The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Is Jay Woolfolk Returning To UVA Baseball?; Woolfolk Tweets "I'm Back" With His Jersey

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: Is Jay Woolfolk Returning To UVA Baseball? Woolfolk Tweets “I’m Back” With His Jersey Breakdown UVA Baseball In The MLB Draft Fantastic Pic Of Reece Beekman & Ryan Dunn Dunn Is Enjoying A Strong NBA Summer League Jay Huff Is Turning Heads In NBA Summer Ball ACC Kickoff Next Week In Charlotte, NC UVA Football Training Camp 2 Weeks Away Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. This program stars the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe, an award-winning writer of prolific proportions, a man that covers the Atlantic Coast Conference inside and out, and knows what happens at the conference like the Pope knows. Holy water. Today he comes into the studio and he says, hey, I hate to spread this on you, but it looks like we got some breaking news. I didn't see it. Judah didn't see it. Most of you guys didn't see it. But Mr. Jay Woolfolk

sends out a tweet with his jersey in a short declarative sentence. I'm back. We'll talk Jay Woolfolk potentially returning to UVA baseball today on the Jerry and Jerry show. We'll break down the who's in the Major League Baseball draft. We could see some talent returning to UVA and we could see some recruits that perhaps had been drafted in the Major League Baseball draft, not pick where they thought they would go, so securing a spot in Charlottesville for potentially years to come. We have a fantastic picture of Reese Beekman and Ryan Dunn that we're going to put on screen. That's a picture Hootie sent to us this morning, Judah.

And Jay Huff is turning heads in the Summer League, the eclectic, the very affable, the very approachable Jay Huff dunking the basketball, taking shots from downtown, handling the rock, and doing it with authority. Judah Wickauer, if you can go to the studio camera, we have a gentleman that is two weeks from UVA training camp and a week, less than a week, from ACC kickoff in Charlotte. My friend, this is the busy time of year for you. How are you?

It's about to heat up, that's for sure. The grind begins. I'm doing well, and I hope you are. I'm doing quite well, my friend. That tweet made my morning. You came in and said, hey, this could be news, and you were exactly right. Put it in perspective.

Well, as you mentioned very appropriately, we saw the tweet from Jay Woolfolk, just a one line, I'm back. A huge deal for Brian O'Connor's baseball team coming off its third College World Series appearance in the last four years. With Jay Woolfolk, this could be for Woolfolk what that extra year was for Andrew Abbott a few years

ago. He didn't get drafted, surprisingly, and Abbott took it upon himself to come back and show people that they had made a mistake. Had an excellent extra year in Virginia's baseball program and tore up college baseball his final year drafted fairly high by the Cincinnati Reds and after some seasoning a little marinating he stepped into his rookie year last year and tore up major league baseball for a couple months before they could even figure him out.

And he's still on a roll. Last time we looked, he had won six of his last seven games. So maybe this could be the launching pad for Jay Woolfolk with an extra year to develop his skills as well. We all remember the sad moment from the College World Series against Florida State when he grabbed his knee after giving up a solo home run to Florida State's Jamie Ferrer to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning.

And Wolfhawk stayed in the game and tried to go as long as he could. He retired the next batter to center field, but then he walked another batter on five pitches and was continuing to limp around and was removed from the game, replaced by Joe Savino. And it was sad to see that because he had been on such a roll in the postseason. On a tear. He had just dominated in the sub-regionals and super-regionals

and was finally starting to come into what everybody had expected, including his own expectations, and certainly was so effective in helping Virginia get to Omaha. So all the best for that young man, and we hope that his final year can be as dominating as Andrew Abbott's was. Jay Woolfolk returning to Charlottesville is just going to make this baseball team even more talented. And it had talent returning. Its recruiting class was quite dynamite. It was a whisker's hair away from a national championship.

How would you characterize the impact of Jay Woolfolk returning? And it may not just be Jay Woolfolk who returns, Hootie Ratcliffe. Well, that's true. They had three guys drafted, and we'll talk about that in a moment. But, I mean, it's huge. Anytime you can, I mean, a lot of colleges wonder, programs wonder who their ace is going to be. I think it's pretty evident already now who Virginia's ace will be coming in the next season.

And he'll be able to, I don't know if he's going to be playing any summer league baseball or not, but he'll certainly be able to play fall ball and get comfortable and, you know, work out over the winter and develop his pitches a little bit more to his liking and try to become the dominant pitcher that he had always hoped to be. And this is just a huge addition to next year's team. They had already brought in three or four pitchers from the transfer portal. Plus they return a bunch of guys. And having Woolfolk back is just icing on the cake, so to speak. Absolutely.

