Virginia leads for big-time athlete

If there has been one major weakness in Virginia's offense this year it's been the obvious absence of a big-time threat at wide receiver. That's one reason the Cavs have spent so much time recruiting Doug Dutch. He was in Charlottesville this weekend for the Cavs 35-21 victory over the Hokies. Where does Virginia stand on Dutch's list after his official visit?

"I would say Virginia is a little ahead of the pack," said Dutch. "They were one of my top few schools before the visit, but they're probably the team to beat now. I'm still interested in Michigan, Florida, Miami, Pittsburgh and Maryland, and I plan on visiting all those schools. But UVA is ahead of them all by a little."

What did Dutch have a chance to experience on his official visit to Virginia?

"The game was great," he said. "The stadium was packed and their fans were real excited. But the most important thing I did was to sit down and talk with the coaches. They told me how they wanted to incorporate me into their offense, and they really emphasized that I was their top target.

"The fact that they think I can come in and become a go-to guy as a freshman is really helping Virginia out a lot. They've let me know how important I am to their recruiting class."

This was Dutch's first official visit, but he's going to be a busy young man in the coming weeks.

"I've got an official visit coming up this week (Dec. 5) to Miami," he said. "Then I'm going to Michigan (Dec. 12) on an official before I unofficially visit Maryland sometime later in December. On Jan. 9 I plan on officially visiting Florida, and then I have an official to Pitt scheduled for Jan. 23. I know I started taking these trips kind of late, but things are going to pick up a lot here pretty soon."

With so many visits in such a short amount of time, Dutch realizes that it will be important to put things in perspective.

"I know that I'm going to be impressed with things at each school I go to," he said. "But I'm going to wait until after all my visits to make my decision. I decided beforehand that I wasn't going to commit to Virginia, even if it was a great visit. I had a real good time, and like I said, they're probably number one right now. But there are a lot of visits left and a lot can happen."