Doug Doughty

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• Top 50 Virginia high school football prospects

Critics of Virginia’s stand again grayshirting will have some added ammunition with the word that one-time Cavaliers’ football target Anthony Castonzo has enrolled at Boston College.

Castonzo, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound offensive tackle from Lake Zurich (Ill.) High School, emerged as a prospect late this fall as a postgraduate at Fork Union Military Academy.

Castonzo had a 4.3 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) and scored 1,440 (out of 1,600) as a senior in high school but did not get the kind of Division I-A football attention that he would have liked.

Castonzo subsequently enrolled at Fork Union and drew a December offer from Virginia. Despite coach John Shuman’s recommendation that he accept UVa’s offer, Castonzo held off and eventually had a choice of UVa, Boston College, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Temple and Connecticut.

Shuman said earlier this month that Castonzo eliminated UVa because of a perceived dropoff in interest and not because the Cavaliers wouldn’t take him in January. While Castonzo had the academic credentials for immediate enrollment at most schools, that did not appear to be an issue until the announcement of his commitment to BC.

“It was a big deal for me to enroll early,” Castonzo told the rivals.com site that covers Boston College. “BC made an exception and I guess they haven’t had a player enroll mid-semester in like eight years.

“It’s an honor. I finished Fork Union about a month ago and I didn’t want to just sit around and wait, so it was important to get in early.”

Having seen Castonzo in Fork Union’s season-ending trip to Hargrave, it’s easy to understand why he might not have received much interest in high school. He was noticeably slender and would not have stuck out if not for his height and his grades.

Once it became obvious that Virginia was in the picture for Lamar Milstead, a 6-6, 266-pound offensive lineman from Washington, D.C., Castonzo wasn’t as great a priority. UVa recruits Milstead, Landon Bradley and Billy Cuffee are listed as offensive linemen, and several D-line recruits are candidates to switch sides of the ball.

BULLETIN: The word from BlueWhiteIllustrated.com as we prepared to post this column is that the state’s last uncommitted Roanoke Times Top 25 prospect, defensive end Chima Okoli from Salem High School in Virginia Beach, has picked Penn State over Virginia Tech. Okoli is rated the No. 20 prospect in Virginia.

WITH VIRGINIA OUT of scholarships, Henrico High School wide receiver Brandon Spurlock (5-10, 185) accepted a scholarship offer from Elon. Spurlock was rated the No. 40 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.

Other top 100 prospects whose commitments have not previously been reported by The Roanoke Times:

No. 52 Josh Reamon, a 5-11, 162-pound defensive back who played for uncle Tommy Reamon at Gloucester, is going to Norfolk State.

No. 58 Marcus Hyde, a linebacker for Group AAA Division 6 state champion Osbourn has committed to William and Mary.

No. 83 Roane Babbington, a 6-3, 254-pound defensive end from Robert E. Lee in Staunton, has reconsidered an earlier commitment to Liberty and will sign with James Madison.

No. 84 Warner Blunt, a quarterback and outside linebacker from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, had committed to Army before coach Bobby Ross announced his retirement.

No. 90 Donte Boston, a wide receiver for prospect-laden Varina, will stay close to home and play for Richmond.

No. 99 Terence Glenn, who played quarterback for Stone Bridge in Loudoun County, has committed to Rhode Island, where he is expected to be a wide receiver or defensive back.

VIRGINIA PREPS is reporting that Giles running back Nathan Tanner, the Timesland offensive player of the year, is visiting Virginia Tech this weekend. Tanner, who would be a non-scholarship player at Tech, already has been to Ferrum and Concord and will look at Liberty.

Desmond Roberts, a 6-5, 265-pound offensive lineman from Gaston, N.C., renewed his commitment to N.C. State following a visit last weekend to Virginia Tech. Roberts had reopened his recruiting after the dismissal of former Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato.

Bill Dee, the coach at Phoebus High School in Hampton, told the rivals.com Maryland site that he felt the Terrapins were close to offering Phoebus fullback Haroon Brown. Phoebus tailback Dennis Mathis, the 35th-rated player in Virginia, is said to be down to James Madison and Hampton.

The state’s 21st-ranked junior, 5-9, 200-pound running back John Carter, will spend his senior year at Osbourn High School, where he hopes to pick up some of the slack from the departure of Group AAA state player of the year Brandon Hogan.

At Stonewall Jackson in Manassas, the presence of another top running back in the same class, Ryan Jackson, meant that Carter had to spend time at fullback. Williams is rated the No. 5 junior in the state.