You know, I choose the words carefully because I want nothing but success for the student athletes at UVA, nothing but success for Jay Woolfolk to go as early in the draft as possible. He's got professional upside, Team USA baseball experience. Remember, this is the Jay Woolfolk viewers and listeners who came to Charlottesville with the pedigree of a quarterback out of Richmond and actually saw a start at Scott Stadium against Notre Dame when Brennan Armstrong went down with injury. That was a very tough position, I believe, for a true freshman to be put on national TV. That outcome did not go according to plan. Jay Woolfolk also made some strategic decision.

He hedged risk by saying, look, I'm going to make more money and have a potentially longer career playing baseball than I would football. And I think he's clearly right. He's a guy that throws gas. He's a right-hander that's strong. He's powerful. It's cut to the chase. This past year was, would you call it a bit of a disappointment

for a guy with that kind of upside? Yeah, it was, and he would be the first to admit it. I had a nice interview with him right before the, I guess, the Super Regional, and he talked about his frustration through the season and that he always felt like he was just essentially one pitch away from getting over the hump in several games. He talked about the low point, giving up a, I think it was a big home run. I don't remember if it was Miami or Florida State.

But, yeah, he was just so depressed at that point of the season and felt like that maybe he just was never going to live up to his dreams and Brian O'Connor to his credit brought him into his office and that wasn't the only meeting he's had with Jay this past season but it was the most effective and they were looking at his stat sheet, and O'Connor handed it to him. He said, Jay, tear that sheet up right now. Just tear it up.

And, of course, he followed Coach's instruction, and he said, new beginning, we're starting all over fresh start and uh they had planned at that point to start him in the postseason and man did he ever deliver and sometimes things like that can get into an athlete's head and first sign of uh anything going wrong you know it's here we go again. And the negative starts to override anything positive in your mind. And to have a coach that tells you to just rip that up and start all over again and has faith in you is sometimes that's all it takes. Brian O'Connor, not just a fantastic coach, guys, on the diamond and the dugout in practice,

but a guy who understands the mental side of baseball. And so much of baseball is mental, maybe one of the most mental sports out there. When you're going one for four every day and you secure your spot in the starting lineup, hitting 300, 250, whatever it may be. It just shows the challenges of playing baseball and also the amount of games that you play. Now, Jay Woolfolk, more of a unique animal in that he's a starting pitcher. In fact, he went from bullpen to starter. He floated from the pen to a starter spot. I still see, and I'll throw this to you, Hootie, as a guy that could have a very, very long career in professional baseball. i mean you look at his velocity and his assortment of pitches

and that's only going to get better i don't know if the velocity will get better but his his his control and his command exactly and i mean he there's not a lot of guys out there that throw 95 miles, 96 miles an hour. So he's got that going for him in a big way. And he was ranked around the 25th best right-handed pitcher available in the draft, somewhere around number 250 overall. I was a little surprised he didn't get picked, but maybe that will just make him more determined to be even better next year.

Folks already offering commentary on Jay Woolfolk. This question comes in. Is he the clear-cut opening day starter Friday, Saturday, Sunday type of guy for the Hoos? Clear-cut to me. I don't think there's any doubt about it.

I think he'll be there and we'll be hungry to show people that he's better than he's been given credit for. What else do you want to highlight from the Major League Baseball draft? Well, obviously, I think if I did my right research, I think the three guys taken, shortstop Griff O'Farrell, judged the best shortstop in the country, college shortstop in the country, taken in round one, 32nd overall by the Orioles, $2.8 million slot value.

And then catcher first baseman, Ethan Anderson, round two, 61st overall also by the Orioles, $1.4 million slot value. And number 127 prospect, outfielder Casey Salky, who drafted in the fourth round, $680,000 slot value, taken by the White Sox. I think that gives Brian O'Connor 101 players drafted out of the Virginia program during his tenure. That's mind-boggling if you stop and think about it. Yeah.

101 players. Absolutely incredible. That just blows your mind. I mean, you know, it's tough to compare baseball to other sports because there's a deeper, you know, there's more roster. There's more depth on the roster in baseball to, say, basketball. But Algrove didn't have. Did Algrove have 101 guys drafted?

