Friday, February 17, 2012
ACC offer materializes for second Roanoke player
Number of signees from Virginia drops
Doug Doughty
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What does it take to qualify as an ACC recruit? One offer from one ACC school?
If that’s the case, Hidden Valley defensive back Jake Kite is an ACC football recruit.
Kite’s commitments to the Hidden Valley wrestling team have kept him from making the rounds of ACC football junior days, but this hasn’t kept Kite from being noticed.
“Duke held their first [recruiting] staff meeting Tuesday,” said Hidden Valley coach Scott Weaver. “Coach [David] Cutcliffe popped Jake’s tape in the machine and he decided to offer him immediately.”
Weaver said Kite, who played football at 6 foot-1 and 186 pounds but is wrestling at 170, is viewed as a safety prospect by colleges.
Kite, the Timesland defensive player of the year as a junior, plans to be at a UVa junior day next week and hopes to visit Virginia Tech, Maryland, UVa and Duke in order to watch spring practice.
Kite, who has a 3.9 grade-point average, is the son of Roanoke lawyer and former UVa football letterman Chris Kite. An older Kite sibling, Josh, is a student at UVa.
There is a Tech connection for Kite through his mother, Christy, who went to James Madison at the same time as Hokies’ offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring.
Kite is the second Roanoke Valley player to receive an ACC offer for 2013. Patrick Henry quarterback David Prince has offers from both Tech and UVa as an “athlete.”
RICHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL senior Josh Hess, who was hearing from a number of FBS (previously I-A) schools before committing to Florida International, ended up signing with FCS (formerly Division I-AA) member Richmond.
I’m told that Florida International cooled on Hess, a 6-7, 305-pound offensive tackle, after learning of his talks with Richmond late in the recruiting process. Hess was rated the No. 48 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.
The state’s top uncommitted prospect, according to that list, is 6-4, 215-pound defensive end Alex Figueroa from Brooke Point in Stafford. I recently saw Figueroa at a combine at Fork Union Military Academy and there’s no question he passes the eye test.
Hampton High School football coach Mike Smith, recovering from disc surgery, reports that Crabbers’ linebacker Kavon Bellamy, rated the No. 95 prospect in the state, is headed to junior college. Hampton defensive lineman Dallas Cogdell (No. 85 on the list) has academic issues and remains undecided.
According to Smith, Hampton wide receiver and UVa signee Jamaal Brown may be a sleeper. “He’s fast, he’s got great hands, he’s got all the tools,” Smith said. “We had to use him at quarterback in the first game and he was banged up a lot of the time after that. He had a bad groin pull. This wasn’t a case of recruiting a kid to be nice to Mike Smith.”
Brown received an offer from UVa after attending a one-day camp and was slated to go to a Tech camp after that. Smith’s impression is that the Hokies would have offered him as well. One 2013 recruit likely to pick Tech over UVa is running back-linebacker Deon Newsome, whose father, Myron, was a standout for the Hokies.
WOODBRIDGE LINEBACKER Darius Parson, who made an early commitment to Syracuse but later found himself the victim of an Orange numbers game, ended up signing with FCS school Central Connecticut State.
Parson wasn’t the only signee Central Connecticut State plucked from Virginia. The other was Travis Buzzo, a 6-1, 260-pound offensive lineman who played for his father, Tommy, at Liberty High School in Bealeton.
I have been listing wide receiver Sequan Gooding from Virginia Beach Oscar Smith as a Western Michigan recruit, but the Broncos are listing Justin Motley, a defensive back from Virginia Beach Landstown as the only Virginian among their list of signees.
Also, defensive back Daquan Stewart from Mountain View in Stafford did not sign with Temple as had been anticipated. The same fate had befallen one-time Marshall recruit Antonio Wells from Magna Vista.
That drops the number of FCS signees for the state to 46, down from 53 in 2010 and 2011 and significantly down from a high of 67 in 2009.
Boston College, aside from Tech and UVa, was the only FBS school to sign more than one player from Virginia. The Eagles signed two Virginians, including unheralded Loudoun Valley wideout Harris Jackson, who had no other FBS offers.
FOLLOWING IS A LIST of FBS signees from the state as I’ve got them:
2012 DIVISION I-A FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS FROM VIRGINIA (46)
VIRGINIA TECH (17) – Joel Caleb, Deon Clarke, J.C. Coleman, Augie Conte, Seth Dooley, Trey Edmunds, Ken Ekanem, Desmond Frye, Der-Woun Greene, Dakota Jackson, Brenden Motley, Alston Smith, x-Thomas Smith, Adam Taraschke, Devin Vandyke, Nigel Williams, Jerome Wright.
