Doug Doughty

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“Hmmm” was my reaction when I came across the name of one-time Virginia Tech basketball signee Tyrone Appleton on a recruiting list that had him listed as a Hokies’ commitment for 2008-2009.

That was worth a phone call, during which it was confirmed that the Hokies no longer are in the picture for Appleton, who is a sophomore at Midland College, a two-year basketball program in Texas.

So, there’s nothing going on with Appleton, but some investigation has led me to believe that Tech is going to the wire on three uncommitted high-school seniors: 6-foot-9 Frank Ben-Eze from Bishop O’Connell in Arlington; 6-3 Tyshawn Taylor from St. Anthony’s Prep in Jersey City, N.J., and 6-2 Shaquille “Shack” Johnson from Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla.

Tech earlier had taken an oral commitment from Victor Davila, a 6-9 Puerto Rican who is in his fourth year at Starmount High School in Boonville, N.C. Old-time Hokies may remember Starmount as the alma mater of Howard Pardue, an All-Southern Conference selection three years in a row during the early 1960s and a 1992 inductee into the Tech sports hall of fame.

I had been hearing that Ben-Eze, a native of Nigeria, might select Harvard, now coached by Tommy Amaker, who was fired by Michigan at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Amaker, a standout point guard at Duke during his college career, played at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax.

Now, it seems more likely that Ben-Eze will go to Tech or Marquette. Virginia had been mentioned as a possible destination for Ben-Eze, but it appears that the Cavaliers would have a better chance of getting another of the big men on their list, Josh Brandenburg or Assane Sene.

THE CAVALIERS took an oral commitment last week from Sylven Landesberg, a 6-6 perimeter player from Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y., the alma mater of former Virginia basketball co-captain Willie Dersch, as well as current UVa football player Kevin Ogletree.

Venerable New York talent scout Tom Konchalski notes that the Holy Cross connection started with former UVa assistant basketball coach Dennis Wolff. Wolff, who coached under Jeff Jones from 1990-1994, is a Holy Cross graduate who laid the groundwork for the Dersch recruiting.

Dersch, a McDonald’s and Parade All-American, had offers from North Carolina and Virginia and represented one of UVa’s biggest recruiting coups. He played in 118 games during his UVa career, frequently as a starter, but averaged only 5.9 points per game.

As opposed to Dersch, who was a consensus national top-40 prospect, Landesberg has been rated the No. 38 prospect in the country by Prep Stars but is no higher than the mid-50s on most other lists.

“He’s the incumbent player of the year in the CHSAA,” said Konchalski, referring to the New York Catholic League. “That says it all. This guy had a great junior season. He was the leading scorer in the Catholic League as a sophomore and junior. During the summer, he had a lot of nagging injuries and he didn’t look very impressive.

“I don’t know if it was bad enough to keep him out of action, but it impacted his performance. That’s why he’s not as highly regarded. Clark Francis [publisher of the Hoop Scoop] this spring had him rated the eighth best player in the rising senior class. That might have been too high, but he’s probably a much better player than people regard him right now.”

Konchalski said Landesberg reminds him of former North Carolina State star Julius Hodge because of his ability to play point guard.

“Everybody thinks [Landesberg] is a great outside shooter,” Konchalski said. “He’s not. What he’s got to do is, he’s got to get his legs into his shot. He needs to get stronger. Guys who are prolific scorers are not the guys who make all the difficult shots. They’re the guys who make the easy shots.

“He’s a very good finisher going to the basket and he makes free throws. I saw him last year have a 15-for-16 free-throw game. The more open-court basketball they play, the more effective they’ll be. He doesn’t have explosive quickness, but, you know what he does? He covers the court well. He runs well.”

Konchalski thinks Landesberg still has some growing to do because he won’t turn 18 until April 10, meaning he’ll play most of his senior year as a 17-year-old. In an age when many players are held back or take a postgraduate season, the average age for a Division I freshman basketball player is much closer to 19 than 18.

KONCHALSKI SAID THAT overnight reports that Landesberg would announce Virginia as his choice may have been premature.

“I had no idea,” Konchalski said. “There were all sorts of rumors that he wanted to go to Georgia Tech but that his dad wanted him to go to Virginia and his mom wanted him to go to St. John’s.

“The mother said she thought, the night before, that he was going to St. John’s,” Konchalski said. “That morning, before he left for school, she thought he was going to Georgia Tech.

“Both he and his mother claimed that, the night before, he wasn’t sure where he was going.”