No. No way. Mike London didn't have 101 guys drafted. Tony Elliott has it. I'm not sure George Walsh had 101 guys drafted. I was just going to ask you that question. Did George Walsh had 101 guys drafted. Football has more depth on its roster than baseball

and more opportunity for guys to get drafted. And still, this baseball team has had more guys. Basketball, we haven't had. Tony Bennett's had a lot of guys drafted, but it's not 101. Nope. I think, in fact, if I read a Hootie Ratcliffe column, that number, I believe, was under 20 drafted in the Tony Bennett era. I think that's

about right. With the first one, Mike Scott, who was a recruit from a different regime. 101 guys, Hootie. That's amazing. Fascinating. Kind of thought that Harrison Diddowick might get drafted, but I think, and I guess he still could.

I don't know. Is the draft over? Oh, no. No? Yeah, I thought there was still some left. But I guess he could still. Yeah, that's right. It's not over.

He could still be drafted. I guess, you know, Wilford could still be drafted, but if he's coming back, I don't think, I think he's kind of made up his mind on that. And there were three recruits, three Virginia recruits for the 25 season who were drafted in round two yesterday. Shortstop Caleb Bonamer, I'm not sure how you pronounce his last name, Bonamer, the number 71 prospect from Michigan. Went 43rd overall to the White Sox,

which is a $2 million plus slot value. So he may be gone. Don't know that for sure. Also, another shortstop, Luke Dickerson, the number 49 prospect from New Jersey, went 44th overall. So those two guys were taken back-to-back by the Nationals, also $2 million-plus slot value. They could be in jeopardy of losing both of those shortstop prospects. And right-handed pitcher Bryce McCodge or McCage, I'm not sure, number 51 prospect, also from New Jersey,

went 57th in the draft to the Brewers, $1.5 million slot value. So we'll see if those guys go for the money, it's hard to turn down that kind of dough, just like last year's main Virginia prospect, Johnny Farmello, who was committed but was drafted by Seattle in the first round and obviously couldn't turn down that kind of money. What a draft. Still more to come. Virginia baseball continues to be in the headlines for positive outcomes. Kevin Yancey, the starting role, was a better spot for Jay Woolfolk

rather than the bullpen. I concur with that one. I always saw Jay Woolfolk as a starter. I think Jay Woolfolk sees himself as a starter. Time will tell, though. I think Jay Woolfolk is a plus athlete. And as a plus athlete, that starter's role seems to be in a better spot for him. But time will tell.

The Major League Baseball draft has gotten more attention as baseball has gotten more attention as baseball has gotten more attention. And 101 guys from Virginia and Brian O'Connor's program to get drafted is something that further cements Coach O'Connor and the Mount Rushmore of UVA coaches. Dot the I's and cross the T's on baseball. We got a lot of basketball commentary for you here, Hoody Ratcliffe. Well, it just speaks volumes about the Virginia program

and what O'Connor's done and what he and his coaching staff are able to recruit year after year, bringing in major league talent. Bringing in pros. Bringing in pros every year, and that should only boost his ability to continue to recruit like that. I mean, if you're a player anywhere on the East Coast, it's almost a no-brainer if Virginia recruits you. You're coming here unless you do get drafted high.

He should have his pick of the litter. Between Virginia and North Carolina, they should dominate recruiting, I would think, on the East Coast and part of the South. There's some other UVA commits listed in the top 250 who could have their names called today. Right-hand pitcher Trey Gregory Alford, who's ranked the number 105 prospect. He's the right-hand pitcher. Southpaw Tom Tomas Valenukas. Valen, I'm not sure how to pronounce his name.

Number 107 prospect, and left-handed pitcher William Kirk, the number 110 prospect, and third baseman Aiden Harris, number 168 prospect. So hopefully this recruiting class isn't wiped out by the major league draft. He's got pros year after year coming to Charlottesville, guys. And it's just a testament to the staff and Coach O'Connor and the program they have built. Another guy who's built an incredible program is obviously Tony Bennett and the basketball team. Ryan Dunn turning heads with the Phoenix Suns. I was reading coverage of what Ryan Dunn is doing well in Phoenix.

This was, and I'm paraphrasing here, what he's doing well. He's a menace defensively. He can guard multiple positions. They're using Ryan Dunn to guard wings. They're using Ryan Dunn to guard primary ball handlers. Ryan Dunn is a menace on the offensive glass with tip-ins and finishes and flushes, off missed shots. He's a shot blocker. It is exactly what he's done

in Charlottesville, again in the National Basketball Association. And exactly why the Phoenix Suns wanted him, because they have a plethora of shooters. Exactly. So they didn't draft him to come in and score. they knew he could play a valuable role in their organization doing just those things that you mentioned. And he made his debut last Saturday night in Vegas against Reese Beekman's team, believe it or not. I think you have a photo you can put on screen of Ryan Dunn and Reese Beekman next to each other, Judah. Great, great photo of those guys.

