Story Links
March 28, 2007
VIDEO: Season Ticket Commercial
VIDEO: Up Close with Virginia’s Defensive Backs
More Video and Story Links
UVa Spring Football Central
Season Ticket Information
Charlottesville, VA — Virginia football coach Al Groh said today that junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree will likely miss the 2007 season due to a knee injury suffered during Friday’s practice.
Ogletree was the Cavaliers’ leading receiver last season with 52 catches for 582 yards and four TDs. He finished third in the ACC in receiving. A native of St. Albans, N.Y., Ogletree played in all 12 games last season and started nine of the final 10 contests. As a true freshman in 2005, he played in seven games and caught seven passes for 27 yards.
“He was trying to make a cut and it just gave out on him,” Groh said. “They did the MRI the other night and we just got the results. Because he did not experience too much next-day difficulty we were kind of hoping against hope. When I saw it, I thought to myself, `Uh oh, I know what that looks like.’ Unfortunately, it turned out to be an accurate visual diagnosis.”
Groh said a definitive recovery period for Ogletree will not be known until after he has surgery, which has not yet been scheduled.
“Any time that you have that, the standard answer, until the particulars of each guy’s case, and that usually comes when the surgery is done, the standard answer on that is 12 months,” Groh said. “
It marks the third time since the 2003 season the Cavaliers will be without their leading returning receiver due to an injury. In 2003 Michael McGrew was injured during preseason training camp due to a broken leg. Last fall Deyon Williams suffered a foot injury that limited his action to the second half of the season.
“He is understandably disappointed,” Groh said of Ogletree, who can apply for a medical hardship for the upcoming season. “Going into the third year is when it really happens for a lot of guys. He had been really tunnel visioned toward that. We just have to realize that year is coming back again. We just put it on ice. It is not like it is lost forever.”
Earlier in the week Groh noted the development of several younger receivers on the team to reporters. He said players such as Chris Gorham, Stanton Jobe and Chris Dalton and the rest of the receiving corps would all have the opportunity to fill in the void created by the injury.
“While we feel for the player who is going to miss the time, as a team we have to buck up and go on,” Groh said. “Every team is going to lose guys. It is how you respond to that as much as anything that determines how you come out of it.”