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As the leaves turn from green to yellow and red, and the bright sun deceives us into thinking it will be a warm day when in fact the winter chill has already arrived in Charlottesville, college basketball fans know these changes mean it won’t be long until the start of preseason practice and the beginning of another season.
There is probably no one more excited about the beginning of practice for the 2008-09 season than Virginia’s Sammy Zeglinski. Last season, Zeglinski’s first with the Cavaliers, was a frustrating one for him. An ankle injury limited the 6-0 guard to just 62 minutes of action in eight games in 2007-08 and eventually caused him to miss the last 24 games of the season. Zeglinski’s request for a medical hardship waiver was approved and he has four years of eligibility remaining.
“There are no problems with the ankle,” the native of Philadelphia, Pa., says as he prepares for Virginia’s first preseason practice session on Oct. 17. “I’m just excited to shake off the rust, get back out there on the court with my teammates and play.”
Zeglinski had an opportunity to play competitively with the Cavaliers again during a three-game exhibition trip to Canada in late August. He started two of the three games and averaged 21.7 minutes played a game. He averaged eight points and a team-leading four assists a game in the three games.
Virginia played the three games in a 26-hour period and won two of them.
“As a team, I think we did well,” Zeglinski said. “Towards the end we wore down a little with the traveling and everything. Personally, I was happy with my ball handling. I could have been a little more aggressive, but I think I did pretty well.”
The trip was a step for Zeglinski toward getting used to the feel and flow of Division I basketball again. Zeglinski, who was a high school teammate of former Virginia standout Sean Singletary for one season at The William Penn Charter School before being reunited with Singletary last season, is expected to compete for playing time at the point guard position with junior Calvin Baker and freshman Sylven Landesberg.
“Sammy is a natural point guard,” said Virginia head coach Dave Leitao. “What he’s got to do is get his legs back under him. I almost have to look at him as I do our three first-year players, because he only played in eight games last season and really wasn’t effective because of his ankle injury. But I also look at him, because we’re so young as a team, as an older guy. I’ve got to be patient, but he definitely has the ability to assume the point guard role if we can get him more comfortable.”
As a senior at Penn Charter in 2006-07, Zeglinski averaged 18.9 points a game and was a first-team Class AA All-State selection. He scored 1,642 points during his high school career.
“I need to keep an aggressive mindset,” Zeglinski says. “I can’t be tentative and need to stay aggressive in order to lead the team. I have to talk, communicate with my teammates, and lead on and off the court.”
After missing so much of last season, Zeglinski is happy to be back on the court with his teammates and be a part of pursuing their team goals. With the loss of last year’s leading scorer in Singletary, leading rebounder in Adrian Joseph and four other lettermen from a 17-16 team that reached the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, many collegiate basketball observers see challenges ahead for the Cavaliers.
“We’re excited and as a team a lot of people want to prove themselves,” Zeglinski said. “We want to show that we have a chance to be a really good team and prove our doubters wrong.”
That opportunity is about to begin for Zeglinski and the Cavaliers.