ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: UVA NOTES
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Virginia golf coach Mike Moraghan has not taken a single recruiting trip abroad, but 14th-ranked UVa has reached new heights with a lineup that includes players born in Great Britain, Zimbabwe, Germany and Italy.
Walk-on Cole Kelly from Athens, Ga., is the only native-born player on a Cavaliers' team that finished second in the ACC tournament. UVa's best previous showing was a tie for second in 1958.
``It's not in keeping with our history,'' said Moraghan of the late-season surge. ``I actually thought we were having a better season last year, when we were ranked seventh [in Division I] before the ACC tournament, but all anybody remembers is our collapse in the regionals.''
The Cavaliers failed by two strokes to advance past the NCAA East Regional, in large part because of a four-stroke penalty incurred when Kelly played three holes of the final round with an illegal 15th club in his bag.
Virginia, despite the loss of senior Jimmy Flippen, has not skipped a beat with the addition of freshman Andrea Brotto, the Italian Amateur champion. But, maybe the biggest surprise is another newcomer, Max Rehm.
Rehm, from Hechendorf, Germany, spent his last two years of high school at the Benjamin School in West Palm Beach, Fla. He went from there to the the College of Charleston, where he did not make the golf team and left after one year.
``He literally showed up at my door,'' admitted Moraghan, who said Rehm had a 4.0 grade-point average and was accepted as a transfer by Virginia, Stanford and Vanderbilt.
Rehm has moved into the spot held by another foreign-born player, Canadian Jeremy Julie, for most of the previous two years.
``I definitely went into this year wanting to be more patient,'' Moraghan said. ``I intentionally experimented more with our lineup than I ever have. Max played in one varsity tournament and one JV tournament during the fall.''
Virginia's two fall signees were Americans James Driscoll from Brookline, Mass., and Gene Williams from Beeville, Texas, but Moraghan doesn't want to leave the impression that he totally lucked into the foreign players.
``I had known about Brotto for a couple of years,'' Moraghan said. ``His father's best friend in Italy spends half the year in Charlottesville, so I had been writing and calling and sending faxes [to Brotto] for some time.''
RECRUITING: Virginia has emerged as the team to beat for 6-9 Kris Hunter from Tallahassee, Fla., whose parents paid their way to Charlottesville last weekend for a whirlwind tour of the campus. Their son had visited UVa over the weekend of April 5-7.
The biggest question with Hunter, likely to finish the year as a Top-50 basketball prospect, is whether he will make the test score required for freshman eligibility. The Cavaliers' other frontcourt target, 6-9 Craig McAndrew from Dalkeith, Australia, will visit UVa this weekend.
NOT LEAVING: Virginia is the only men's basketball team to have an ACC All-Freshman choice the past three seasons, including current freshman Courtney Alexander, who continues to hear rumors that he is transferring.
``That has been the last thing on my mind,'' said Alexander, who asked coach Jeff Jones for a chance to respond to the rumors. ``I don't know why people are spreading these rumors. I have never expressed any thought of wanting to leave here.''
HERRMANN TALKING: UVa men's basketball assistant Pete Herrmann was at UNC Asheville on Tuesday to talk to Bulldogs officials about their head-coaching vacancy. Herrmann was the head coach at Navy for six seasons, including 1986-87, when the Middies were 26-6 and went to the NCAA Tournament in David Robinson's senior year.
ANOTHER QUAYLE: Willie Quayle, son of former Virginia football star Frank Quayle has signed a letter-of-intent to play basketball for UVa. Willie Quayle, a midfielder, is a two-time All-Central Virginia selection in lacrosse and also played football at Western Albemarle High School.
NFL-BOUND: Wide receivers Patrick Jeffers, selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft, is one of six UVa seniors who have signed contracts. Offensive tackle Jason Augustino and tight end Bobby Neely have signed with Chicago, offensive tackle Chris Harrison with Detroit, wide receiver Pete Allen with Atlanta and safety Percy Ellsworth with the New York Giants.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB