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' (former ) AD Shawn Eichorst -- the invisible AD -- is officially gone and has taken the same job at Nebraska.

 

     University of Miami President Donna Shalala just confirmed what we already knew: UM athletic director Shawn Eichorst has resigned, effective immediately.

     Eichorst has taken the same job at Nebraska, and will replace Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne Jan. 1 -- though Eichorst will begin at Nebraska Oct. 9 as a special assistant to Chancellor Harvey Perlman. Eichorst accepted a five-year contract, reportedly worth $973,000 annually.

    "I am deeply disappointed in Shawn's departure to the University of Nebraska as I thoroughly enjoyed working with him,'' Shalala said in a written statement. "We wish Shawn and his wonderful family the very best at their new post.''

    Shalala has appointed Blake James, Senior Associate Athletic Director, as the acting UM athletic director. James served as the AD at Maine from 2005-2010 and returned to UM in 2010, having previously worked at UM from 1995-97 and from 1998-2001.

    Eichorst was hired by the Hurricanes in April, 2011.

    Hello? Anyone want to be the UM athletic director?    

     Osborne announced last month that he will retire at the end of this year.

    At UM -- bracing for NCAA sanctions in the case involving former UM booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro -- Eichorst has been one of the most low-profile athletic directors in school history. He was not at UM during Shapiro's wrongdoings, but except for once or twice, has declined to speak to the media since coming to Miami -- and has mostly kept his distance from UM fans and donors.

    Among the media, Eichorst was known as the invisible athletic director.

    He was supposed to accompany the Golden Canes boosters on the trip to Chicago. 

    "I think his timing is offensive,'' a long-time Miami booster told me. "It's a Golden Canes trip. It's a Notre Dame game. If he was that unhappy, he should have just left before this.

    "If someone can't even say hello to people he sees all the time, he's not at the right place and isn't part of the Hurricanes' family."

     Former UM great Alonzo Highsmith has been busy tweeting this morning:

     "Donna listen," Highsmith tweeted, referring to Shalala, "Find an AD with vision, passion, guts, decision maker, leader, knows and respects program , knows the culture, man of people!"   

    Alonzo also tweeted this: I wouldn't know Miami AD if he told me who he was and that's all u need to know!!

    Eichorst's predecessor, Kirby Hocutt, served only 2 1/2 years as the UM athletic director and now is the AD at Texas Tech.

    Eichorst was responsible for the hiring of basketball coach Jim Larranaga. Just before his hiring, the school agreed to reward women's basketball coach Katie Meier, the co-national Coach of the Year, with a five-year contract extension that would take her through 2016. The contract was negotiated by then-acting AD Tony Hernandez.

     Eichorst is a native of Lone Rock, Wis., and was an all-conference defensive back, three-time letterwinner and 1990 team captain for the UW-Whitewater football team, according to his Miami bio. He graduated magna cum laude in business from UW-Whitewater in 1990 and earned a law degree from Marquette in 1995.

 SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN