Friday, February 15, 2008
Tech numbers will add up but it's a full-time job
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
Find his College Notebook from The Roanoke Times in Thursday's college sports section
Miss the Insider column? Check out the Insiders blog
See Doug and Randy talk sports every week with the Sports edition of the TimesCast
Recent columns
Whenever the subject of numbers was raised during recruiting season, I’m told that the conversation in Virginia Tech staff meetings went something like this:
“Recruit till I tell you to stop recruiting,” was the message Frank Beamer gave to his assistants. “I’ll worry about the numbers.”
(Knowing Beamer, he probably wasn’t that blunt).
The Hokies signed 31 players on Feb. 6 and now have had consecutive recruiting classes (in descending order) of 31, 25, 21, 25 and 19.
Add four 2003 sigees who were grayshirted, meaning they did not enroll until January 2004, add 2007 summer recruit Ervin Garner, and that’s 126 scholarship players who have signed with the program over the past five years.
How do the Hokies get down to the 85-scholarship limit?
I would think, somewhere, that some Hokie beat reporter would be keeping a running count. But, since this column is targeted toward Virginia Tech and Virginia fans, I’ll take a crack at it.
We’ll start out with five 2004 signees who completed their eligibility in four years: Justin Harper, Josh Morgan, D.J. Parker and Eddie Royal. That lowers the number from 126 to 122.
Redshirt junior Brandon Flowers passed up his final year of eligibility in order to make himself available for the 2008 NFL Draft. (121)
Seldom-used linebacker Andrew Bowman was eligible to return for a fifth year but has had knee surgery and will graduate in May. His Tech football career is over. (120).
Offensive lineman Matt Welsh, a 2003 signee who delayed his enrollment until 2004, already has graduated and will not return for a sixth or fifth year, depending on how you count it. (119)
There were five players who were members of more than one signing class – Todd Nolen, Brandon Holland, Sam Wheeler, Kendrick Pressley and Quillie Odom – and only should have been counted once. (114)
Then, there were the players who played for Tech and later transferred: George Bell (Catawba) and Jeremy Gilchrist (Hampton). (112).
There were other players who enrolled at Tech but transferred before playing: Brandon Barden (Vanderbilt), Joey Hall (Elon) and Devven Sutton. (109)
SuperPrep All-American Carl Howard arrived at Tech for summer camp in 2004 but transferred to Rutgers before the start of school. Another New Jersey product, Mike Green, was in the same class and also left without playing. (107)
Defensive back Mario Edwards, a 2006 signee, played briefly for the Hokies this past season before leaving the team with plans to transfer (106).
Signees who never met NCAA admissions guidelines included Deveon Simmons in 2005, Todd Nolen for the second and last time in 2006, and Mike Gee and D.J. Thomas in 2007. (102).
A pair of 2006 signees who did not qualify, Ladi Ajiboye and Douglas McNeil, were targeted for January 2007 enrollment but Ajiboye ended up signing with South Carolina after spending the fall of 2006 at Hargrave Military Academy and McNeil committed to JMU when his Tech acceptance was taking longer than anticipated. (100)
Offensive lineman Antonio North, a 2005 signee, gave up football in December 2006 as the result of a herniated disk. He received a medical release and stayed in school but no longer counts against the scholarship limit. (99)
William Wall, a 2005 signee, was kicked off the team for repeated disciplinary violations in October 2006. There were similar issues surrounding the departure of one of Wall’s cronies, Theodore Miller (97).
Offensive lineman Robert Norris, a 2005 signee from DeMatha in Hyattsville, could see that he wasn’t going to play and transferred. Maurice Reevey, a 2004 signee, left the program and may be playing collegiate basketball. The Hokies aren’t sure (95).
Now, the nitty gritty starts.
Of this year’s 31 signees, at least two are expected to enter in January 2009 and will count toward Tech’s 2009 quota, if necessary. They are quarterback Ju Ju Clayton and wide receiver Ben Barber (93).
Linebacker prospect Derrick McCoy from Amherst and wide receiver D.J. Coles from Goochland are expected to spend a year in prep school. (91).
So, where does Tech find the other six scholarships to get down to 85? I’d say that two or three more signees will require prep school, another 2-3 will be grayshirted and 2-3 veteran players will not be returning, either of their own volition (playing time) or the school’s choice (academic or discipline).
Also, there have been cases in the past when Beamer has pulled players’ scholarships for academic or behavioral reasons and given them a chance to return to the team but not restoring their scholarships unless they earn them.
TECH’S ABILITY TO SIGN such large classes may grate on some Virginia fans, but it’s not much different from what the Cavaliers have done in men’s basketball in recent years.
UVa, as pointed out in a recent Roanoke Times column, currently is at the 13-scholarship NCAA scholarship now and has signed three players to replace the three seniors who will complete their eligibility.
That would place the Cavaliers at the limit, but now comes word that they’re trying to get involved with Oregon City, Ore., guard Brad Tinsley, as well as fellow senior Wesley Witherspoon, a 6-8 wing from Lilburn, Ga. On top of that, there’s the matter of sophomore Calvin Baker, a walk-on who is fourth on the team in scoring and has played nearly 600 minutes.
Then, there’s Tunji Soroye, the 6-11 senior who has played in two games all season and would be eligible for a hardship ruling. Tinsley, Witherspoon, Baker and Soroye are all candidates for a scholarship in 2008-2009, but where are they going to find one, much less two or three?
Presumably, this happens a lot of places, not just with Virginia Tech football or Virginia men’s basketball. You would think it would affect graduation rates, but I don’t see where it has.
My biggest problem is with the concept of running people off, but if these kids aren’t being forced to give up their scholarships and NCAA guidelines are being followed, what’s the beef?
A POST ON one of the UVa boards indicated that Virginia might be able to obtain a waiver to allow Soroye to return for a fifth year since his hardship occurred after the Cavaliers had filled their roster, but school spokesman Rich Murray said UVa’s compliance office is not aware of that provision.
The response:
“The men's basketball team may only have 13 counters (i.e. student-athletes on athletics scholarship) unless the NCAA has granted a waiver (which in my opinion would be extremely rare) to permit an institution to provide an additional scholarship.
“There is no NCAA rule that I know of that permits an institution to have 14 athletics scholarship student-athletes practice and competing on the MBB team (medical or otherwise).”
ON THE UVA recruiting front, Harrisburg High School football coach George Chaump said that video superstar Josh Potts has grown “nervous” over his recruiting and has accepted an invitation to visit Division I-AA Villanova over the weekend.
If UVa interest does not pick up, Potts might sign with Villanova on his trip, Chaump said.
