Doug Doughty

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Not a word of disagreement was heard when The Roanoke Times’ list of the state’s top juniors was headed by offensive lineman Kyle Long from St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville.

Long’s pedigree, as the son of NFL hall-of-famer Howie Long, is unimpeachable. And, any questions about the level of competition at St. Anne’s-Belfield was erased by the collegiate performance of Virginia’s defensive lineman Chris Long, Kyle’s older brother.

But, now comes word that Kyle Long is likely to concentrate on baseball in college and that a commitment to Florida State might be imminent. If that is the case, it’s not readily apparent who the new No. 1 would be.

Greg Roberts, a walking Virginia Tech billboard who now operates a motorized billboard service, met me for lunch today with a copy of The Commonwealth Board’s pre-May evaluation period Top 35.

I couldn’t begin to tell you who or what The Commonwealth Board is, but it wasn’t a a bad list. The top two players were offensive lineman Vincent (actually Vinston) Painter from Maury High School in Norfolk at No. 1 and Long at No. 2.

“You’d never do that,” somebody at the SEC Roundtable said. “You don’t like offensive linemen.”

He was right. I’ve pretty much sworn off offensive lineman in favor of skilled-position players on the Top 5. Tight ends, too. Part of the attraction with Kyle Long was his name recognition. Howie Long’s son. Kyle Long’s brother. He must be a player.

Plus, he already had football offers from just about everybody. According to rivals.com, that list includes Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Southern Cal, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

His only baseball offer is from Florida State.

There’s nothing to indicate that Florida State isn’t sincere in its offer or that Long isn’t sincere in his statements that he’s leaning toward baseball and that he would not play both sports in college.

On the other hand, I can tell you what everybody is thinking: that Florida State is hoping he’ll get on campus, change his mind – not necessarily about baseball but about playing both sports – and end up becoming the Seminoles’ next great offensive lineman. That would be Bobby Bowden’s best chance at getting him.

But, let’s say Long sticks with his current preference of baseball, for which the early signing period is in November. You can’t very well make him the No. 1 football recruit at that point, so who would it be?

I tried to go back and look at the Top 25 package from last December but it has disappeared from roanoke.com (replaced by The Roanoke Times “Dream 18,” produced by workaholic golf writer Randy King). That was followed by a trip to the file cabinet, which revealed running back Kevin Whaley from Salem High School in Virginia Beach as the No. 2 junior in the state. Painter was No. 3, followed by Westfield quarterback Mike Glennon and running back Ryan Williams from Stonewall Jackson.

Glennon’s older brother, Sean, was rated the No. 1 junior in Virginia in 2002, but many analysts feel his younger and taller brother has more of an upside. As a senior, Sean Glennon was fourth on a Roanoke Times Top 5 that included No. 1 Olu Hall, No. 2 Eddie Royal, No. 3 Chris Long and No. 5 Kent Hicks.

Hall could become one of the all-time busts at No. 1, although he returned to Virginia’s roster this spring and still has three years of eligibility after requiring a postgraduate year at Hargrave Military Academy. He has a chance to have a better career than Hicks, who signed with Maryland, was allowed to enroll at Tech and never played for the Hokies before transferring to Liberty.

Love him or hate him, Sean Glennon’s status as the starting quarterback for Virginia Tech validates him as a Top 5 pick and that’s why his brother merits similar consideration. So does quarterback E.J. Manual from Bayside High School in Virginia Beach.

At least three players from Tidewater have a case for the new No. 1 prospect in the state – Painter, Whaley and Manual – and there might be 10 ACC-caliber players from the south side of Hampton Roads alone.

A NOTE FROM VIRGINIA PREPS editor Zirkle Blakey reminds me that a list of the state’s top 100 football prospects and their college choices has not been updated recently.

The number of players who remain unaccounted for would suggest that this year’s top 100 list was not as accurate as last year’s, when every prospect had at least a preliminary destination. As of Friday, this year’s list of uncommitted players numbered close to 25.

Northern Neck “correspondent” Randy Kelley should be thanked for pointing out that King William running back Marcus Temple is headed to Hargrave Military Academy. Temple, rated the state’s No. 74 prospect by The Roanoke Times, rushed for more than 4,000 yards in his King William career.

Although he is not listed on VMI’s website, Richlands High School offensive tackle Derek McKnight signed a football letter-of-intent with the Keydets. McKnight, one of six Blue Tornado seniors to announce college football plans, was 94th on The Roanoke Times list.

The state’s 98th-rated prospect, Benedictine tight end Kevin Estes, has signed to play Division I basketball for Hartford. Estes is the younger brother of former UVa tight end Patrick Estes, who was moved to offensive tackle after he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers.

Cave Spring tight end Jeff Wardach, rated No. 92 by The Roanoke Times, was talking to Fork Union before he was admitted to Virginia Tech as an invited football walk-on. Fork Union coach John Shuman said Friday that he doesn’t know where Wardach stands.

Shuman also said that Virginia coach Al Groh was expected at Fork Union on Friday to talk with Marcus Dowtin, a junior running back for Mickey Sullivan’s undergraduate team. Eddie George and Chris Perry both came out of Sullivan’s program.

IN AN E-MAIL EXCHANGE this week, Groh preached restraint on the topic of Andrew Pearman, the short-time UVa wide receiver whose family has indicated he plans to return to the Cavaliers’ program.

Cavaliers’ sports information director Jim Daves said Pearman will not be added to the UVa roster until Daves gets a go-ahead from the school’s compliance office. Since Pearman left school in the fall without completing the semester, some paperwork will be required before his eligibility is restored.