Eric Maynor and Brett Blizzard in the backcourt. David Robinson, Johnny Newman and George Evans in the frontcourt. While you can debate the best starting five on the Colonial Athletic Association’s Silver Anniversary men’s basketball team that was released yesterday, that group certainly stands out. Maynor, a point guard from Virginia Commonwealth University, was a two-time CAA player of the year and first-round NBA pick by the Utah Jazz this past summer. Blizzard, from UNC Wilmington, was a two-time player of the year and one of the league’s best long-range shooters.

Abanjo and a double bass walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, some kind of bad joke?“ Indeed, the two instruments are an unlikely pair. A banjo’s brash sound and a bass’s cool tones can be a jarring combination. Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and bass master Edgar Meyer have made it work, performing together in ensembles and as a duo for more than 20 years. But Sunday night at the Modlin Center, the addition of a third instrument brought the odd couple together in a completely new way.

Andrea G. Stillman will never forget the day in 1972 she first beheld America’s most celebrated landscape photographer. “The door opened, and there was Ansel Adams larger than life in his signature Stetson hat and bolo tie,“ Stillman recalled recently by phone from her Manhattan home. “He was a combination of cowboy and Santa Claus.“ Stillman was speaking two days after she delivered the opening lecture for “Ansel Adams: The Man Who Captured the Earth’s Beauty,“ the 25-photograph array now in the University of Richmond’s Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature.

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War will put Richmond center stage nationally with both the opportunity and the obligation to tell the story of what happened here honestly. That was the message of “The Future of Richmond’s Past,“ a forum that drew about 160 people to the University of Richmond yesterday for the start of a series of discussions on how to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the war.

Growing up in Richmond, Joseph Purcell had a dream to lead a small group of men to a goal. “He had a lifelong dream to go to the [U.S.] Naval Academy,“ said a son, Craig Nunnally Purcell of Baltimore. After graduating as captain of the Cadet Corps at John Marshall High School, he entered the academy in 1947. The next year he was medically discharged from school after suffering a head injury during battalion football play.

The Year of the Environment begins Thursday at Virginia Commonwealth University with a two-day E-Festival that includes a sustainability symposium and the chance to paint a Dumpster. At the University of Richmond, students are using pedal power to get around the 350-acre campus, borrowing green bicycles with sturdy tires and big handlebars available for anyone to use.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, will speak at the second annual Great Expectations Education Forum next month. Great Expectations is an initiative of the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education to improve education and employment opportunities for youths in foster care. First lady Anne Holton also will speak at the forum, which will be held Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Freshman year at college is a time to expand your mind and your horizons. For many students, it’s also a time to unwittingly expand the waistline. Extra pounds dubbed the “freshman 15” are as much a part of college life as new-found freedom. Suddenly faced with an all-you-can-eat buffet almost around the clock—and no parents to tell them what to eat—some students lack the discipline to know when enough is enough.

Compulsive buyers drawn to Internet Compulsive buyers prefer the fast, secret thrill of shopping on the Internet rather than in bricks-and-mortar stores. They don’t want anyone witnessing their obsessive behavior, said University of Richmond researchers Monika Kukar-Kinney, Nancy M. Ridgway and Kent B. Monroe. The findings of their survey of 314 customers from 42 states, all customers of one e-retailer, appear in the September issue of the Journal of Retailing.

The year 5770 was celebrated last night as thousands of Jews across the Richmond region gathered for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, which began at sundown. Rosh Hashana falls on the first day of the Jewish month Tishri. It begins a period of introspection and making amends in advance of Yom Kippur, a day of atonement that begins at sundown 10 days later on Sept. 27.

White House historian William Seale will give a lecture next week at the University of Richmond on the White Houses and presidents during the Civil War. Seale, who is the author of “The President’s House: A History,“ will discuss on Thursday Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis and the White Houses in which they lived. The focus of the talk is social and cultural history of the two presidents, not just the Civil War.

6-3, 265-pound defensive end
  NFL
Selected as a fourth round (125th pick overall) choice by Atlanta this April.
  PERSONAL
Started 31 of 52 games at Richmond, recording 145 tackles (71 solo), 20.5 sacks, 38 tackles for loss four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four passes defensed.
  UR HISTORY BOOKS

The University of Richmond’s football program yesterday received its 12th oral commitment from a member of the Class of 2010. Varina High’s Jerel Harrison, a wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner, is the fifth Richmond-area prospect to commit to the Spiders. Also committed to UR are Highland Springs DB DeShawn Holmes, Henrico DB DreQuan Hoskey, Collegiate QB Jake McGee and Highland Springs DT Rashad Winston.