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

Gabe Terry, Duke Johnson earn ACC weekly honors; plus notes from UM's coordinators

Here are some news and notes from Monday. The Hurricanes (5-4, 4-2) returned to practice after getting a couple days off following their win over Virginia Tech last Thursday night and are preparing for Virginia.

> Freshman linebacker Gabe Terry and running back Duke Johnson were named the ACC's Special Teams Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, on Monday.

UM coach Al Golden said Terry, who blocked a punt in the win over Virginia Tech, learned from his roughing the punter penalty against Notre Dame.

"He went down low for the ball, elongated - he didn't put his hand up high like he did at Notre Dame, learned from that," Golden said. "That was a tough lesson for all of us at Notre Dame, but obviously he learned from it."

Johnson, who produced his fourth 200-yard all-purpose game of the season, was honored by the ACC for the third time this season. Johnson ranks 21st nationally in all-purpose yards.

> Defensive end Kelvin Cain has been reinstated and practiced with the scout team Monday. The 6-3, 245-pound junior had his name removed from the roster two weeks ago after missing the Florida State game for what Golden deemed "personal reasons."

Asked about Cain's return to the team after he was removed from the roster, Golden said, "It's personal, but he's been reinstated. He sorted some things out, so I'm happy for the young man. It's good to see him back out here today."

Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio said he didn't see Cain practicing Monday because he "was watching our side of the ball [the first and second team defense.]" 

"Hopefully he's got his mind right and is back and ready to do what we need him to do," D'Onofrio said.

> Golden said there's no injury update on safety Deon Bush (stinger) or linebacker Denzel Perryman (ankle), but both were expected to see doctors Monday.

"Denzel we're protecting; he'll see the doctor again today," Golden said. "And Deon is seeing the doctor this afternoon."

Golden reiterated he doesn't think Perryman's health went backward during the Virginia Tech game and remains hopeful he's on track to play Saturday at Virginia.

Someone close to Bush told The Herald Monday night Bush's injury doesn't appear to be serious and he expects to play at Virginia.

> Golden said defensive tackle Curtis Porter, who got his first action of the season on Thursday night coming off an appendectomy, has to continue to improve with his conditioning.

Golden said the team was looking to get Porter "around 25 to 30" snaps against Virginia Tech. D'Onofrio said Porter got around 30 snaps.

"He's got another level he can get to if he can get in condition and eliminate the distractions," Golden said. "His biggest enemy is consistency, being the same guy every day. If he can develop that discipline, make good choices every day and have a positive attitude and stay focused he could be a really good player. Inconsistency is his biggest enemy."

D'Onofrio said he was "happy for Curtis." "He's had a tough run, a lot of injuries, hasn't had a chance to play," D'onofrio said. "It was good to have him back. I thought he played well. He was stout in the middle. We gutted him a little bit - he played in the 30s which is a lot of plays considering where he was at conditioning-wise a couple of weeks ago. And that was good. He gave us a boost."

> D'Onofrio noted that of the 26 players to lineup on defense for the Hurricanes last Thursday 22 graded out higher than their season average. He said the defensive line was the most improved unit and praised defensive tackle Luther Robinson for "probably playing his best game."

"It comes down to keeping the points down," he said. "We did that. We're starting to do a better job of that, even the FSU game - they got a couple [of late scores]. We're playing better red zone defense really over the last four games, are in the low 40s in touchdown percentage and that's where we want to be. That's helped a lot."

> UM already has more turnovers (18) than it had all of last year (15). There were three turnovers forced by the defense Thursday night and now UM is plus-5 for the season.

"I haven't coached it any different than we have forever," D'Onofrio said. "I think a lot of things happen. Guys become comfortable with it, become more ball aware. We've got some balls ripped out, we've taken some balls away that way. That comes with strength, with confidence. We're trying to make a big emphasis of it. We really challenged guys this past week. I'd like to see us cause a few more fumbles."

> Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch addressed the issue of third down efficiency. UM finished 1 of 12 versus Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes are now 52 of 134 (38.81 percent) on third downs on offense this season -- that ranks 73rd. UM converted at 42.57 percent last season (63 of 148, 44th out of 120 teams).

"Last week was kind of an anomaly of game," Fisch said. "We weren't very efficient at times on first and second down, so therefore your third downs are third-and-10. I think we're like 58 percent on third-and-six or less, 90 percent on third-and-one. But when you have a lot of third-and-eight, nine, 10, you struggled there. But most teams do. You really have to execute."

> Quarterback Stephen Morris has continued to see his completion percentage drop over his last five games. Fisch said he's monitoring the way Morris throws the ball and sees no major problems.

"We just have to keep getting better," Fisch said. "The best part about Stephen is he still has a lot of games left with us. It's not like this is the final countdown. He had no spring. He only started one game last year, had no spring. I think his confidence is fine; we have to make some plays."

> Fisch said receiver Allen Hurns "ran some really good routes" against Virginia Tech.

Hurns had two catches for 21 yards and had a 16 yard TD catch against the Hokies. Since starting the season with eight catches for 91 yards and then taking a vicious hit at Kansas State that knocked him out the rest of that game and the next, Hurns has made 13 catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns over his last six games. Not exactly elite production.

> Golden said Sunday he would like to get Dallas Crawford more reps than the two he had on Thursday night. Fisch said Monday "maybe five, six, seven" reps would be possible for Crawford moving forward.

