'Hoos lose another one...

[GMan 3,569]

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/add-tailback-pearman-list-unavailable-players-u-va

 

Add tailback Pearman to list of unavailable players for U. Va.

 

Roanoke Times

© March 22, 2008

By Doug Doughty

 

CHARLOTTSVILLE - There have been so many developments with Virginia's football team since the end of the 2007 season that there was little to report Friday on the first day of spring practice.

 

A roster released early in the day had one notable absentee: tailback Andrew Pearman.

 

Pearman was sent home from the Gator Bowl after an altercation with a teammate and there had been questions about his status for 2008.

 

"It was a recurrence of the health issues that caused him to leave earlier," U.Va. coach Al Groh said. "In all likelihood, he's not going to be part of the program."

 

The Cavaliers already knew they would be without several top underclassmen off the 2007 team, including all-ACC offensive guard Branden Albert, who passed up his final season of eligibility and applied for the NFL draft.

 

In January, starting quarterback Jameel Sewell and veteran cornerback Chris Cook were among a group of four scholarship players placed on academic suspension by the dean's office. They won't be back until 2009 - if at all.

 

It's hard to say any of the losses was more damaging than the February departure

 

of defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald, who lost his appeal of an academic-related offense. He will not return.

 

"The team doesn't go into this with an amnesia attack, where we forget everything we're about and what made us successful," Groh said. "It's been clear in the offseason that there are some players who are very anxious to pick up the baton in that (leadership) area."

 

In Sewell's absence, sophomore Peter Lalich heads the lineup at quarterback.

 

"Peter's pretty poker-faced about things in general," Groh said. "But, in conversations with Pete,... he's really looking forward to going out and getting the maximum number of turns in the scheme."

 

Fifth-year tailback Cedric Peerman enters spring practice with no restrictions following midseason foot surgery, "but Ced doesn't have anything to prove to us in terms of his toughness or his skill," Groh said.

 

Groh said some players might be excused from practices to stay on track academically. One player might skip spring ball altogether. Groh wouldn't identify that player but conceded that "it will be apparent soon enough."

 

Junior cornerback Mike Brown was listed on the updated roster but is not taking part in team activities pending resolution of the matter that led to his arrest Feb. 29 on charges that included grand larceny and possession of marijuana.

 

Of the new heights and weights that accompanied the updated roster, the most significant transformation may have involved sophomore center Jack Shields. Shields, listed at 252 pounds on U.Va.'s Web site and 275 in the 2007 media guide, now checks in at 6-foot-5 and 289 pounds.

 

Shields was recruited with the idea of one day replacing Jordy Lipsey, U.Va.'s center the past two years. But Shields didn't originally have the bulk for the position.

 

Two of Virginia's spring practices will be open to the public, the first March 30.