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10 CAVALIER CORNER cavalier sports " I didn't know this year if it was going to happen, so I kind of played it cool. But when I got the award, I was very excited. … I worked hard for that. I felt like last year I had a good case for it, but then just coming back this year and winning it, that meant a lot to me and the team. UVA is a team defense, so I rely on the other guys a lot to help me." — Third-year UVA guard Reece Beekman on being named the 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year No. 1 All time is where Virginia guard KIHEI CLARK ranked in ACC his- tory in both minutes played (5,307) and league wins (74) following the con- clusion of the regular season. Clark also became UVA's all- time leader in as- sists (705), total wins (120), games played (157) and starts (137) this season. 3 UVA signees have been tabbed as the Gatorade Virginia Girls Basket- ball Player of the Year, with Kymora Johnson joining that exclusive list this year. Breyana Mason (2013) and Monica Wright (2006) also achieved the feat. In addition, Johnson is one of four two-time winners of the award. Johnson, a 5-foot-8 guard, led St. Anne's- Belfield School in Charlottesville to a 25-1 record and a berth in the Virginia Indepen- dent School Athletic Association Division I state tournament semifinals at the time of her selection. She was averaging 22.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.4 steals per game through 26 contests. 4 Consecutive ACC titles — and 19 in program history — for the No. 1-ranked Virginia women's swim- ming and diving squad. The Cavaliers won 14 of the 18 events and finished with an impressive 1,536 points. The two-time defending national champions sent 17 swimmers to the 2023 NCAA Champi- onships — the most by any school to qualify — March 15-18. 5th Individual from Virginia to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be defensive back Ronde Barber. He joins standout players Bill Dudley and Henry Jor- dan, former coach Earle "Greasy" Neale and UVA alum Ralph Wilson Jr., who was an NFL owner. Barber, who spent the entirety of his 16-year NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buc- caneers, is the only player in league history with more than 40 interceptions and 25 sacks in his career. He is the Bucs' all-time leader in interceptions (47) and defensive touchdowns (12). He was a prominent piece of the Bucs' historic Super Bowl champion defense in 2002, was tabbed as a member of the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team, and was a five-time Pro Bowler and a three-time first-team All-Pro. The Roanoke, Va., native played at Virginia from 1994-96 after redshirting the 1993 season. He had 15 career interceptions, including 8 picks in 1994 when he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year after leading the league in that statistic. He was a first-team All-ACC selection each of his three seasons as a Cavalier and received second- or third- team All-America honors each of his years with UVA. " He's a competitor of the highest level, and he's made a difference ever since he set foot on campus. It's hard not to just acknowledge what he's done from start to finish in almost every area, and I think a lot of people identify with him." — UVA head men's basketball coach Tony Bennett on graduate stu- dent guard Kihei Clark Photo courtesy UVA Photo courtesy UVA