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New era beginning at Virginia
By LEE ROBERTS
Staff Writer
The Ralph Sampson era at the University of Virginia was
a prosperous one. With the 7-4 giant at the helm, the Cava
liers won or tied for three straight regular-season ACC
championships, as well as three NCAA tourney berths and
an NIT championship. Beginning with the 1980-81 season,
Virginia was ranked in the top 10 for 48 consecutive weeks,
and was only the second ACC team (UNC was first in 1967
69) to finish in the top five three years in a row.
Individually, Sampson finished with 2,225 points (seventh
in ACC history), 1,511 rebounds (third in ACC history),
461 blocked shots and three ACC and national player-of-the-year
awards. Sampson was the first collegiate player in
15 years to score 2,000 points and pull down 1 ,500 rebounds.
An era has passed, but a new era has begun. Coach Terry
Holland, who has 193 wins at Virginia and 285 career vic
tories, hopes so, anyway.
"Let's face it," Holland said. "There's life after Ralph."
While life after Ralph may not be as prosperous as it has
been the last four years, Holland said the Cavaliers will be
competitive:
"1 really do believe that our kids will feel a great deal of
pressure to prove they are good without Ralph, and I think
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
No. NAME HTWT CLASS HOMETOWN
34 Rick Carlisle 6-5210 Sr. Ogdensburg, NY
30 Ken Edelin 6-7205 Sr. Alexandria, VA
33 Kenny Johnson 6-0180 Jr. Baltimore, MD
44 Kenny Lambiotte 6-4195 So. Woodstock, VA
51 Dan Merrifield 6-6220 Jr. Linwood, NJ
4 Jim Miller 6-8210 Jr. Princeton, WV
45 Tim Mullen 6-5196 Jr. Ridgewood, NJ
24 Olden Polynice 6-10210 Fr. New York, NY
22 Tom Sheehey 6-8215 Fr. Rochester, NY
42 Wingo Smith 6-9230 Sr. Indialantic, FL
15 Ricky Stokes 5-10163 Sr. Highland Springs. VA
11 Othell Wilson 6-0198 Sr. Woodbridge, VA
that will have a backlash effect early in the season," Hol
land said. "I think we will have to get that out of our sys
tem and realize that we can lose and it is not a terrible
trauma and then find ways to win. When we do, it will
be a lot more fun, and I feel that by the end of the season,
we will be among the best teams in the country."
The loss of Sampson and forward Craig Robinson will
be felt all season, but the Cavaliers return some quality
players in 1983. The most notable returnees are senior
guards Othell Wilson, Rick Carlisle and Ricky Stokes, and
junior forwards Jim Miller and Tim Mullen.
Virginia's guard corps is arguably one of the best in the
nation, headed by Wilson, who earned second-team All
ACC honors last season after being first team in 1982.
Wilson averaged 13.6 points a game, shooting over 53
percent from the field and handing out a team-leading 152
assists. And it's been said that he may be the nation's finest
defensive guard.
Carlisle, who at 6-5 scored 10.9 points a game last year
and had 98 assists, will probably start at the second guard.
Crowd favorite Stokes (5-10) will see a lot of court time be
cause of his quickness.
Without a 7-4 center, the backcourt should become more
of a focal point this season. The Cavalier's senior guards
have played in a total of 287 major college basketball
games.
Other guards are Kenny Johnson and sophomore Kenny
Lambiotte. Mullen, at 6-5, may also play at guard because
of his rebounding weakness at forward.
The front line is understandably weakened by the losses
of Sampson and Robinson. Last year the two accounted
for 45 percent of Virginia's rebounds, and Holland sees
that as a source of great concern.
"Although Ralph and Craig were fine scorers, we can re
place that in our lineup," he said. "It is the rebounding
area that we'll be most concerned about. Rebounding is
such a crucial area. We've put a lot of work into maintain-
i ii mi i i in ttai i "Mii r-..M.n, tk "j
Junior forward Jim Miller is one of the Cavaliers
who must play without Ralph Sampson.
ing defensive positioning."
Senior Kenton Edelin, a strong rebounder, was slated to
start at center, but a broken cheekbone will sideline him un
til late December. That leaves the only true center as 6-10
freshman Olden Polynice.
The 18-year-old from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, began play
ing basketball just four years ago. Despite his relative inex
perience, Polynice managed to average 23 points and 15 re
bounds playing for a New York high school last year. His
rebounding should be of help and he has strong potential,
but he still has a lot to learn, Holland said.
To add further instability to the center situation, senior
Wingo Smith recently quit the team for personal reasons.
At 6-8, former sixth man Miller should move into a start
ing role at forward. Miller scored 9.6 points a game a year
See VIRGINIA on page 30
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