Friday, March 19, 2010
Franklin County linebacker has qualified spokesman
Greenberg not the only ACC coach linked to Yellow Jackets
Doug Doughty
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When Franklin County football coach Chris Jones thinks he has a college prospect, it’s probably a good idea to take his word for it.
Jones was the head coach at Bath County when future Dallas Cowboys’ tight end John Phillips was in the Chargers’ program, and Jones is about to get a second NFL player with the impending selection of Virginia cornerback Chris Cook in April’s draft.
Cook played for Jones at Heritage High School in Lynchburg.
Jones isn’t predicting an NFL career for Franklin County junior Tre Preston – not yet, at least – but “he’s [Preston] definitely ACC-caliber,” Jones said.
Preston was named first-team All-Timesland this past season, when he was the Western Valley District defensive player of the year. He was chosen first-team All-Group AAA by the Virginia High School Coaches Association and second-team by The Associated Press and virginiapreps.com
“When you talk about a Division I linebacker, he’s [Preston] what I would have in mind,” Jones said.
Maybe not right now, though.
Preston suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during the basketball season and underwent reconstructive surgery. He has started walking again but may not be available for one-day camps at which college programs evaluate prospects in the late spring or early summer.
Virginia Tech assistant Bryan Stinespring and Virginia’s Anthony Poindexter both stopped by Franklin County High School in January to inquire about Preston, but Jones knows that the Hokies are strapped for scholarships.
Ex-Liberty assistant Scott Wachenheim has taken over the Southwest Virginia recruiting area for the Cavaliers.
Jones listed Preston at 6 foot 3 and 225 pounds, with 4.7-second speed for 40 yards, Nobody is going to have to wait around to see if he qualifies academically because Preston carries a 3.2 grade-point average.
Jones, who took the Eagles to their first playoff victory last fall in his first season, said he has another “tremendous talent” in his rising senior class, 6-4, 205-pound receiver Thad Basham. However, Basham, a first-team All-Western Valley District selection, may need to attend a prep school or junior college.
Basham has a younger brother, Terrell, whom Jones describes as an “unreal talent” who “could be a blue-chip recruit.” Terrell Basham is a 6-4, 240-pound rising junior.
Jones also is quick to point out Alex Keys, a 5-10, 180-pound defensive back who is moving to running back for his junior year. Keys is the younger son of former UVa running back Raymond Keys, whose other son, Raymond II, walked on at UVa and earned a letter this past season on special teams.
ALSO CHECKING IN this week was Kevin Clifford, head football and wrestling coach at Glenvar High School in Roanoke County.
Clifford thinks he has a keeper in 6-2, 225-pound defensive end Jacob Noble, who will be a junior in 2010. Noble had 83 tackles this past season, including 11-1/2 sacks.
Noble, also a 3.6 student, has all of the necessary measurables. A tight end on offense, he runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds, benches 325 pounds, parallel squats 455 and squats 275.
I don’t know what any of that means but “his weight lifting stats are as good as any D-I player at his age that I have seen,” said Clifford, who coached several Division I prospects in the Miami area and also served as the head coach at Group AAA Patrick Henry in Roanoke.
IT’S INTERESTING to hear Seth Greenberg’s name mentioned in connection with the St. John’s basketball job that came open Friday because I was hearing another ACC coach’s name last week at the ACC Tournament.
I can’t remember if I heard that Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt was interested in the St. John’s job or whether St. John’s is interested in Hewitt, but there apparently was some restlessness among the Yellow Jackets’ faithful before GT’s three-game run to the ACC championship game.
Some questioned whether Hewitt would keep his job if the Yellow Jackets failed to make the NCAA field for the third year in a row, but it would have been very difficult for Georgia Tech to make a coaching change given the $7 million rollover buyout Hewitt was given by former athletic director Dave Braine.
Georgia Tech’s 22-12 record represented only its second winning season in five years; in fact, since the Yellow Jackets made the title game in a 28-10 season in 2004, this is the first time they have won more than 20 games.
Hewitt has recruited well at Georgia Tech but has been plagued by early player departures to the NBA. He has a New York background, having played at St. John’s Fisher in Pittsford, N.Y., before coaching at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y.
Hewitt, 46, moved to Queens, N.Y., from Kingston, Jamaica, when he was 8. St. John’s might feel more like home but the pressure to win and the shadows of the NBA wouldn’t be any more burdensome.
Plus, I don’t know if St. John’s could come up with the money that would lure Hewitt away from Georgia Tech. From that standpoint, a Red Storm financial package might be more attractive to Virginia Tech’s Greenberg, either the lowest or second lowest-paid coach in the ACC.
