COACH AND PROGRAM

F/G -- ADAM HALL (6-5, 203 lbs., 9.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 27.7 minutes, .412 FG, .245 3PT, .686 FT) Gillen has maintained since February that Hall's foot injury was the primary reason the Cavaliers went on their second-half slide into oblivion. Hall was an integral part of Gillen's system, using his vast athletic abilities to create turnovers as one of the ACC's best defensive players. He also had the ability to make crowd-pleasing, acrobatic plays on offense. But he also was prone to giving the ball away and never developed into a consistent offensive threat.

Hall suffered a torn plantar fascia on Jan. 12 and missed 10 of the Cavaliers' next 11 games. He played only five minutes against Maryland before pain forced him to leave and miss the team's next six contests. When he did come back, Hall had a spectacular game against No. 3 Duke -- scoring a season-high 21 points -- nine of which came in the final seven minutes, all while covering Duke's Jason Williams on defense.

Hall's defensive presence will be missed on a team that was ranked in the bottom third of the conference in field-goal percentage defense.

G -- ROGER MASON JR. (6-5, 199 lbs., 18.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg. 4.1 apg, 36.1 minutes, .409 FG, .367 3PT, .881 FT) Mason, the team's leader in scoring and minutes played, was in the difficult position of being the Cavaliers' entire backcourt. He was pressed into playing point guard when Mapp was lost for the second season in a row after knee surgery.

Trouble was, Mason is a scorer. Maybe he's not a great shooter, but he takes the ball inside and finds ways to put it in the basket. Gillen tried other options, putting freshman Keith Jenifer in the lineup for a while, but Jenifer made many rookie mistakes. He also made some big plays, but not consistently enough for Gillen to keep him at the point.

One of the Cavs' biggest problems all year was that Mason was the team's only consistent 3-point threat, hitting nearly three times as many as any other player on the team. He made 81-of-221 3-point shots, while Chris Williams was the next closest with 28.

To the surprise of some, Mason entered the NBA Draft, even though he had one season of eligibility remaining. Had he stayed, the Cavaliers would have had one of the most experienced and talented rosters in the ACC during this transition season. But neither Gillen nor his staff were shocked by Mason's decision.

"We knew before the season that he was thinking about it," Gillen said. "I think if he had waited another year, he might have made more money and been a first-round pick, but that is his decision. We wish him well. He is a great kid from a great family. He gave us three excellent years here.

"We weren't surprised, but we were hoping he would stay."

Mason was the third player taken in the second round, going to the Chicago Bulls with the 31st pick overall and becoming the first Virginia player selected since Cory Alexander was taken in the 1995 Draft.

F -- J.C. MATHIS (6-8, 224 lbs., 4.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 16.8 minutes, .442 FG, .167 3PT, .479 FT) After starting 19 of the first 20 games of the season, Mathis watched his playing time dwindle to single-digit minutes in the final month of the season and was replaced by freshman Elton Brown and Jason Clark.

Because Travis Watson is already an All-ACC player and Nick Vander Laan the top candidate at center, the Cavalier frontcourt was just too crowded for Mathis.

Gillen made it clear at the end of the season that Brown and Clark were the future, so Mathis joined the exodus that included Roger Mason Jr. to the NBA and Moe Young to St. Bonaventure. But the loss of Mathis hurts the Cavs defensively, where they need serious improvement to begin with.

Mathis opted to transfer to Michigan, where he will be eligible next season.

F -- CHRIS WILLIAMS (6-7, 216 lbs. 14.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 32.5 minutes, .518 FG, .373 3PT, .709 FT) Gillen liked to call Williams, a former ACC Rookie of the Year, a "Silent Assassin" because of his consistent scoring in his first three college seasons.

A starter from the day he stepped on the court, Williams had a sensational freshman season, when he immediately had to carry a huge load on a team with precious little talent. He scored 16.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a game that season, and seemed destined to be the poster child for Gillen's new up-tempo program.

The problem, however, is that Williams, who was recruited to Virginia by former coach Jeff Jones, was never allowed to play his natural position -- small forward.

He was successful through the early part of his career because he created so many matchup problems for opposing players, and Williams was tenacious enough to out-hustle and outwork bigger opponents.

But the fact of the matter is, Williams had an inconsistent senior season. He had a season-high 28 points in the regular-season finale against eventual national champion Maryland, but he also had five games in single-digits, including three in which he failed to make a field goal.

Williams' production went down every season after his freshman year, from 16.8 points to 15.5 to 14.5 to 14.0 points a game.

F/G -- MAURICE YOUNG (6-4, 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 10.5 mpg, .500 FG, .000 3PT) Once a highly regarded recruit who saw enough action early in his freshman year to twice be selected ACC Freshman of the Week, Young opted to leave the program after two games last season, even though he was Gillen's first or second player off the bench.

His departure forced Gillen to rely on four freshmen as his depth, which put even more pressure on the Cavaliers' unsettled starting lineup.

Young eventually enrolled at St. Bonaventure for the spring semester and will be eligible to play for the Bonnies in December.

G -- JASON DOWLING (6-3, 202 lbs., 0.5 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 2.1 minutes, .250 FG) The final holdover from Gillen's first on-campus recruiting class, Dowling spent four years as a practice player for the Cavaliers. He was one of five walk-ons Gillen found in an open tryout on campus.

Dowling played in 20 games in his first season, but rarely saw action his past three seasons. Still, Gillen owes him a debt of gratitude for helping fill out a roster in 1998-99 that was short on scholarship players.

PG -- TODD BILLET (6-0, 183 lbs., JR, #22, 16.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 4.3 apg at Rutgers in 2001-01, Christian Brothers Academy/Rutgers/Middletown, N.J.) Gillen is betting that Billet will be the point guard the team didn't have -- but sorely needed -- last season. That's debatable for a guy who was more of a shooter than a passer during his two-year career at Rutgers.

Billet set the Rutgers' single-season record with 82 3-pointers as a sophomore, but is he really that much different than, say, Keith Friel? He's definitely more of a shooter than a passer, making him a less athletic version of Donald Hand.

Gillen is insistent that Billet is a point guard, and he apparently has the preseason advantage over junior Majestic Mapp and sophomore Keith Jenifer.

"He is a tremendous point guard," Gillen said. "He was third-team All-Big East as a sophomore. I think he could be our starting point guard."

At least this year Gillen has a safety valve for the position.

SG -- JERMAINE HARPER (6-3, 166 lbs., SO, #24, 5.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 17.2 minutes, .438 FG, .283 3PT, .833 FT, Blue Ridge School/Gardena, Calif.) Of the four freshmen who came in last season, Harper was perhaps the biggest surprise, if only because he was the least known of the four players. There were several questions about his ability to play on the ACC level coming out of the tiny school in the Virginia mountains.

The fact is, however, Harper spent three years there after growing up in Los Angeles, so playing at the top level of college basketball was hardly overwhelming.

Harper benefited from Mason's move to point guard, because the Cavaliers had few other options in the backcourt besides he and Jenifer. Harper made some nice plays during the season, stealing the ball away from North Carolina's Jackie Manuel in a victory at Chapel Hill and hitting a late 3-pointer to seal Virginia's first win at Georgia Tech since 1995.

"We didn't expect him to play as much as he did," Gillen said. "It was a lot of minutes for a freshman. He ended up playing about 14 minutes a game. That's a lot of minutes for a freshman. He is a great athlete and a good defender. He brings good toughness to the team."

But Harper is not much of a shooter. He made only 17-of-60 3-point shots on a team that desperately needed perimeter shooting.

"He has to improve his 3-point shooting," Gillen said. "He's definitely more of a scorer than a pure shooter, but he is a valuable player."

The question going into this season is whether Harper will continue to get that playing time with the arrival of Devin Smith and Derrick Byars, both of whom are considered more talented. Gillen will make that determination in preseason practice.

SF -- DEVIN SMITH (6-5, 215 lbs., SO, #33, 19.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .518 FG, .458 3PT, .902 FT, William Penn HS/Coffeyville, Kansas CC/New Castle, Del.) If he had wanted, Smith could have avoided going to junior college all together. Unlike most players who go that route, he was fully qualified academically coming out of William Penn High School a year ago and could have signed with any team in the country.

Unfortunately for Smith, there were few takers for the former Delaware Player of the Year. He didn't even get an offer from the University of Delaware, where coach David Henderson continues building a basketball tradition.

So Smith opted to go to Coffeyville to work on his game instead of his grades. It paid off. He ended up having the best season of his life, earning first-team Junior College All-America honors and getting noticed by almost every major school in the country. Because he was academically qualified coming out of high school, Smith needed to spend only one year at Coffeyville, which leaves him with three years of eligibility remaining.

"Devin has a great chance to be a starter," Gillen said. "He is a terrific scorer, a very good 3-point shooter, and he can drive to the basket very well. He's smooth and glides around the court. He has a knack for getting his own shot."

The concern is whether Smith's breakthrough season was a fluke; remember, all the recruiters passed him by in high school.

"I think he will make a smooth transition," Gillen said.

In fact, Gillen is counting on it.

PF -- TRAVIS WATSON (6-8, 225 lbs., SR. 14.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 29.6 minutes, .525 FG, .500 3PT, .695 FT, Oak Hill Academy/Brookneal, Va.) And then there was only one beefy big man remaining.

Watson was one of a slew of relatively undersized but burly post players who patrolled the lane in the ACC the past few years, but the competition has disappeared with the departure of Maryland's Lonny Baxter, Duke's Carlos Boozer, Wake Forest's Darius Songaila, North Carolina's Kris Lang. Heck, even Florida State's Nigel Dixon is gone.

So that leaves Watson as the league's premier big man. In fact, he's one of the few stars from the venerable league who returns to action this year.

Watson was the ACC's leader in rebounding, the first Cavalier player to do that since 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson in 1982-83. He's also the ACC's top returning scorer and the only member of either the first or second All-ACC teams to return this season. His tenacious rebounding and consistent inside scoring have earned him second-team honors the past two years, but Watson wants to cap off his senior season by elevating himself to the first team.

"That is one of my goals," Watson said.

The soft-spoken Watson was definitely the hardest working player on a team that didn't exactly have a lot of candidates for that award. But he's been that throughout his basketball career.

"I just always had an eye for the ball," Watson told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "It's just how bad you want it. The whole game, I am going after it, because that might be only time I get it in my hands."

One of the problems with Watson is that he's been playing center for three years, instead of his natural power-forward position. Assuming Vander Laan can take over the center spot, Watson should spend almost all of his time at forward.

Gillen realizes that Watson is probably the league's best returning veteran, and he's committed to changing his offensive philosophy to a more halfcourt style that will take advantage of the Cavaliers’ size, a luxury he has never had before.

The coach even hopes that Watson, who made half of his 14 3-point shots last year, can step outside and shoot more often. Watson spent much of the summer working on just that.

"He has improved his perimeter shooting where he can shoot the 17-footer a little better," Gillen said. "He is still going to go inside and mix it up, which he does well.

"He will be able to shoot from the perimeter a little better, but he will have to guard people out there a little more. That should be a challenge for him, but I think he will do a good job with it."

C -- NICK VANDER LAAN (6-10, 249 lbs., JR, #4, 7.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 21.6 minutes in 2000-01 at California, St. Thomas More Academy/ Sacramento, Calif.) Ever since Gillen arrived on campus four years ago, he's been looking for a big man. Every attempt he made to land one from the high school ranks was unsuccessful. So Gillen had to consider it fortuitous when a player who had already signed with an established program wanted to transfer to Virginia.

Vander Laan started 37 of 62 games with the Golden Bears before opting to transfer after his sophomore season.

"We think he could be [the big man we have been searching for]," Gillen said. "We think we have a three-headed monster with Travis being a special, special player. I think both Elton and Nick are special players, too. Nick is a true center, and Elton can play both.

"What I like most about Nick is that he does all the little things. He will set screens and dive on the floor for loose balls. He rebounds and plays post defense."

Vander Laan was never a big scorer for Ben Braun's team, and he won't be expected to carry much of the scoring load for the Cavaliers, either. What he will do is help with rebounding and defense. More important, he will allow Watson to play his natural power-forward position.

Of course, Gillen also has other options in sophomores Elton Brown and Jason Clark, just in case Vander Laan doesn't work out, something that's happened frequently with big men under Gillen's watch.

F -- ELTON BROWN (6-9, 265 lbs., SO, #42, 7.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 14.6 minutes, .503 FG, .375 3PT, .660 FT, Warwick HS/Newport News, Va.) For a guy who won't turn 18 until after the beginning of his sophomore school year, Brown had a lot of growing up to do when he arrived in Charlottesville. He got enough playing time last season to give him a taste of major college basketball and give Gillen a glimpse of his potential.

"He was a very young freshman," Gillen said. "I thought last season was an awakening for him. I don't think he realized the competition would be that stiff. I think that made him work harder in the offseason."

Brown is a capable rebounder and pretty athletic for a guy who runs down the floor at a board-bending 265 pounds. But he also can step to the perimeter and make outside shots. He made 12-of-32 3-point shots, the third highest percentage on the team.

Gillen would like to continue bringing Brown along slowly, playing him with Watson and Vander Laan.

"He's still young, but he got stronger in the offseason, and I think he will be much improved," Gillen said.

F -- DERRICK BYARS (6-7, 210 lbs., FR, #5, 23.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 4.5 apg, Ridgeway HS/Memphis, Tenn.) After suffering through last season's shooting misery, Gillen wanted to make sure he had plenty of shooters on this year's team. That's why he is so looking forward to Billet being eligible and the arrival of both Smith and Byars.

Byars, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee and Virginia's only high school recruit this season, did a little of everything during his high school career in Memphis, but Gillen says the most impressive things about him are his defensive abilities and overall athleticism. He's probably not as good a shooter as Smith, but Gillen expects him to get plenty of playing time in his first year.

