The CBB staff has been a huge supporter over the last few years of the Virginia program and how they have risen from the bottom of the ACC to the upper echelon. We saw Brian O’Connor leave his assistant coaching position with Notre Dame under Paul Mainieri and take over the underachieving Virginia program. He started recruiting some of the best athletes in the country including 2007 41st overall pick Sean Doolittle, 2008 draftee Jacob Thompson among others. The program has been churning out talent every year which fit into the Virginia system of solid pitching and defense which is complemented by stealing and bunting on the basepaths. O’Connor led his team to the 2008 Fullerton Regional which was their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tourney.
The Virginia Cavaliers will welcome back 20 players for last year’s squad who will be joined by 11 new faces. The highest rated recruit to turn down a professional offer is Danny Hultzen. He was drafted in the 10th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks but had already told scouts of his strong desire to play collegiate baseball thus the reason he slipped to the tenth round. The Daily Progress has put out a great article previewing the 2009 Virginia Cavaliers squad which can be read by clicking here.
Thanks to Assistant Editor Mark Rafferty for sending me the article and contributing to this report.