And Dunn started that game. He played 26 minutes. He had six points. It was three of seven shooting. It was 0 of three from the three-point line, which is not any surprise because he's not a three-point shooter. He may develop into one. But he had four rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots, three steals,

which is just exactly what Ryan Dunn does. He was picked to be a defensive menace, as you mentioned, and to be a rebounder, a rim protector, and a guy who can score around the rim. So he's doing exactly what they thought he would do. He stuffs the stat sheet, Ryan Dunn. Something curious stood out to me, Ryan Dunn in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, listed at six'6 now. With Virginia basketball, he had a 6'8, 6'9 list. Most of those college heights have always been inflated.

Yeah, 6'6 list. Yeah, it's always interesting when these guys go to the NFL draft or the NBA draft and they're officially measured they're never as big as they're projected to be in college sports and it's not just here it's everywhere but that's just the way the game is played and I don't know why they do that really but it's just something that goes back as far as I can remember.

That's just the way it is. If Virginia fans want to see him, Dunn's team is playing the Pacers at 4 o'clock today on ESPNU. So you can tune into that and get a closer look at him as a pro. Reese Speakman, any coverage, any attention, any commentary you want to offer, Hootie? Absolutely. With the Golden State Warriors, he also made his debut last Saturday in the California Classic, which was in San Francisco, against the Miami Heat.

And he started, played 21 minutes, had 10 points. Like Dunn, was 3 of 7 from the field, although he did hit 2 of 3 three-point attempts. Had a rebound, one assist, one block, one turnover. Which is very typical Reese Bigman basketball. And he started against the Lakers the next night and played 24 minutes, had four points, was only one of six, wasn't a good shooting night, one rebound, two assists, one block, one steal, one turnover. He didn't play Wednesday against Sacramento or against Phoenix, against the Bulls.

But they play, Golden State plays the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night at 10 o'clock on NBA TV. So Virginia fans can get a good look, good glimpse at Dunn and Beekman over the next two days if they want to watch them as pros. And we would be remiss not to highlight a unicorn of sorts in Jay Huff. Jay Huff, guys, while he may not be an NBA player, he does seem to have an NBA skill set. He may be, and it's tough to say this, in between positions, Jay Huff. And we're talking about a guy that's seven foot plus. The problem is, where does a guy with this kind of talent,

where you can shoot from downtown, you can block shots, you can handle, you can pass, where does he play position-wise on the floor? Maybe too light in the britches for the five. you can handle, you can pass. Where does he play position-wise on the floor? Maybe too light in the britches for the five. Maybe not quick enough to play defensively on the wing. Jay Huff is turning heads nevertheless in the summer league. I think he's probably more of a stretch four is his natural position. And I don't know if people saw this,

but there was a great clip on DUC on Twitter. He blocked a shot on one end, took the ball, went the length of the course, coast to court, coast to coast, and slam dunked on the other end. You just don't see a lot of seven-footers doing that. But that's the Jay Huff we came to know and love when he was a Cavalier. And one of the most popular players in the Bennett era, no question about it.

Very likable. Very likable guy. He has such a glowing personality and a fun guy to be around. Lighthearted, enjoys life. He's made some just highlight real dunks in the summer league already. He made his debut in Vegas on Friday a week ago. Started, played 23 minutes, 16 points, seven of 9 field goals, Jerry. 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, no turnovers. He started against Sunday against the Pelicans, had 13 points, 5 of 11,

hit a 3-pointer, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 turnover in 25 minutes. Just a crazy stat that my son pointed out, Scott Rackless saw. Jay Huff had eight personal fouls in one game. You can't foul out in the summer league. You can see him tomorrow night at 7 o'clock ESPN Plus when the Magic plays the Grizzlies. And then again on Thursday night against the Nets at 8 o'clock on NBA TV. Scott Ratcliffe making the program better, one of the key team members of JerryRatcliffe.com.

He said from a baseball standpoint, aside from the drafted players, Brian O'Connor also currently has eight players in the majors and 26 in the minors. Scott Rackliff, that is just fantastic information right there. He knows his stuff. A guy who loves data and stats. And I don't know anybody who watches more Major League Baseball and more NBA basketball than he does. I don't think that person exists. Brian O'Connor also currently has eight players in the majors, 26 in the minors,

along with 101 drafted players. Jay Huff, this is important to emphasize here. Like Scott Ratcliffe, I'm a diehard NBA fan. Huff has got a pretty impressive G League resume. He was the defensive player in 2023 in the G League. He was an all G League first team performer. He was on the all G League, all defensive team, and he led the G League in blocks. So he is one of the best players in the top minor league of domestic American basketball, which is the G League. It used to be called the D League. It's now the G League. He might be in between positions, however, when you're trying to crack into the NBA. This guy easily could be a superstar in European basketball.