F -- JASON CLARK (6-8, 225 lbs., SO, #4, 3.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 bspg, 12.1 minutes, .580 FG, .622 FT, Hargrave Military Academy/Virginia Beach, Va.). This is an amazing statement: Gillen says Clark has more potential than any player on his team.

Last year as a freshman, Clark occasionally played that way as he earned more playing time during the season. He ended up leading the team with 36 blocked shots, despite playing only 12 minutes a game. And his eight blocks against VMI were the most by any Virginia player since Ralph Sampson.

Gillen says Clark is capable of guarding all three front-line positions, which will earn him more playing time than he got last year.

"He is a lot stronger this year, and a great athlete," Gillen said. "He is an excellent player who is going to be a big part of our program."

G -- KEITH JENIFER (6-3, 155 lbs., SO, #10, 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 21.3 minutes, .378 FG, .111 3PT, .617 FT, Hargrave Military Academy/Baltimore) Jenifer had to grow up earlier than he expected during his freshman year. With Mapp out for the season and Mason the team's only real outside threat, Jenifer tried to play the point well before he was ready and was in the starting lineup in more than half the Cavaliers' games.

He got abused a couple of times, specifically by N.C. State's Anthony Grundy in a critical situation in the Cavaliers' ACC opener, and seemed to lose some confidence, especially in his 3-point shot. Other players insist that's quite an accomplishment for one of the league's biggest trash talkers.

He did hit a big basket with about a minute to play in the Cavs' upset of Duke, in which he had a season-high 10 points, and his fiery attitude injected some life into the Cavaliers. But he made only two 3-point shots all year, in 18 attempts.

Jenifer will face a substantial challenge in retaining the starting point guard position now that Billet is eligible to play, because Billet is the kind of outside shooter that the Cavaliers were without last season. But he will still be a significant contributor, Gillen said.

"He could be the starting point guard for us," the coach said. "He had some big baskets for us, and he is one of the quicker players in the ACC. I thought he played well defensively. I think he will be a major factor for us."

Jenifer will have to improve his ball-handling and decision making. He had 60 turnovers, third on the team last year behind Mason and Watson.

G -- MAJESTIC MAPP (6-2, 184 lbs., R-JR, #11, 5.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 topg, 18.7 minutes, .335 FG, .320 3PT, .604 FT in 1999-200, St. Raymond's HS/Bronx, N.Y.) The sad story of Mapp may not have a happy ending. Three summers ago, he tore ligaments in his knee during a summer pickup game with his teammates.

Gillen's tailor-made point guard knew he would have to sit out one season for his surgically repaired right knee to heal. But no one could have expected that Mapp would have to endure three more surgeries on the knee and miss another entire season. He hopes to return to action this year, though few expect him to be the same player who was hailed as one of the best high school point guards in the country. He fit right into Gillen's plans as a pass-first, shoot-later point guard who was comfortable dishing the ball to teammates.

According to Gillen, Mapp's problems came while rehabilitating his knee following the first surgery. The muscles above the knee didn't heal right, causing a weakness in the ligament.

"The leg just never got better," Gillen said.

The other surgeries helped correct the problem, and Mapp was playing in pickup games this summer.

"I wasn't able to watch him, but he said he felt better," Gillen said. "The other guys said he was moving pretty well. He has continued to rehab it ever since then, but the jury is still out.

"I don't know the answer yet. I don't know if he can withstand the rigors of practice. I hope so. We are cautiously optimistic."

Gillen's team also is overloaded with point guards. Billet is projected to be the starter and Jenifer is the backup. Right now, Gillen doesn't sound as if he is expecting much contribution from Mapp, and whatever he gets will be a bonus.

"What percentage he will be able to play, I don't know that," Gillen said. "Only time will tell. We'll see what happens. He had two major surgeries and two minor surgeries to clean up the scar tissue and debris in the knee. That's a lot of pounding on one joint."

Gillen got a big contract before last season that likely will last him until the end of his coaching career. It looked like a brilliant move when the Cavaliers were near the top of the polls in early January, but some started to question it as Gillen's fourth edition faded badly at the end of the season.

The coach desperately needs some success this season, not in December, January or February, but in March, when the spotlights are on. Otherwise, the Cavaliers could endure their third consecutive season of being the most overrated program in the country. Gillen is tired of being reminded that Virginia hasn't won a postseason game of any kind since 1995 -- that's only the third time you have read it here -- but there is only one real solution: win a postseason game.

Getting to that point shouldn't be a problem for a team loaded with experienced players. But that's what we wrote in this space last year.