Dustin Keith Class: Senior Hometown: Yorktown, Va. High School: Tabb H.S. Height / Weight: 6-5 / 285 Position: C

WORTH NOTING: Came a long way during his career and worked hard to become an outstanding center … began his career on defense and played defensive tackle during his redshirt freshman year in 1997 … moved to offensive tackle the following season … was stuck behind All-American John St. Clair at center and didn’t play center until his senior season … was a high school teammate of UVa teammate Brad Barnes at Tabb High School, the same high school that produced Cavalier greats Terry Kirby and Chris Slade.

HONORS: 2000—Won the Speed Elliott Award as the team’s Most Improved Player at UVa’s annual awards ban-quet.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

2000—Moved to center late in the spring and had an out-standing season … had been a reserve along the offen-sive line the previous two seasons, seeing only spot duty … was the line’s most consistent performer all season according to head coach George Welsh … made himself into a potential pro prospect … started all 12 games … was healthy the entire season which was a good thing since injuries depleted the offensive line’s depth and caused lots of shuffling among the reserves … very sel-dom came out of the game … helped pave the way for the ACC’s leading rusher, Antwoine Womack … Womack became the third Cavalier in a row to rush for more than 1000 yards and lead the conference in rushing … lettered for the second time … was also a member of the field goal block team due to his height.

1999—Played as a reserve offensive lineman in 10 regular season games and against Illinois in the Micronpc.com Bowl ... missed the Georgia Tech game … primary backup to right tackle Brad Barnes … also saw action on extra point and field goal teams ... earned his first letter.

1998—Played in five regular season games (Maryland, Duke, San Jose State, Florida State and North Carolina) and in the Peach Bowl … backed up All-ACC performer Robert Hunt at right tackle … also practiced some at cen-ter ... added important depth to Virginia’s oustanding offen-sive line … the Cavaliers led the ACC in a variety of offen-sive categories, including rushing yards per game (213.1 ypg), rushing touchdowns (27), yards per rush (5.0), yards per play (6.1) and first downs per game (21.4) … Virginia averaged almost 100 yards more of rushing offense and 75 yards more of total offense in 1998 as compared to 1997 ... Virginia also featured the ACC’s leading rusher, Thomas Jones ... UVa compiled two of the top-three offen-sive outputs in the ACC in 1998, including a league-best 600 yards against Georgia Tech ... UVa also had 556 yards (third in league) against San Jose State ... the ground game posted three of the top five games in the ACC that season, including two of the top three games (446 yards vs. San Jose State and 288 yards vs. Georgia Tech).

1997—Played in UVa’s first eight games (Auburn, Richmond, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke, Florida State and Maryland) as a reserve defensive tackle ... missed last three games of the season (Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Virginia Tech) with a knee injury ... record-ed his only tackle of the season in UVa’s win over Richmond. 1996—Red-shirted ... did not play in a game ... was in uni-form against Maryland and Texas, and for the Carquest Bowl against Miami.

HIGH SCHOOL: Three-year starter and letterman for head coach Charlie Hovis at Tabb High School ... rated one of the Top 25 prospects in Virginia by the Roanoke Times ... selected to the Charlottesville Daily Progress/Lynchburg News & Advance “Gold List” ... started at defensive end as a sophomore and junior, and at nose tackle as a senior ... earned first-team All-Region, All-Peninsula, All-District and All-Daily Press honors and was a second-team All-State selection ... was in on 89 tackles, including 10 quarterback sacks, and recovered five fumbles as a senior ... as a jun-ior he was in on 80 tackles, including four quarterback sacks, and recovered six fumbles ... in on 72 tackles, including seven quarterback sacks, and recovered two fumbles as a sophomore ... his career totals were 241 tackles, including 21 quarterback sacks, and 13 fumble recoveries.

PERSONAL: Dustin Michael Keith ... born 8-8-77 at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines ... son of Charles and Deborah Keith ... has two siblings ... received his under-graduate degree in sociology in May of 2000 and compet-ed during the 2000 season as a graduate student.