With Final Exercises behind us, Streaking The Lawn is spotlighting a number of University of Virginia student-athletes whose senior seasons have come to an end and are the newest members of the Wahoo Alumni community, faced with entering the real world. Earlier, we touched base with Josie Owen (women's lacrosse), Robert Randolph (football) and Simone Asque (volleyball). Here is today's spotlight.
Philadelphia native Sammy Zeglinski's collegiate career was essentially one wild roller coaster ride and one plagued with injuries. Nine games into his freshman year, Zeglinski missed the remaining 24 games due to an ankle injury. He came roaring back, leading the team his redshirt freshman and sophomore years in three point field goals, assists, and steals. He missed the beginning of the junior season due to cartilage work on his left knee. His senior season was peppered with both greatness flashes and scoring droughts.
Still, Zeglinski certainly left his mark with the Cavaliers, finishing fifth in the annals with 200 career three-point field goals made and tenth with 156 career steals. Through much of his career, he could be described as the heart and soul of the team -- as Sammy Z. went, so, too, went the team.
So what does the future hold for this young man, who just celebrated his 24th birthday on Saturday?
When we connected with Sammy last month, he told us that his plan right now is to play professionally overseas. He traveled to Italy at the end of last month to work out for some teams over there.
The UVA-to-Italy path is certainly not an unfamiliar one for Virginia players. Former Cavaliers Devin Smith, J.R. Reynolds, Ryan Pettinella, and Travis Watson are just a few names who have played in Italy at some point in their careers after Virginia.
Sammy said that, while he hasn't had the opportunity to keep in touch with JR Reynolds, he does regularly talk with his high school and UVA teammate Sean Singletary, who himself is currently playing in Belgium.
The goal for Sammy for now, though, is to earn a roster spot for one of the NBA summer league teams, which kicks off July 13 and features 24 teams.
At the end of the summer, Sammy expects to sign with a team in Europe, sometime around August. Nothing has been finalized yet, though he said that his agent "is still negotiating with some different teams."
The future might not be set yet for Sammy, but he will certainly be one of the more memorable players for UVA fans.
"I would say my fondest memory at UVA would be selection Sunday when I saw our team get selected," Sammy closed.