 14.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 topg, 0.7 bspg, 1.5 spg, .503 FG, .395 3PT, .760 FT, Minor HS/Brimingham, Ala.)

Williams has been a model of consistent excellence during his career. Last year, he was third in the ACC in field-goal percentage; 10th in scoring, rebounding and defensive rebounding; 11th in free throw percentage and 13th in steals.

In other words, Williams does a little bit of everything, even while playing out of position at power forward.

"He is the glue in a lot of ways that holds things together,'' Gillen said. "He is so steady. He is going to get 11 or 12 points every game, six or seven rebounds. Last year, he had a better year than people thought."

Williams has improved his 3-point shooting every year, making an impressive 39.5 percent of his shots behind the arc last year.

C - Travis Watson (6-8, 254 lbs., JR, #35, 12.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.2 bspg, 1.0 spg, 28.4 minutes, .497 FG, .617 FT, Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, Va. and Brookneal, Va.)

Even shoulders as broad as Watson's can't carry a heavy load forever. The undersized but productive center gamely carried the bulk of the Cavaliers' inside dirty work.

Like Maryland's Lonny Baxter, he was outsized almost every night, though rarely ever out-worked. He always managed to get his points and his rebounds, accumulating more double-doubles (13) than any player in the league. He finished second in the ACC in rebounding to Georgia Tech 7-footer Alvin Jones and made second-team All-ACC.

But those poundings by taller players frequently took a toll. Watson was bothered at times by a variety of injuries, especially in February.

His laundry list of injuries included a sprained knee, a hip pointer, a strained hamstring and a sprained ankle. He missed about 14 days of practice during the ACC season, but never missed a game and was only out of the starting lineup on Senior Night.

If the Cavaliers are going to have the kind of season Gillen and Cavalier fans are hoping for, Watson needs some help. He needs Elton Brown and Jason Clark to absorb some of the pounding he took inside.

Bottom line

Gillen has gotten Virginia's program back in the arena. Now he has to get it back in the game.

It's been six years since the Cavaliers have won a game in the postseason, a span of 10 straight losses that includes three ACC tournament games, one NIT game and one NCAA Tournament game under Gillen.

This year's team is good enough to succeed in the postseason by winning games and establishing itself among the national elite. Perhaps even to get back to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond.