Eye on the U

B-Rad First-Team All-ACC; Football roster making space; McDermott on Rimington Watch List.

Bryan Radziewski was not his usual self during his last regular-season start, but he was amazing all season -- coming off shoulder surgery nonetheless.

The left-handed junior was among five starting pitchers named to the 2013 All-ACC First Team on Monday.

B-Rad, as he is called by his fans and teammates, ended the season ranked among the conference leaders in nearly every statistical category. He ranked third in ERA (1.64), tied for second in wins (eight), tied for second in complete games (two), third in strikeouts (96) and first in batting average against (.175).

Radziewski is one of three pitchers in the ACC averaging more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings (11.27). The former Baseball America Freshman All-American has recorded 204 Ks over 33 starts and has a 19-4 career record and career ERA of 2.64. 

Miami begins its quest for an ACC title at 3 p.m. Thursday, when it meets No. 1 seed North Carolina in a Pool A matchup in Durham, N.C.

UM lost in the title game to Georgia Tech last year.

RICARDO WILLIAMS OFFICIALLY OFF FOOTBALL TEAM

   Chris Yandle, director of communications for UM athletics, just confirmed to me that 6-5, 251-pound defensive end Ricardo Williams is no longer on the team. A redshirt sophomore, Williams is out of Homestead Senior High. Williams played in one game last year -- against North Carolina. 

   Williams' name has already been removed from the football roster.

   Wide receiver Robert Lockhart Jr., who also has been granted his release, according to Canesport.com, is still on the roster.

    "As far as Robert Lockhart, I have not been informed about anything,'' Yandle said.

   Lockhart is a 6-1, 183-pound redshirt sophomore out of Fork Union Military Academy, via West Boca Raton High.  Lockhart was a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and ESPN. As a high school senior he had 34 catches for 686 yards and six touchdowns. He chose UM over Virginia Tech. Lockhart played in two games last season -- UNC and FSU -- but sustained a season-ending knee injury.

 SHANE McDERMOTT ON RIMINGTON WATCH LIST   

     UM center Shane McDermott is one of 44 players named to the 2013 Rimington Trophy spring watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate center.

    McDermott, a junior, missed spring practice after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.

     An All-ACC honorable mention selection in 2012 by league coaches, McDermott started all 12 games at center for UM. UM had the ACC's third-best passing offense (295.4-yards-per-game average) and fifth-best total offense (440.2). As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 10 games, allowing no sacks and not being flagged for any penalties.

    McDermott is from Lake Worth. He was awarded the Walter Kichefski Endowed Football Scholarship at the most recent UM Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet. He will earn his bachelor's degree this summer.

    McDermott's younger brother (I won't say "little'' brother as he's 6-6 and approaching 300 pounds), Kc McDermott, has already pledged his commitment to UM for the Class of 2014, a huge get for the Canes.
 Kc is a four-star lineman, according to Rivals.com, and is listed as the 40th best player overall, regardless of position. He is listed as the fifth best tackle in the Class of 2014.

   Notre Dame also wanted Kc, and actually still wants him, but Kc said he's not budging from his commitment to the Hurricanes.  

     SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

UM Canes coach Al Golden: "Just because your competition may not be in the room, just understand that he's coming.''

Coach Al Golden spoke today as part of the ACC spring football teleconference.

He was asked if there was any area he had concerns about during spring.

"No one would be satisfied with our wide receiver situation in the spring by numbers specifically,'' Golden replied. There have got to be some guys that come in and help us out there. You could say the same thing about corner. I’m not trying to diminish what the kids that were there did. It was just a huge task for minimal players, asking three or four wideouts to carry the load for a position group that should have 10 in it. The same thing at corner, asking three or four corners to really carry the weight of a positon that should have eight when you consider all the nickel we play these days. Those two positions are certainly positions there and the defensive end spot, where we’re going to have an infuse of talent and competition and hopefully it will improve our program."

I asked him about the next step for incoming recruits who haven't arrived.

"They’re allowed to have a conditioning book, a program to follow even though they’re not with us. some of them are working out with us already. we expect another probably six or so to be here for summer I [session] and then the remainder by June 27^th. We’ll have everybody in place by July 1 and that will help us and help them with the transition. Clearly, we’re continuing to take to each and everyone of them and monitoring them and making sure they understand what they need to do and where their weight needs to be and those types of things so we’re in good shape when we begin."

Do you expect them to know stuff from the playbook? "We’re always trying to talk football with them,'' he replied, "but in terms of giving them playbooks and things it’s something we just don’t do. But certainly we talk football with them and make sure they understand the things they need to get done."

Aside: I'm pretty sure some of those guys (e.g. Tracy Howard) are already studying the playbook.

Golden was reminded that before spring practice he said certain players were going to get their big opportunities to get playing time before the talented freshman newcomers arrive. He was asked if some of the current players stepped up.

Golden:  "I think some guys did. I think the reality of it is at some positions we were so light because we lost 30 players it’s easy to get lulled to sleep or become complacent. But the reality is you’re competing against a standard, not just whether or not you’re the next in line. You’re competing against a standard that we need to operate on and that we’ve become accustomed to here at Miami. So, just because your competition may not be in the room, just understand that he’s coming. I believe we did recruit well. I’m very pleased with the 10 that are here now and I’m going to be anxious to see the next wave that comes in. We’re trying to play and perform and play at a standard, not so much, ‘there’s no one else at my position right now and I’m the starter by default.’ That’s not how it works. Our job as coaches it to keep maneuvering players so that we get the best players on the field and we have depth at every position.''

Golden's picks for the two or three players that "really helped themselves, no question'' on offense durting spring are receiver Rashawn Scott, tight end Asante Cleveland and center Shane McDermott."  He said on defense, the players who "jumped out" and "really helped themselves'' are defensive end Shayon Green, lineman/linebacker Kelvin Cain, linebacker Tyrone Cornileus and safeties Kacy Rodgers and A.J. Highsmith.

Golden didn't share any news about quarterback Stephen Morris, other than to say he was doing a lot of throwing. "I don't know exactly when he's going to get the absolute green light to do everything. But it's not going to be very long now because he's already pushing it.''

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN