Latest news with #VirginiaCavaliers
Washington Post
a day ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Brian O'Connor, who led Virginia to 7 CWS and 2015 national title, takes over at Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Brian O'Connor, who led Virginia to seven College World Series appearances and a national championship, is leaving the Cavaliers to take over at Mississippi State. MSU announced O'Connor's hiring after the Bulldogs' season-ending 5-2 loss to Florida State on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament. The 54-year-old O'Connor won 917 games over 22 seasons at Virginia and was national coach of the year three times and Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the five times. Under O'Connor, the Cavaliers played in 18 NCAA regionals and nine super regionals, and his 2015 team won the national championship. He had 102 players selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, including 31 who reached the big leagues.
Associated Press
a day ago
- General
- Associated Press
Brian O'Connor, who led Virginia to 7 CWS and 2015 national title, takes over at Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Brian O'Connor, who led Virginia to seven College World Series appearances and a national championship, is leaving the Cavaliers to take over at Mississippi State. MSU announced O'Connor's hiring after the Bulldogs' season-ending 5-2 loss to Florida State on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament. The 54-year-old O'Connor won 917 games over 22 seasons at Virginia and was national coach of the year three times and Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the five times. Under O'Connor, the Cavaliers played in 18 NCAA regionals and nine super regionals, and his 2015 team won the national championship. He had 102 players selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, including 31 who reached the big leagues. 'Mississippi State represents everything I love about college baseball — tradition, passion and a relentless pursuit of excellence,' O'Connor said. 'I've coached against this program and followed it closely for years. The atmosphere at Dudy Noble Field is nationally recognized as the best in the sport. I'm incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead a program with this kind of legacy and fan base.' Mississippi State fired seventh-year coach Chris Lemonis on April 28. Lemonis led the Bulldogs to the 2021 national championship but they mostly have struggled since. Justin Parker took over as interim coach and the Bulldogs closed with wins in 11 of their last 15 games and reached the Tallahassee Regional final. They finished 36-23. Athletic director Zac Selmon said MSU's hiring of O'Connor represents a 'powerful step forward.' Virginia had five seasons with 50 wins and 13 seasons with at least 40, and his .702 career winning percentage ranks second among active Division I coaches. O'Connor's team went 32-18 this season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. 'Brian O'Connor is one of the most respected and accomplished coaches in college baseball. He's a national champion, a Hall of Famer, and a proven leader with a track record of building a championship-caliber program,' Selmon said. 'Mississippi State is built to win at the highest level, and Coach O'Connor knows what that takes.' ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Oklahoma State wins its 12th NCAA men's golf title, beating Virginia 4-1 at La Costa
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Eric Lee beat Josh Duangmanee 2 up to give Oklahoma State its 12th NCAA men's golf title and first in eight years, with the Cowboys beating Virginia 4-1 on Wednesday at La Costa. Lee, a sophomore who played at California as a freshman, took the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th, then chipped to 5 feet on the par-5 18th and finished off Duangmanee with a conceded birdie after the Virginia player missed a 15-foot birdie try. Lee scored for the winning point a day after making a 6-foot par putt on the 19th hole to lift fourth-seeded Oklahoma State past Mississippi in the semifinals. The Cowboys beat Bedlam rival Oklahoma in the quarterfinals. On a cloudy afternoon with the temperature in the mid-60s, Swedish freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson, Gaven Lane and Ethan Fang also won matches for Oklahoma State. Fahlberg-Johnsson won the opening match, beating Maxi Puregger 3 and 1. Lane, in the fourth match, gave the Cowboys their second point with a 4-and-3 victory over Paul Chang. With the championship decided with Lee's victory, Fang's match against Bryan Lee ended after 15 holes with Fang 1 up. Ben James, the No. 4 player in the amateur world ranking, won the lone match for Virginia, topping Preston Stout 3 and 2. The Cavaliers were trying to win their first team title. ___ AP golf:
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Virginia Football Preview 2025: Cavaliers Are WAY Overdue For A Break
This is Year Four of the Tony Elliott era, otherwise known as the Virginia Football Can NOT Catch Any Semblance of a Break coach ever wants to hear excuses for an 11-23 start - college football coaches are emperors of all they survey, so it's almost always on them when things don't go well - but … Virginia suffered the horrific tragedy of 2022, when three Cavalier football players were killed in a mass shooting. The team cut the season short, tried to pick up the pieces in an impossible situation going into 2023, and started 0-5, losing three of the games by a total of seven points. There have been nine losses by a touchdown or less over the last three year, Virginia had a seemingly winnable date against SMU in the home finale between road trips to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. That didn't go well. And now, with things coming into place, and the biggest need filled at left tackle, super-transfer Monroe Mills suffered a knee so, this is Elliott's best team yet in his four years, the schedule isn't too horrible, and at some point, a good-fortune break will come Virginia's way. It has to. Virginia Cavaliers Preview 2025: Offense X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN- The offense sputtered and coughed, scoring fewer than 300 points for a third straight season. The skill parts aren't bad, but they need time and room to work behind a line that couldn't do anything in pass protection and struggled in the ground the plus side, tackle McKale Boley and guard Noah Josey are back on the left side, after that, it's a bit of a when it seemed like everything was about to improve with the addition of Louisville star tackle Monroe Mills, he got knocked out for the year with a torn ACL. He's out, the versatile Blake Steen left for Mississippi State, and now it'll take all of fall camp to get the right starting five. - Xavier Brown averaged over six yards per carry, finishing second on the team with 488 yards and a score, but NC Central transfer J'Mari Taylor might take over, coming off a 1,146-yard, 15-touchdown season.- The offense has its quarterback. Anthony Colandrea had a few moments, but he threw way too many picks. Now he's at UNLV, and in comes Chandler Morris from North Texas after throwing for almost 3,800 yards and 31 receiver Malachi Fields left for Notre Dame, but the Cavaliers got deep threat Jahmal Edrine from Purdue to go along with Trell Harris and a decent group of targets in place. As long as Morris has time, the passing attack will work. Virginia Cavaliers Preview 2025: Defense - The defense was better than the 2023 version, but it was still among the worst in the ACC. The line, though, should be okay with Jahmeer Carter, Anthony Britton, and Jason Hammond a good group of tackles to work pass rush is coming from the transfer portal. Mitchell Melton (Ohio State) and Cazeem Moore (Elon) should bring a big boost for a D that finished with just 19 sacks. - The linebackers might be the team's biggest strength. Kam Robinson is an All-ACC talent who can get into the backfield from the middle. Trey McDonald needs to find a spot somewhere, and James Jackson was putting together a nice season before getting hurt. There's plenty of depth and lots of options to work around.- Devin Neal (Louisville) will be one of the team's leading tacklers at one of the safety spots next to big tackler Antonio Clary. Throw in veteran Caleb Henry, and the safeties are great. The corners are another story if top man Jam Jackson isn't 100% after suffering a knee injury. It'll take fall camp to figure out the rotation. Virginia Cavaliers Key to the Season The offensive line has to be at least, it has to be functional. The pass protection was non-existent at times, and the push for the running game was missing against the good teams. Virginia ran for 170 yards or more three times and won all three times. The team went 2-7 when it didn't. That's why … Virginia Cavaliers Key Player Wallace Unamba, OT got its guy, and then came the cruelty. Monroe Mills was a shockingly great get from the portal, but the Louisville transfer's knee injury changed more shuffling to do, but Unamba, a transfer from New Mexico, has 335-pound size and lots of experience. He now goes from being a good option to work with to the likely starter at one tackle gig. Virginia Cavaliers Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss Top Transfer In: Chandler Morris, QB in history, Morris started at TCU in the run to the national title game in the 2022 season, but suffered a knee injury early on and Max Duggan took over. Interceptions were a problem for Virginia last season, so it's a bit of a concern that Morris threw 12 picks for North Texas last season. He also bombed away in a pass-happy Transfer Out: Malachi Fields, WR Cavalier receiving corps is fine, but it would've been nice to still have an NFL talent like the 6-4, 220-pound leading receiver who caught 55 passes for 808 yards and five scores. Now he'll be terrific at Notre Dame. Virginia Cavaliers Key Game Virginia Tech, Nov. 29It's usually a bit too obvious to put the big rivalry game in as the Key Game, but 2019 is the last time the Cavaliers beat Virginia Tech. The Hokies are 19-1 in the last 20 games in the series, but this time it's a home game for the Cavaliers, and they get a week off to get ready.- 2025 Virginia Schedule Breakdown Virginia Cavaliers Top 10 Players 1. Kam Robinson, LB Sr.2. Antonio Clary, S Sr. 3. Chandler, Morris, QB Sr.4. James Jackson, LB Sr.5. Jam Jackson*, CB Sr.6. Devin Neal, S Sr.7. Jahmeer Carter, DT Sr.8. Daniel Sparks, P Sr.9. Trey McDonald, LB Jr.10. J'Mari Taylor, RB Sr. Virginia Cavaliers 2024 Fun Stats - 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 130, Virginia 73- Sacks: Opponents 47 for 303 yards, Virginia 19 for 89 yards- Two Point Conversions: Virginia 4-of-7, Opponents 0-2 Virginia Cavaliers 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen Expect a bit more of the might have gone 5-7 with losses in six of the last seven games, but there's a plus to all of that. Clemson, Notre Dame, and SMU accounted for three of those back half losses, and they're not on the a very, very manageable slate that a good team would rip through. Florida State might be the only sure-thing loss if it's back to normal, and going to Louisville leans loss, but there should be five wins baked into the schedule's cake. There can't be any massive injuries, and both lines have to be far better, but let's put it this way. Virginia got a horrible year out of the offensive front, there wasn't any pass rush, and there were far too many mistakes. It still went 5-7; the best record in the Tony Elliott is due to go to a The Virginia Cavaliers Win Total At … 5.5Likely Wins: Coastal Carolina, Stanford, William & Mary50/50 Games: at Cal, at Duke, Florida State, at Louisville, at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington StateLikely Losses: No sure-thing projected losses © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
7-Foot Big Man Makes Final College Basketball Decision After Entering Transfer Portal
It was a challenging 2024-25 season for the Virginia Cavaliers basketball program. Just 18 days before the start of the season, longtime head coach Tony Bennett announced his retirement at the age of 55, closing the book on a highly successful tenure. In the wake of Bennett's departure, the Cavaliers turned to former assistant Ron Sanchez to lead the program. Advertisement However, the team struggled under Sanchez's leadership, finishing with a 15-17 overall record and going just 8-12 in ACC play. After one season, the Cavaliers decided to make another coaching change. Virginia hired Ryan Odom as its new head coach. Odom brings a wealth of experience, having led programs at Charlotte, UMBC, Utah State, and most recently VCU. This offseason has been a busy one for the Cavaliers as they look to stabilize the roster and prepare for the 2025–26 campaign. The program has worked to retain players while also seeking new talent through the transfer portal. One of the most notable additions is Ugonna Onyenso, a 7-foot center and former top-35 recruit. Onyenso began his college career at Kentucky, where he appeared in 40 games and made 14 starts between 2022 and 2024. Advertisement He then transferred to Kansas State, where he averaged 2.8 points per game in limited action, playing 11.1 minutes per contest across 24 appearances and two starts. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported the great news for the Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia has experienced significant roster turnover, losing 11 players to the NCAA transfer portal. However, the staff has been aggressive in rebuilding. Onyenso marks the sixth transfer addition for the Cavaliers this offseason, joining Devin Tillis, Dallin Hall, Martin Carrere, Sam Lewis and Jacari White. Kentucky Wildcats forward Ugonna Onyenso (33). Jordan Prather-Imagn Images According to 247 Sports, Virginia's transfer class currently ranks 48th nationally, reflecting the program's determined efforts to retool under its new leadership. Advertisement Odom owns a career record of 222-127 and has made four NCAA Tournament appearances. His most recent success came at VCU, where he guided the Rams to a 27-7 record last season. Related: UNC Commit Sends Clear Message After Joining Hubert Davis Related: Kentucky's Mark Pope Makes Move on Five-Star Recruit
