It was hard for Roanoke City vice mayor Sherman Lea not to notice when it was reported that Virginia would be entertaining VMI in football next season.

VMI is one of two Football Championship Subdivision (previously Division I-AA) teams that are planning to visit Scott Stadium next year, along with Richmond.

Lea, a prime mover behind the Western Virginia Education Classic that brings two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football programs to the Roanoke Valley each year, has pushed for Virginia Tech and Virginia to consider scheduling Hampton and Norfolk State.

Hampton and Norfolk State are the only historically black colleges or university programs in Virginia that compete at the Division 1-AA level.

Lea said he has had several exchanges with Tech athletic director Jim Weaver, who said that Tech would be more inclined to schedule a Division 1-AA team with which it has more of an established rivalry, James Madison or William and Mary for instance.

Weaver had indicated in a follow-up conversation that he "had contacted Norfolk State about the possibility of a game next season but they could not work it out," Lea said. "He further stated that it would be something both schools would continue to talk about in the future."

Lea said he would not challenge Virginia's record on diversity, especially given the Cavaliers' appointment of new head football coach Mike London, one of two African-American head coaches at a BCS (Bowl Championship Series) program at the time of his hiring. However, Lea pointed out that Norfolk State has a higher average attendance than VMI and could bring as many fans as the Keydets and possibly more.

"It seems as though the other ACC schools that have HBCUs in their states are playing those schools when the schedules allowed," Lea said.

Indeed, Miami played Florida A&M and Clemson played South Carolina State, both fellow members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with Hampton and Norfolk State. Norfolk State has played Rutgers and Kentucky in back-to-back seasons.

An opening developed on Virginia Tech's 2010 schedule when Western Michigan asked out of a scheduled game in order to become the first Mid-America Conference team to play at Notre Dame.

"We were looking at every I-AA program in Virginia," Weaver said Wednesday. "I prefer to keep the money in state."

UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage said he has not been approached by either Norfolk State or Hampton but did hear from Division II Virginia State about a possible game this past season in honor of Virginia State's president, Eddie Moore, who is retiring.

Virginia did not have an opening this past season and has one Division 1-AA opponent in place for every year through 2015. UVa has two Division 1-AA opponents next year, Richmond and VMI, but Littlepage said he would rather play one per year.

Local angle

Hidden Valley graduate Matt Williams, who is in his second year at the Naval Academy, was named first-team all-conference in the Collegiate Football Sprint League.

Sprint football, in which there is a 172-pound limit, is classified as a varsity sport at Navy. The Middies capped a 7-0 season with a 7-6 victory over Army on Oct. 30 and compete in a league that includes Pennsylvania, Princeton and Cornell.

Williams, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound offensive lineman, is the older brother of Hidden Valley senior running back David Williams, who broke the Timesland regular-season rushing record this year and is hoping for a Naval Academy appointment.

Recruiting

Connecticut has taken an oral commitment from Jacob Ruby, a 6-foot-8, 285-pound offensive lineman from Canada by way of Fork Union Military Academy. Ruby is one of three O-linemen from Fork Union's undergraduate team who have made commitments to FBS programs, including Mark Shuman (Virginia Tech) and Russell Bodine (North Carolina).

Bellairs on move

Former VMI basketball coach Bart Bellairs has accepted a position as the athletic director at the University of Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La. Bellairs most recently was the athletic director at Savannah (Ga.) State and said he was looking to get back to more of a college-town environment.

Local angle

A one-year internship with the NCAA in media relations has brought Katie Guynn home to Salem for the Stagg Bowl. Guynn was captain of the soccer and swimming teams at Wellesley (Mass.) College after participating in both of those sports at Salem High School. ... Guynn's younger sister, Becky, is a sophomore on the women's swim team at Washington and Lee.