Cavs losing key WR

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The job of the University of Virginia's new wide receivers coach, Latrell Scott, got more difficult this week. Kevin Ogletree is passing up his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

The 6-1, 189-pound Ogletree would have been the ACC's top returning receiver in 2009. He caught 58 passes for 723 yards and five touchdowns in 2008 and was named honorable-mention all-conference.

"It's a decision I've been thinking about for a while, and I'm happy with it," Ogletree, speaking by phone from Florida, told reporters last night. "I'm going to attack it 100 percent."

Ogletree, 21, signed this week with an agent, Joe Flanagan of BTI Sports Advisors. Ogletree graduated from U.Va. with a bachelor's in sociology last month.

That "makes feel so much more comfortable with this decision," Ogletree said, "in that I have that to fall back on. That's what I signed to come to school for. I wanted to get my degree and play [against] top competition, and now I feel I'm honestly ready to be presented with some new challenges and try some new things."

After the regular season ended, Ogletree submitted his name to the NFL's advisory committee for feedback about where he might go in the 2009 draft. He declined last night to disclose what the committee told him but said it "was positive, and it was enough for me to make this decision. I wouldn't be doing this if [the committee had] said, 'You'll go in the seventh round, guy.' I would be back in school right now."

A native of Queens, N.Y., Ogletree played sparingly as a true freshman in 2005, then broke out in '06, catching 52 passes for 582 yards and four TDs and receiving all-ACC honorable mention. He missed the 2007 season while recovering from a torn ACL, but showed no signs of the injury in '08.

"Kevin has been a significant part of our team," Virginia coach Al Groh said in a statement. "He was a strong performer and an excellent teammate. Kevin received his degree in December and feels this is the appropriate time for him to move on. We agree and support him in his decision and wish him much success."

Ogletree's departure further depletes a receiving corps whose seniors in 2008 included Maurice Covington (33 catches) and Cary Koch (30 catches), though Koch is expected to petition the NCAA for another year of eligibility.

Of the Cavaliers' returning wideouts, rising sophomore Jared Green was the most productive in 2008. He caught 12 passes for 144 yards and one TD. Virginia's new offensive coordinator would prefer to have inherited more experience at that position. Gregg Brandon routinely uses four receivers at a time in his trademark spread offense.