Sylven the Cavalier

Down to the final hour, Sylven Landesberg kept his options open.
Even the Holy Cross star’s prepared speech didn’t answer which school - St. John’s, Georgia Tech, or Virginia - he would choose at a scheduled press conference.
The Flushing guard, who led the Catholic League in scoring the last two years and is it’s reigning Player of the Year, finished his speech with the following the sentence: “In September, 2008 I will attend …”
“I guess he gave himself room at the end,” Holy Cross Coach Paul Gilvary said.
At the Flushing school last Thursday, Landesberg, the highest-rated local prospect in the class of 2008, finally let his intentions be known, picking Virginia over the hometown Johnnies and the Ramblin’ Wreck.
When it came time to naming a school, Landesberg took off his dark blue blazer. Underneath the sports jacket, he revealed a white University of Virginia t-shirt. Moments later, Landesberg donned an orange Virginia baseball cap.
The 6-foot-6 wing, who was also courted by Texas, Florida, and Kentucky in addition to several others, will be part of Dave Leitao’s program in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I was looking for a place I could be comfortable with,” he said. “After my visit, I liked Virginia.”
Sylven and his father, Steven Landesberg, made sure to praise the efforts of Georgia Tech and specifically St. John’s, who was in the running to land their first high-level local prospect in several years.
“If it was just the coaching, we wouldn’t have been able to make a decision,” Steve Landesberg said. “All three men were gentlemen. At the end, the University of Virginia is a great academic school. They are No. 2 in the nation of public universities. They committed to my as son a student athlete.”
“Plan A is to go to the NBA if he’s good enough,” he later added. “But I’m a Plan B guy. Plan B is to get a good education.”
Virginia was also the only school that promised Landesberg a starting spot at the point. Since Virginia’s All-ACC floor general, Sean Singletary, will be graduating this fall, that position is Landesberg’s. Georgia Tech recruited him strictly as a wing and St. John’s only promised “on and off chances” at the position.
“That was important,” Landesberg said. “I really like the ball in my hands.”
Late Wednesday evening, several media outlets correctly reported Landesberg would be attending Virginia, yet also noted the incident earlier that day, when 22-year-old St. John’s student Omesh Hiraman was arrested carrying a single-shot .50-caliber rifle across campus, an incident which may have been the final nail in the Red Storm coffin.
“The events that happened at St. John’s didn’t affect my decision,” Landesberg said, refuting the reports. “That can happen anywhere.”
Landesberg had help in making the decision. The school’s all-time leading scorer, Willie Dersch, the last Holy Cross basketball player to attend a college at this Division I level, also went to Virginia. Although he didn’t enjoy the basketball career there many predicted, Dersch is now working on Wall Street.
“He speaks highly of the school,” Gilvary said.
Then there is Holy Cross alum Kevin Ogletree, currently a junior wide receiver on the football team rehabbing an injury. When Landesberg visited the campus, he met with Ogletree, who was a senior at Holy Cross when Landesberg was a freshman. He praised the school, as did Queens native Will Harris.
“That played a role,” Landesberg said. “They made me feel comfortable. I know people there already.”