Friday, January 16, 2009
Ignoring the private schools would be a recruiting mistake
State quarterback is Temple-bound
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
While trying to track down some information on 6-foot-4, 275-pound Fork Union offensive lineman Russell Brodine, something occurred to me.
The Virginia Prep League is not to be ignored in recruiting.
Maybe we should have known that, given the success of players like St. Anne-Belfield’s Chris Long and Collegiate’s Russell Wilson, but traditionally private-school players have gotten short shrift.
I’m not talking about the postgraduate programs at Hargrave Military Academy and Fork Union, although they turn out college prospects by the dozens.
Both Hargrave and Fork Union have undergraduate or “prep” teams, and the prep team at Fork Union, for one, has turned out the likes of Eddie George and Chris Perry.
Mickey Sullivan arrived at Fork Union in 1975 and, aside for one three-year absence, has been affiliated with the prep team for more than 30 years.
Sullivan said he had as many Division I prospects in his junior class this year as he has had in his time at Fork Union.
And, as opposed to George and Perry and 2008 Georgia signee Marcus Dowtin, a majority of Sullivan’s top juniors are from the state.
They include two players who live within 10 miles of Fork Union’s Fluvanna County barracks, Bodine and 6-7, 280-pound offensive lineman Mark Shuman.
Bodine’s father works at Fork Union and the family lives in nearby Scottsville. Shuman is the younger son of Fork Union postgraduate coach John Shuman.
Shuman, rated one of the top five juniors in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, is the younger brother of Virginia Tech’s starting center, Ryan Shuman, who just received an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
Seems to me that I remember Mark Shuman as a defensive lineman at some point, but “he’s going to be an offensive tackle,” Sullivan said. “It’s going to be interesting. Everybody knows about the Virginia Tech connection, but you’ve also got Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Clemson. There are some other schools he likes.”
(You can mark it down. The younger Shuman will end up at Tech. New Virginia assistant Latrell Scott will be at Fork Union on Monday, but there’s no way Mark Shuman will go to UVa, not after the way the Cavaliers declined to offer his brother).
In addition to Shuman and Bodine, who projects as a center, offensive guard and deep-snapper, Sullivan – no surprise here – has a 6-8, 260-pound tight end, Jacob Ruby, from London, Ontario.
“We love Canadians,” said John Shuman, who has had a Canadian offensive lineman on each of his past two teams, including Austin Pasztor, who signed with Virginia last February and started eight games for the Cavaliers, seven before his 18th birthday.
Sullivan, whose team forfeited two victories in what turned out to be a 4-6 season, also has a pair of Virginia-bred receivers in his junior class whom he projects as Division I recruits: 6-5, 190-pound Anthony Williams from the Virginia Beach area and 6-4, 197-pound Akeem Garnett from Fairfax. He puts both in the 4.6-second range for 40 yards.
Joe Branch, a 6-5, 210-pound Fork Union junior from Raleigh, N.C., plays tight end and outside linebacker and also kicks for the prep team. Sullivan says Branch is being recruited as an athlete.
Sullivan has a pair of Division I-A signees in his senior class, both headed to Ohio University. They are 6-4, 268-pound offensive lineman Skyler Allen and 6-1, 182-pound defensive back Jamil Shaw. Allen is from Mechanicsville and Shaw from Alexandria.
WOODBERRY FOREST, not known for its production of Division I football players, could have as many four signees in 2010. Two were rated among the top 25 juniors in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, defensive end Aramide Olaniyan (6-3, 198) and defensive back Ed Reynolds II (6-2, 193).
Reynolds is the son of former Virginia defensive end Ed Reynolds, a graduate of the old Drewry Mason High School in Henry County and later an NFL player for the New York Giants. Woodberry coach Clint Alexander says he thinks Duke could offer a scholarship to Reynolds as early as next week and Virginia, Stanford and Notre Dame also have expressed interested.
Olaniyan, whose family is of Nigerian descent, comes from Bowie, Md., and just turned 16. He is light for a defensive end, but, at 6-3 and 198 pounds, has the frame to get bigger. Alexander says that Olaniyan has offers from Stanford, Boston College, Maryland, Wake Forest and Duke. Notre Dame and North Carolina are among the other schools that have expressed interest.
Alexander also thinks that 6-2, 270-pound Duke Mosby, an all-state defensive lineman from Washington, D.C., will be a Division I player, as will Chad Kolumber, a 6-8, 301-pound offensive tackle in the junior class.
Woodberry senior K.G. Gaskins, a 6-1, 213-pound running back and linebacker who family lives in Philadelphia, has committed to Richmond. Another senior, all-state offensive tackle John Melesco, is talking with Army. Melesco, from Rocky Mount, played on the varsity at North Cross School in Roanoke for one season.
SPEAKING OF private-school players, it has come to my attention that 6-5, 292-pound King William defensive lineman Nick Acree has transferred to Christchurch.
Acree, rated the No. 6 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, has committed to Virginia Tech for 2010. Christchurch is his third high school in three years, counting West Point when he was a freshman.
Christchurch also is the home of 6-5, 250-pound tight end and defensive end Josh Lovell, who played for Tommy Reamon at Gloucester High School in 2007 and subsequently transferred to nearby Christchurch and was reclassified. Lovell already has an offer from Maryland, according to Christchurch coach Ed Homer.
THE LIST OF VIRGINIA players who have made Division I-A commitments rose to 58 with the addition of Chris Coyer, a 6-3, 221-pound quarterback from Oakton High School who told coach Al Golden this week that he will sign with Temple. Coyer was rated the No. 40 senior in the state by The Roanoke Times.
One of the state’s top uncommitted players, All-America offensive tackle Morgan Moses decided at the last minute to take an official visit to Virginia this weekend and will be joined by a host of committed UVa players. UVa’s chances for Moses picked up when Latrell Scott, who had been recruiting him for Tennessee, joined the Cavaliers’ staff.
Moses could end up at Fork Union Military Academy next fall with Cavalier recruit Hunter Steward and Bobby Smith, a wide receiver from Varina, who has caught the attention of new UVa offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon.
