Friday, January 23, 2009
Connections aplenty for Tech, UVa in 2010
Bolling commits to Wake Forest
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
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The early line on 2009 football recruiting was that Virginia needed to make the most of its opportunity because Virginia Tech was looking at a small class for 2009 but had a lot of family connections to the class of 2010.
With 12 days remaining till signing day, it now appears that UVa has made the most of its in-state opportunities, even though the Hokies have more spots than they once anticipated.
Tech hasn’t lost any of its connections to the class of 2010, but UVa has some connections of its own:
Ed Reynolds Jr., a defensive back from Woodberry Forest, is the son of a former UVa defensive end. Ed Reynolds Sr. played 10 years in the NFL, nine with the New England Patriots and one for the New York Giants, so he and UVa coach Al Groh seemingly have much in common, although my research indicates that Ed Sr. never played for Groh.
(If Ed Jr. were to end up at Virginia, he and Ed Sr. would become the first African-American father-son combination to be on football scholarship at UVa. The Cavaliers made the younger Reynolds an offer this week.)
One of Ed Reynolds Sr.’s teammates on the 1979 UVa football team was Bill Revell, a 6-6, 227-pound defensive end from West Springfield. Revell’s son, Bo, is a 6-6, 210-pound quarterback for Battlefield High School in Manassas who, on at least one list I’ve seen, is viewed as the top prospect in Northern Virginia.
Brian Taylor, a 6-1, 175-pound defensive back from William Fleming in Roanoke, is the nephew of former Cavaliers’ and NFL linebacker Shannon Taylor. Academics are an issue right now for Taylor, but he is a player. I’ve watched him play.
There are more than half a dozen players in the 2010 in-state recruiting pool with ties to Virginia Tech:
Mark Shuman, a 6-6, 275-pound offensive and defensive lineman on the prep team at Fork Union Military Academy, is the younger brother of the Hokies’ starting center this past season, Ryan Shuman.
Levi Barber, who played quarterback this past season for Edison High School in Alexandria, is the younger brother of Ben Barber, a 2008 Edison grad who enrolled at Tech earlier this month. The Barbers are half-brothers of former Tech defensive back Willie Pile.
Ja’Quan Burchette, a 5-11, 204-pound quarterback for Highland Springs High School, is the younger brother of former Hokies’ defensive end Noland Burchette, whose last year at Tech was 2006.
Another rising Highland Springs senior, 6-1, 310-pound defensive lineman Derrick Hopkins, is the younger brother of 2008 Tech signee Antoine Hopkins, a linebacker from Highland Springs.
Zach McCray, a 6-5, 235-pound defensive end from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, is a cousin of Logan Thomas, who played quarterback at Brookville and was this year’s Group AA state player of the year. Thomas has committed to the Hokies for 2009.
Tahrick Peak, a 6-2, 185-pound junior from Pulaski High School in Dublin, is the younger and taller brother of Cougars’ running back Nubian Peak, who has committed to Tech for 2009.
Anthony Rose, a 6-3, 193-pound quarterback and all-purpose threat for Amherst High School, is the younger brother of 2008 Tech signee Peter Rose, who was last year’s Group AA state player of the year.
(The Hokies’ rescinded Peter Rose’s scholarship offer after he was arrested for selling marijuana to an undercover police officer but managed to retain cordial relations with the family.)
IT WAS INTERESTING this week to see stories on CavsCorner.com and HokieHaven.com on Drew Jarrett, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior from Cox High School in Virginia Beach who was the first-team All-Group AAA place-kicker.
Jarrett had 12 field goals this season, including a 54-yarder, and set a south Hampton Roads record (that’s the area covered by the Virginian-Pilot) with 29 field goals in his career.
Jarrett will be at Virginia this weekend on an official visit and also has attracted the interest of Virginia Tech. It is reminiscent of the spring 2003 recruitment of Connor Hughes, who picked UVa over Tech, which had signed Nic Schmitt earlier in the year.
Generally, it has been Tech that has gone the walk-on route with place-kickers over the years, but the Hokies extended a scholarship offer to Giles kicker Cody Journell last spring and he quickly made a commitment.
Before taking early retirement from the Virginian-Pilot, longtime prep coordinator Bryan Black told me:
“If Drew Jarrett doesn’t have a D-I offer, and he doesn’t, there’s no kicker I’ve ever seen on a high school football field who should ever get a D-I offer. Jarrett is better than most of the front-line kickers in the ACC right now.”
ACCORDING TO the Wake Forest site on rivals.com, the Deacons have taken a commitment from first-team All-Group AA offensive tackle Devin Bolling, a 6-5, 270-pounder from Brookville High School.
Bolling, who had taken an official visit to Boston College in November, apparently will not take a trip to Virginia Tech that had been scheduled for next weekend. Bolling was rated the No. 37 senior in Virginia this year and was the state’s fourth-highest uncommitted recruit prior to his announcement.
Bolling is the 60th in-state prospect to commit to a Division I-A program and the fifth Virginian to commit to Wake.
IT’S TRUE: Bill Dee, 55, is stepping down as Phoebus High School football coach after 24 seasons to join the staff at Division III Christopher Newport University. Dee has won four state championships since 2001, including the 2008 Group AAA Division 5 title in a 37-13 romp over Dinwiddie.