> Golden said Virginia's blowout win over N.C. State last weekend shouldn't be the only reason his team is wary of the Cavaliers.

"They beat us four of the last six, the last two," Golden said. "I thought they were a team that pushed us around and were physical a year ago. They have a great running attack. I think they're as deep as anybody, probably the deepest at running back. they have a big, powerful offensive line. They took the ball away on defense, protected the ball on offense, something they hadn't done as well. Coming out of a bye week they were a different team.

"I think our guys understand what we're up against in Charlottesville."

> Golden said right tackle Seantrel Henderson is still battling "consistency and discipline" issues with "his technique every day." But he adds Henderson is "making a lot of progress, has eliminated a lot of distractions" and "has become process oriented."

New #UM #Canes depth chart hot off the press (and on the web) for #UVA game

Good morning.

We have another road trip Saturday, this one at Charlottesville, Va., where the Hurricanes will face the Virginia Cavaliers (3-6, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference coming off a victory against NC State) of the Coastal Division.

The weekend off had to be beneficial for the Canes (5-4, 4-2), especially with a road game this week.

The newest depth chart was just released.

Not many changes, but there are some. A.J. Highsmith is now back at first-team safety.

And Seantrel Henderson has taken over at first-team right tackle.

At outside linebacker, Denzel Perryman now shares the first-team position with Gionni Paul.

Keep in mind that Denzel is injured, or at least overcoming an ankle injury.

And our comeback player of the week is Curtis Porter, who after his first game this season on Thursday, is the backup to starter Earl Moore at defensive tackle.

 

OFFENSE
WR	80	Rashawn Scott	6-2	190	So.
	86	Herb Waters	6-2	185	Fr.
LT	79	Malcolm Bunche	6-7	325	RSo.
	64	Hunter Wells	6-4	300	RFr.
LG	70	Jon Feliciano	6-5	314	RSo.
	68	Jeremy Lewis	6-4	316	RSr.
C	62	Shane McDermott	6-4	295	RSo.
	75	Jared Wheeler	6-5	314	RJr.
RG	65	Brandon Linder	6-6	308	Jr.
	63	Danny Isidora	6-4	320	Fr.
RT	77	Seantrel Henderson	6-8	340	Jr.
	74	Ereck Flowers	6-6	314	Fr.
TE	46	Clive Walford	6-4	250	RSo.
	49	Dyron Dye -OR-	6-5	255	RJr.
	82	Asante Cleveland	6-5	263	Jr.
FB	33	Maurice Hagens	5-11	240	Jr.
	43	Sean Harvey	6-4	262	RSo.
QB	17	Stephen Morris	6-2	214	Jr.
	11	Ryan Williams	6-5	221	RSo.
RB	5	Mike James	5-11	220	Sr.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	188	Fr.
WR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	83	Kendal Thompkins	5-10	182	RSr.
	6	Robert Lockhart Jr.	6-1	188	Fr.
WR	1	Allen Hurns	6-3	192	Jr.
	24	Davon Johnson	6-0	188	Sr.

 

  

DEFENSE
DE	71	Anthony Chickillo	6-4	262	So.
	92	Jalen Grimble -OR-	6-2	295	So.
	99	Jelani Hamilton	6-5	271	Fr.
DT	72	Earl Moore	6-1	300	Fr.
	96	Curtis Porter	6-1	305	RJr.
	66	Dequan Ivery	6-1	303	Fr.
DT	91	Olsen Pierre	6-4	300	So.
	93	Luther Robinson -OR-	6-3	288	RJr.
	67	Corey King	6-1	295	RFr.
DE	51	Shayon Green	6-3	260	RJr.
	17	Tyriq McCord -OR-	6-3	236	Fr.
	90	Ricardo Williams	6-5	240	RFr.
OLB	44	Eddie Johnson	6-1	238	RFr.
	34	Thurston Armbrister	6-3	222	So.
MLB	59	Jimmy Gaines	6-3	230	Jr.
	56	Raphael Kirby	6-0	218	Fr.
OLB	52	Denzel Perryman -OR-	6-0	229	So.
	36	Gionni Paul	6-1	230	So.
	31	Tyrone Cornileus	6-2	210	So.
CB	37	Ladarius Gunter	6-2	198	So.
	3	Tracy Howard -OR-	5-11	185	Fr.
	20	Thomas Finnie	5-10	183	So.
S	2	Deon Bush	6-1	190	Fr.
	22	Kacy Rodgers II	6-2	210	Jr.
S	30	AJ Highsmith	6-0	202	RJr.
	7	Vaughn Telemaque	6-2	204	RSr.
	29	Rayshawn Jenkins	6-1	203	Fr.
CB	21	Brandon McGee	6-0	194	Sr.
	39	Antonio Crawford	5-11	188	Fr.

 

SPECIALISTS
P	13	Dalton Botts	6-3	205	Sr.
	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
FG	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
	18	Matt Goudis	6-0	170	RFr.
KO	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
	18	Matt Goudis	6-0	170	RFr.
H	13	Dalton Botts	6-3	205	Sr.
	11	Ryan Williams	6-5	221	RSo.
LS	61	Paul Kelly	6-1	262	RSr.
	59	Jimmy Gaines	6-3	230	Jr.
SS	61	Paul Kelly	6-1	262	RSr.
	65	Brandon Linder	6-6	308	Jr.
PR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	192	Fr.
KR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	188	Fr.