Student-athletes indeed

This summer, a dozen former Cavalier football players will be rookies in National Football League training camps. Eleven of them will do so with U.Va. degrees in hand, head coach Al Groh — himself a U.Va. graduate — notes with pride.

“For any people who think there is a disconnect between playing big-time college football and performing academically, this dispels that,” he said.

The players, their degrees and the teams they will play for:

• Elton Brown, anthropology, fourth-round draft choice, Arizona Cardinals.

• Chris Canty, African American studies, fourth-round draft choice, Dallas Cowboys.

• Isaiah Ekejiuba, electrical engineering, free agent, Arizona Cardinals.

• Patrick Estes, archaeology, seventh-round draft choice, San Francisco 49ers.

• Dennis Haley, anthropology, free agent, New York Jets.

• Jermaine Hardy, psychology, free agent, Arizona Cardinals.

• Andrew Hoffman, environmental sciences, sixth-round draft choice, Cleveland Browns.

• Michael McGrew, urban planning, free agent, New England Patriots.

• Heath Miller, sociology, first-round draft choice, Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Alvin Pearman, sports medicine, fourth-round draft choice, Jacksonville Jaguars.

• Marquis Weeks, sociology, free agent, Seattle Seahawks.

The seven players selected in the NFL Draft were the most in school history. Nine other football players who have completed their athletic eligibility will earn their degrees, as will five players who still have eligibility remaining.

In the past four years — the first four under Groh’s tenure as head coach — Virginia won 30 of 51 games. The Cavaliers earned invitations to three postseason bowl games, winning twice.