When he took over the Green Run High School football program after the 2006 season, coach Shawn Wilson didn't realize there was a housewarming gift on the way from Tennessee.

Now, he is re-gifting that present and sending it to Virginia Tech.

"He's one of the best D-linemen I've seen down here in 10 years," Wilson said of Joe Jones, who committed to the Hokies on Wednesday.

Jones, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound defensive end, picked Tech over Maryland and Georgia Tech.

"It was kind of late before we got the word out," said Wilson, who took his Virginia Beach school to a 10-2 season. "No one knew about Joe."

Late in the year, Wilson and his staff were able to put together some CDs. College coaches took note in a hurry.

"He's got quick hands and fast feet," Wilson said. "There was a ton of interest late."

Wilson said Jones had close to 120 tackles and was named first-team All-Tidewater. He was rated the No. 27 senior in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.

Jones spent his first two years of high school at Green Run, then moved to Tennessee for his junior year before moving back for his senior year.

Jones is one of 31 players who are committed to Tech for 2008. Two of those enrolled this month and will count toward Tech's 2007 scholarship limit; others may require prep school and/or enroll in January 2009.

n Edison High School senior Ben Barber did not enroll at Tech this month, as had been anticipated, but he will sign with the Hokies next week.

Barber, an All-Group AAA wide receiver in 2006, is among the players who may "grayshirt" and enroll next January.

More recruiting

New Richmond football coach Mike London is blazing a trail through the 757 area code he previously recruited for Virginia.

Among the Peninsula District players who have committed to the Spiders is Derek Mayo, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound linebacker from Kecoughtan High School in Hampton.

Mayo is the younger brother of University of Tennessee standout Jerod Mayo, who is passing up his final season of college eligibility and will be available for the NFL Draft.

New league

Ex-Virginia Tech quarterback Bryan Randall was the second player chosen in a draft Saturday for the All American Football League, a new professional football league that begins play in April.

Randall, the conference player of the year in Tech's inaugural ACC season in 2004, has been on the practice squads of the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went to training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers last summer.

Tennessee took Randall in the first round Saturday. Tennessee also took former Tech defensive linemen Tim Sandidge and Derrius Monroe in the second and fourth rounds, respectively.

Michigan chose former Virginia wide receiver Deyon Williams in the ninth round. Ex-Tech tight end Keith Willis went to Alabama in the 45th round.

Hoops

Maryland has accepted a basketball commitment from Bobby Maze, a 6-2 Forestville, Md., player who began his college career at the University of Oklahoma but surfaced at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College after a parting of the ways with Sooners coach Jeff Capel. Maze played 18 minutes per game as a freshman at Oklahoma.

n Virginia signee Sylven Landesberg had 44 points for Holy Cross of Flushing, N.Y., in its 74-56 victory over Helen Cox High School of Harvey, La., which boasts Georgetown signee Greg Monroe. Monroe is rated the No. 1 prospect in the country by some services.

Around the ACC

Kirby Freeman, who began the 2007 season as Miami's starting quarterback, saw that the Hurricanes would move in a different direction in 2008 and has transferred to Baylor for his final season of eligibility.

The QB front-runner among Hurricane returnees is Robert Marve, a redshirt freshman who was injured in a rollover auto accident in August and was arrested in November for running from a police officer.

n Chris Blake, a 6-5 scholarship freshman basketball player, did not play in a game at Florida State before transferring to Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Florida.

Non-revenue

Virginia Tech senior Kaan Tayla, the ACC and national men's swimmer of the week, swam for Turkey in the 2004 Olympics and is in his second year in Blacksburg after transferring from the State University of New York in Binghamton. Tayla has the fastest times in the ACC in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and has four pool records at Tech.

n Virginia was third in Division I and Roanoke College and Washington and Lee were fourth and 15th, respectively, in Division III in preseason men's polls released Wednesday by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.