Doug Doughty

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Future Hokies named preseason All-Americans

The presence of young, franchise-type quarterbacks at Virginia Tech and Virginia has obscured the kind of search that has been conducted – successfully, it would appear – throughout the rest of the ACC.

Of the 14 quarterbacks named to SuperPrep’s preseason All-America team, six have committed to ACC programs, which is as many as all of the other conferences combined.

 And, each of the two uncommitted quarterbacks on that list is considering at least one ACC program.

 The No. 1 quarterback is E.J. Manuel, a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder from Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, who committed to Florida State in June.

Another Virginian, 6-6, 190-pound Mike Glennon from Westfield, is rated the No. 6 quarterback in the country. Glennon, whose older brother, Sean, starts at quarterback for Virginia Tech, committed to North Carolina State.

North Carolina landed SuperPrep’s eighth-rated quarterback, Braden Hanson (6-5, 190) from Charlotte (N.C.) Latin, and Clemson got the the No. 9 player on that list, 6-foot, 190-pound Kyle Parker from Jacksonville, Fla.

Also ACC-bound are 6-3, 175-pound Jacoby Harris from Northwestern High School in Miami and 6-foot, 180-pound Ted Stachitas from St. Augustine, Fla. Harris, who has committed to Miami, and Stachitas, who is headed to Wake Forest, are 11th and 14th among SuperPrep’s top quarterbacks.

Glennon had Tech and UVa on his list of finalists but thought that N.C. State provided a smoother accession to the No. 1 job. There are 2006 SuperPrep All-Americans at both Tech (Tyrod Taylor) and UVa (Peter Lalich).

Who’s to say that Virginia or Virginia Tech will even take a quarterback this year? Tech has taken 17 commitments and Virginia has taken 12, without a prospective quarterback in the bunch. Two of the Tech commitments come from players who played quarterback as juniors (Peter Rose and Xavier Boyce) but look for both to play another position in college.

 THE FIRST PLAYER to commit to Virginia Tech for 2008, Myrtle Beach (S.C.) linebacker Bruce Taylor, was also one of two Hokies on SuperPrep’s preseason All-America team, along with in-state receiver Dyrell Roberts from Smithfield.

Taylor was rated the No. 8 linebacker in the country, as well as the No. 4 prospect in North Carolina. Roberts, who plays running back for Smithfield, was rated the 44th-best wide receiver in the country and the No. 8 player in Virginia.

The Hokies also have commitments from in-state players who are ranked 14th (Jake Johnson), 17th (Xavier Boyce), 19th (Tony Gregory), 20th (Derrick McCoy), 21st (Isaiah Hamlette), 24th (Rose), 26th (Allen Stephens), 27th (Jeron Gouveia), 28th (Austin Fuller), 29th (Lyndell Gibson) and 33rd (Eric Martin).

The only in-state player to commit to Virginia, Buddy Ruff, is 22nd. However, the Cavaliers have landed one of the top five players in Washington, D.C. (Cameron Johnson) as well as one of the top 12 in Maryland (Rodney McLeod).

Tech recruit Lorenzo Williams, a defensive back from Fayetteville, N.C., was rated the No. 23 prospect in that state and fellow future Hokie Cameron Demps was rated the No. 46 player in Georgia.

Stratford (Conn.) running back Torrey Mack, the only preseason SuperPrep All-American among Virginia’s recruits, is rated the No. 1 prospect in New England. Cavalier recruit Ausar Walcott is rated the No. 10 prospect in  New Jersey (the top nine were All-Americans).

SuperPrep All-Americans from Virginia included Charlottesville offensive lineman Kyle Long, who has made an oral commitment to play baseball for Florida State.

CHARLOTTESVILLE PREP EDITOR and talk-show host Jerry Miller says that cornerback Mike Beckford, who reportedly has multiple Division I-A offers, will not return to Albemarle High School this season.

Beckford, a 6-foot, 175-pounder with 4.4-second speed for 40 yards, was a move-in from Florida prior to the 2006 season. He intercepted seven passes, two of which he returned for touchdowns, and also returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Miller says that changes in the NCAA eligibility wording have made it inadvisable for Beckford to return to Albemarle if he wants to sign with a Division I-A program. To meet his academic needs, Beckford would be better suited to attend a private school such as Blue Ridge, Fork Union and Hargrave.

Miller says that Beckford would not be eager to attend military school because his Rastafarian beliefs make him averse to cutting his hair.

Miller is probably unaware that one of the great all-time Rastafarians, Bob Marley, had a son, Rohan, who played college football at Miami.

TIMES HAVE CHANGED since the most interesting aspect of the ACC men’s basketball schedule was the respective teams’ non-conference opponents.

ACC expansion did away with a double round-robin schedule, so now there is an unbalanced schedule, providing the opportunity for some teams to have an easier conference schedule than others.

Teams that Virginia will play twice this season are Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Virginia Tech.

Teams that Tech will play twice are Boston College, Georgia Tech, Maryland, UVa and Wake.

If you think that Duke will be tougher than Maryland, then Tech would have the easier conference schedule, but there are other considerations.

Tech must go to North Carolina, while Virginia has the Tar Heels at home. Tech also must visit its 2006-2007 nemesis, N.C. State, while the Cavaliers get the Wolfpack in Charlottesville.

As for the non-conference schedules, Virginia spokesman Rich Murray said Friday that UVa’s opponents in the Philly Classic will be Pennsylvania on Nov. 23. Depending on whether it is the winner or loser, UVa will get either Seton Hall or Navy in a second game.

Penn, which will be playing on its home floor at the Palestra, won its last 10 games of the regular season to capture the Ivy League championship and finished 22-9 after a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Texas A&M.

In the Great Alaska Shootout, Tech opens play against Eastern Michigan in a field that includes Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Butler and Michigan. Eastern Michigan was 13-19 last year but Butler, Texas Tech and Gonzaga were all NCAA Tournament teams in 2006-2007, as were the Hokies.

The challenge for sports editors in Virginia is furnishing coverage of the Philly Classic and the Great Alaska Challenge, both scheduled for the weekend of the Virginia-Virginia Tech football game in Charlottesville.