Oh, yeah. No question about it you would think of all the nba teams that surely somebody could find a place on their roster for him he he does ed he just has so much talent on both ends of the floor um he he got in the 2022 2023 season he got about 14 minutes a game for the washington wizards yeah uh this past season saw very limited action for the Denver Nuggets. I mean, very difficult to crack in at the five spot if you're playing in Denver with the Joker on the roster. No question.

And maybe a great guy to learn from, the Joker. Yeah, true. And maybe he'll fit in better with the Magic. I don't know. I don't know their roster. You probably are more familiar with them than I am. But I'd just love to see him get a chance to stick with somebody for a full season and see what he can do.

Seven foot one, 240 pounds. He's put on some weight. Jay Huff, the 26-year-old, trying to make a career for himself in some professional basketball. My friend, what has stood out to you from the UVA players in the summer league? Clearly, what stood out to me is that Ryan Dunn looks like a potential starter in the NBA, if not a starter like a sixth or seventh man that's going to make an immediate impact as a rookie. He will definitely make an impact as a rookie, no question about it. And Bigman still has a chance to have an impact as well, but there's

no question that Dunn is going to be seeing a lot of minutes for Phoenix this season. It's great to see. And, you know, again, they picked him for a reason, not to be a scorer, but to be an all-around player and a defensive menace that can shut down some other teams. And he's going to be a great addition to that club, I think. He'll become more of a scorer as we go along. I don't know that he'll ever become a great jump shooter. Tough aspect on that basketball team is it might be tough to get some touches. He could get some touches as a guy that

crashes the glass on the offensive end, tip in some dunks like that. But when you've got a basketball team that has Mr. Devin Booker on there, You've got a basketball team, Grayson Allen is on that basketball team. You've got a basketball team with a boatload of talent like Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant. You've got a team with Mason Plumlee and Royce O'Neal coming off the bench, Monte Morris. Might not see a ton of touches, but if he can come in at that 3-4 spot and show that he can play defense, guard multiple positions, get rebounds and some blocks, plenty of minutes and upside for Dunn.

Yeah, and we also need to mention there's a couple other UVA guys in the summer league. Kihei Clark is still sticking around. Although he did not play Saturday against the Bulls, he did get in for three minutes on Sunday against the Cavaliers. Didn't really have any stats to mention, but he's playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, and they play the Clippers tonight at 10 o'clock on ESPN2.

Another opportunity to see a former Wahoo play. And then Armond Franklin playing for the Nuggets. Did not play Friday against the Clippers. Did not play Sunday against the Raptors. They play the Charlotte Hornets tonight at 6 on ESPN2. So chances to see all these guys today, tonight, and the next couple of days on various channels. Kev says, isn't he the same body type as Wemby, Jayhuff?

I say maybe the same body type, but less talented than Wemby. Yeah, Wemby's a little more advanced. Wemby's the true unicorn. Yeah. I mean, he's got – Wemby handles the ball like a point guard. Wemby's as good a shooter as Huff. Wemby's got better leaping ability than Huff. He's longer than Huff.

He's quicker than Huff. More explosive than Huff. Just a more natural athlete. More natural athlete than Huff. That's maybe one of the knocks you can have on Jay Huff is you probably aren't looking at the most athletic 7'2 guy. What he lacks in athleticism, he tries to make up with basketball IQ and intangibles and awareness. But unfortunately, basketball IQ, intangibles, and awareness are almost most of the pros in NBA basketball.

I have a lot of that skill set right there. This man is two weeks? No, next week is kickoff in Charlotte. Yeah, next week in Charlotte. It'll be an interesting time down there. It's always fun. It's kind of like a big ACC reunion because most of the people you've gotten to know over the years in media relations, some ADs,

all the media that you've gotten to know over the years, they're all collected there in one hotel for days at a time. So it's just like a big reunion. It's more TV-oriented than it used to be because ACC Network is right there, and so a lot of it is, a lot of the attention is directed toward that. They have a million people there, them and the SPN, not just getting stuff for live TV, but they get stuff they can use later on as well. But a ton of media there. Again, all 18 ACC coaches, including the new coaches from Stanford, Cal, and SMU will be there, three or four players from each team,

to talk about their programs and their expectations for the season. So it's the true signal for the start of college football season. What's some of the top storylines you're watching in the ACC this coming year? It's got to be the new teams entering conference play. That's going to be a huge deal. I'm sure those teams are excited about playing new opponents in a brand new conference, and they're probably as curious about the rest of the ACC as the ACC is about them. So that'll be a huge storyline. Of course, the Florida State Clemson threat to exit the ACC,

which I think probably took a little bit more of a backseat this past week because of the court ruling that any kind of decision like that is going to be decided by a North Carolina court rather than a Florida court, which I would think weighs heavily in the ACC's favor. And the fact that the SEC has essentially said, we're good, we don't need any more teams, we're good for a long, long time. The Big Ten doesn't seem to be interested

in either Florida State or Clemson. So their only other outlet is to go to the Big 12, which, why would you do that? The Big 12 is ranked below the ACC as it is, so it doesn't make any sense to me. But that's going to be a storyline. Also, I imagine most of the projections and most of the voting will be uh having florida state and clemson battling out for the acc title this year and

it'll be an 18 team race there's no divisions it's uh one through 18 it's going to be picked by the media down there what do you make of that uh it's it's kind of bizarre really i mean you're in an 18 team league and i again i i was one of the people that was against going away from divisions because i felt like i mean mean, it's okay if you're Florida State or Nebraska, I mean, Clemson, you're going to be favored most years to fight it out for the ACC title, possibly a slot in the college football playoffs. The division gives the second-tier team a chance to make a conference championship. Then anything can happen. Exactly. Like in 2019 when

Virginia won the Coastal Division for the first time since they went to those, they were in the Orange Bowl. For Virginia to get to the Orange Bowl now in an 18-team league, it's incredibly remote. Even if they have a really good season, they've got 17 other teams.

They've got, well, 16 because there's only 17 football teams. I was counting Notre Dame as the 18th member, but they don't play football, obviously, in the league. But they've still got to beat out 16 other teams to be a serious threat for any kind of glorious postseason appearances. You would think that would change, right, eventually? I would hope so. I mean, there's so much extra money in a conference championship.

And there's so many teams. I mean, they're still going to have a conference championship. It's just going to be the top two teams. Right, right. And that could be from the same division every year. Right. Or what used to be a division. It could be Florida State-Clemson every year from now on.

We don't know that. Some other teams might be able to crack into that. But for the immediate future, nobody's investing money like those two, except maybe SMU. And it's just, you know, everybody else is playing behind, like with one hand tied behind their back. I mean, if you look at it, a lot of the bottom-tier teams or the lower half of the ACC, they've got virtually no chance of playing in a major bowl game or making the college football playoffs or even making the ACC championship game. It's just a brutal reality for them.

And I thought that's why keeping divisions made more sense, because it gave more people a chance at the end. This question's come in. What's your top five pecking order in the conference right now? He'll cast this vote. This is a vote you cast, right? Yeah, I'm going to have to do it. I've started to do my research on that.

I usually wait until the weekend before I go to Charlotte to go in depth with all those teams, but just off the top of my head, it's clearly Florida State, Clemson. I wouldn't discount SMU at the moment for being in the top five. NC State, if they can get quarterback situation straightened to their liking. After that, it's pretty tough. I don't think there's a lot of really great teams in the conference right now. So I think those would be my top three or four at the moment

without doing more research on it Louisville lost an awful lot of people to the transfer portal even though they had a lot of talent in the program I don't know if they've sustained that talent level going into this season or not I'll have to read up a little bit more on them. I don't think Carolina is

going to be there. They're starting over with a new quarterback and a new offensive coordinator and I think a new defensive coordinator. Pitt, I don't know if they're there. I think Duke's going to take a tumble. Georgia Tech is getting a lot of noise, but

I'm not sure they're ready to break through either. So I would say those are my top three or four heading into my research. How about the Virginia-Virginia Tech comparison at this point in the season? Oh, yeah, I did forget about Virginia Tech. They did not lose really any players to the portal. They've got a lot of people returning. They could have a really good year.

They could be a top five team if they get some things going in their direction. I haven't looked at their schedule yet, so I don't know how challenging it is. Normally it's not, but I'll have to check it out and see. They definitely have a top five potential, at least heading into the season. Do you want to offer a head-to-head comparison between Virginia and Virginia Tech? We've got a couple of Hokie fans asking for that head-to-head comparison. Well, I don't think there is much comparison between Tech and Virginia right now. I think that was evident last November.

And I think Virginia will be much improved this year, but they've got a ways to go. They've got a lot of talent returning, maybe as many returning starters as anybody in the conference, maybe more than most. And I think Virginia will be better. But to say that they're on the level of Virginia Tech would be foolish at this point in time because they haven't proven it.

Do we read into Tony Musket coming to ACC kickoff instead of Anthony Calandria? I think a lot of people will probably read something into that, although I don't think you should. I think he's probably going because this is his final year of college football. Is he a team captain? Probably. If he's not, he probably should be. But I'm anxious to find out from Tony Elliott in Charlotte

his philosophy on training camp and the quarterback situation as to whether Tony Musket, who is the incumbent starter, if that's automatically his job like it was last season when he got hurt and then came back from injury and was automatically the starter again, or is it going to be an open competition between him and Anthony Calandria in training camp and the best man wins? Well, I'm anxious to hear his thoughts on that I don't know

what he's thinking I hope it's an open competition because I think that's I think it's only fair and I think they can win with either one of these guys I really do and both of them are deserving.

And it would almost, you know, have done a disservice to Calandria if it was not an open competition. You know, and Calandria probably had many suitors in a transfer portal. Oh, I'm sure he did. If he was persuaded or encouraged, almost recruited back for a second year at UVA, which I'm sure that's probably what had to happen. We did hear his family liked Charlottesville, Calandria liked Charlottesville. We do know he comes from some money, his family. So that helps any decision. But, I mean, if he comes back to Charlottesville and it's not an open competition

or it was clear cut that Musket was the starter, that could potentially leave a sour taste in the young man's mouth. It could, and that's why I think that it will be an open competition. I think that's the only fair way to handle it. And, I mean, he's proven he's worthy of the opportunity. There's no question about that. And like you said, the Hoos can win with either guy under center. Yeah, and they both

bring different things to the table. Muscat has experience. He's a guy who doesn't make mistakes, doesn't beat himself. He's tough. He's got a lot of grit. His teammates respect him because he put it all on the line last year when he played hurt. Probably shouldn't have played, but he wanted to play. Then Calandria is the gunslinger. I think he's probably matured a little bit and won't make the kind of same mistakes that essentially wiped out

some of the good things he did last year. He played fabulous and didn't throw a really bad interception or do something that make a mistake that cost the team. And I think he's probably eliminated some of that from his game. But he's a very exciting. He's a playmaker. He's a playmaking guy. No question about it.

I was trying to think of a cool word, and I can't think of it at the moment. But he's. In a lot of ways, Caladrian and Musket are the ant't think of it at the moment. But he's a... In a lot of ways, Calandria and Musket are the antithesis of each other. Yeah. And, you know, a lot of the fans would like to see them go with Calandria because he's an exciting guy who puts up big numbers. And puts butts in the seats and gives us some hope and some, you know,

something to think about, something to talk about. Yeah. I mean, who wants to see a game manager? I'm not throwing shade at Musket. I'd take a Trent Dilfer winning the Super Bowl any day of the week as a game manager with the Baltimore Ravens, as long as wins happen. But nothing worse than seeing a game manager under center manage games and losses. I'd rather see a playmaker try to win a game and lose a game because he's trying

to make plays than a game manager lose a game and lose a game because he's unwilling to take a risk. Exactly. Does that make sense? Absolutely. I totally agree with you. And unfortunately, neither one of those guys are going to be able to be at their best unless this offensive line can gel and protect them. So I think that's the biggest question mark for Virginia heading into the season, that and special teams, something they have to make a priority over there, which I think they are at least putting more attention onto it they can't afford for special team gaffes to cost them games like they did last year virginia's margin of error

this coming season is so narrow it's so slight that almost everything has to go its way for it to win some ball games especially at the back end of the schedule when it's really back loaded. This comment comes in about Bronco Mendenhall recreating UVA 2.0 at New Mexico. Well, you know, I wish Bronco the best. I had a good relationship with him and most of his coaching staff. I think he's a good coach, and I think he'll get New Mexico turned around. I really do. It may take a little time. He's the head coach of New Mexico, for those who don't know.

But I don't think it'll take as much time there as it did here. I think he can turn things around quicker there, just because they're not in a conference like the ACC. I think he can, with the kind of coaches that he's collected, some of his former staff from here and a couple of his players, former players from here, I think he can make some noise, some noise this season maybe. Their schedule is not the most challenging in the world, and so I think he could possibly put some wins together.

And let's remember, Bronco, the one-time defensive coordinator at New Mexico. Yeah, he is. He was a defensive coordinator during the Brian Urlacher era. In a lot of ways, they invented a defense, a 3-3-5, built around Brian Urlacher, a hybrid linebacker safety position that Urlacher was able to parlay into a Chicago Bears Hall of Fame career. Yeah, terrific player. And Bronco, he knows some defense. There's no question about it.

And that's his strength for sure. And he's pretty good at identifying talent too. I mean, even though he didn't recruit the state of Virginia very well, he was able to recruit around that and bring in some really good talent from elsewhere. And had he stayed here, he had a pretty good recruiting class coming in here. Most of it didn't arrive because that class was sabotaged, I think, by Robert and I. But there were some pretty darn good players headed this way. So I think he can recruit, and I think he'll get that program back on the map. We'll follow the team closely.

We'll follow Virginia closely. He's at ACC kickoff next week. We're two weeks from training camp. Yeah, it's around the corner. It's kind of snuck up on us. But, you know, it's that time of the year. Your favorite time of year as a sportsman? It is, yeah.

Football is my favorite sport. It always has been. And although the training camp is not as exciting as the season, it does give you some insight into some various aspects of the team and who you can expect good things from and where they might have some problems. It's a month-long analysis, essentially, of what's going on. You're not allowed to watch the entire practices. You can see some aspects of what they're trying to do.

But it's a grind, and I think everybody gets tired of the month-long process because they want to play against somebody else. You get tired of talking about what's going to happen because you're talking about it ad nauseum for 30 days or more before it actually happens. The players get tired of it too. The media gets tired of doing interview after interview after interview. Does the job security question

come up and kick off with Tony Elliott? Probably somebody will bring that up. I don't think the Virginia media will because I think it's pretty clear that unless he lays a big egg that he'll be back. I mean, he's only into his third year. He's had a lot of adversity to overcome. He took over a program that was so-so but again there wasn't a ton of talent here. He's actually done a pretty good job in recruiting. If you stop and look at last year's team, even though their record wasn't that great, they had some pretty outstanding players the last two years

that they've brought in who can play and can compete against just about anybody. So I don't think his job is in jeopardy unless they lay an omelet-sized egg and just are a total flop. And I don't think that's going to happen. I think there's too many players returning with experience and a playing ability for that to happen. What are you working on for JerryRackliff.com? We're going to be

hitting the basketball recruiting up pretty hard this week. They have 18 offers out to the next class, including a new one that I wanted to mention. A Hawaiian point guard who's actually playing in Utah just offered J.J. Mandequit, I think is how you pronounce his name. Tony Bennett is obviously ahead of most of the ACC in recruiting this kid, although I'm sure that it won't be long before we'll see Kentucky and North Carolina and Duke and some of the others go after this kid. He's a 6'1 point guard from Hilo, Hawaii. He's playing at Utah Prep School in Hurricane, Utah.

And he led Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA Under-17 World Cup. Started every game, dished out 10 assists in the championship game against Italy. So the kid can play. He's a four-star prospect and ranked number 52 overall in the country, according to the 247 sports composite which also reached him as the number six point guard in the class of 2025 which is also the same class as chase chance excuse me chance mallory and um he he currently holds this wife i think tony think Tony Bennett's ahead of most of the country in recruiting this guy. Mostly only Western schools have offered him so far, with the exception of Tennessee and Louisville.

But the rest of the schools are Utah, BYU, Washington State, Washington, Utah State, Hawaii, San Diego State. So if it's like most of these, Tony Bennett finds them, then Duke and North Carolina come in late and try to steal them, along with Alabama and half the rest of the college recruiting world. So we'll be taking a closer look at him and some of the other guys that they have offers on the table for this week on our site and keep up with all the other stuff. Jerry Ratcliffe on point. JerryRatcliffe.com. Scott Ratcliffe on point.

Scott, you made the program better per usual. Always. It makes the program better from northern Alamaro County, and we're in downtown Charlottesville. Scott, thank you very much. That's right. Judah Wickhauer always makes the program well. Mr. MVP? The glue man. The glue man behind the camera.

JerryRackliff.com for anything UVA related. Go to JerryRackliff.com anything UVA related. We're on the website a couple times a day. My name is Jerry Miller and the I Love Seville show is up at 1230 where we also have quite a bit to talk about. Thank you kindly for joining us on a

program that features the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe. So long, everybody. This is Hootie. He's going to tell us when the mics and cameras are off. Thank you.