VIRGINIA (14) – Jamall Brown, Maurice Canady, Tyrell Chavis, Anthony Cooper, Kyle Dockins, Ryan Doull, Mark Hall, Eli Harold, Andre Miles-Redmond, Kwontie Moore, Mario Nixon, Wil Wahee, Divante Walker, Courtnye Wynn..
BOSTON COLLEGE (2) – Win Homer, Harrison Jackson.
TEMPLE (1) – Romond Deloatch, Daquan Stewart.
BUFFALO (1) – C.J. Stancil
EAST CAROLINA (1) – Ryan Revia
MARYLAND (1) – Avery Thompson
MARSHALL (1) – Devon Johnson
N.C. STATE (1) – John Tu’uta
NOTRE DAME (1) – C.J. Prosise.
PENN STATE (1) – Derek Downey.
PURDUE (1) – Thomas Meadows.
STANFORD (1) – Alex Carter
VANDERBILT (1) – Colby Cooke
WAKE FOREST (1) – Will Smith
WESTERN MICHIGAN (1) –Justin Motley
If that’s the case, Hidden Valley defensive back Jake Kite is an ACC football recruit.
Kite’s commitments to the Hidden Valley wrestling team have kept him from making the rounds of ACC football junior days, but this hasn’t kept Kite from being noticed.
“Duke held their first [recruiting] staff meeting Tuesday,” said Hidden Valley coach Scott Weaver. “Coach [David] Cutcliffe popped Jake’s tape in the machine and he decided to offer him immediately.”
Weaver said Kite, who played football at 6 foot-1 and 186 pounds but is wrestling at 170, is viewed as a safety prospect by colleges.
Kite, the Timesland defensive player of the year as a junior, plans to be at a UVa junior day next week and hopes to visit Virginia Tech, Maryland, UVa and Duke in order to watch spring practice.
Kite, who has a 3.9 grade-point average, is the son of Roanoke lawyer and former UVa football letterman Chris Kite. An older Kite sibling, Josh, is a student at UVa.
There is a Tech connection for Kite through his mother, Christy, who went to James Madison at the same time as Hokies’ offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring.
Kite is the second Roanoke Valley player to receive an ACC offer for 2013. Patrick Henry quarterback David Prince has offers from both Tech and UVa as an “athlete.”
RICHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL senior Josh Hess, who was hearing from a number of FBS (previously I-A) schools before committing to Florida International, ended up signing with FCS (formerly Division I-AA) member Richmond.
I’m told that Florida International cooled on Hess, a 6-7, 305-pound offensive tackle, after learning of his talks with Richmond late in the recruiting process. Hess was rated the No. 48 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.
The state’s top uncommitted prospect, according to that list, is 6-4, 215-pound defensive end Alex Figueroa from Brooke Point in Stafford. I recently saw Figueroa at a combine at Fork Union Military Academy and there’s no question he passes the eye test.
Hampton High School football coach Mike Smith, recovering from disc surgery, reports that Crabbers’ linebacker Kavon Bellamy, rated the No. 95 prospect in the state, is headed to junior college. Hampton defensive lineman Dallas Cogdell (No. 85 on the list) has academic issues and remains undecided.
According to Smith, Hampton wide receiver and UVa signee Jamaal Brown may be a sleeper. “He’s fast, he’s got great hands, he’s got all the tools,” Smith said. “We had to use him at quarterback in the first game and he was banged up a lot of the time after that. He had a bad groin pull. This wasn’t a case of recruiting a kid to be nice to Mike Smith.”
Brown received an offer from UVa after attending a one-day camp and was slated to go to a Tech camp after that. Smith’s impression is that the Hokies would have offered him as well. One 2013 recruit likely to pick Tech over UVa is running back-linebacker Deon Newsome, whose father, Myron, was a standout for the Hokies.
WOODBRIDGE LINEBACKER Darius Parson, who made an early commitment to Syracuse but later found himself the victim of an Orange numbers game, ended up signing with FCS school Central Connecticut State.
Parson wasn’t the only signee Central Connecticut State plucked from Virginia. The other was Travis Buzzo, a 6-1, 260-pound offensive lineman who played for his father, Tommy, at Liberty High School in Bealeton.
I have been listing wide receiver Sequan Gooding from Virginia Beach Oscar Smith as a Western Michigan recruit, but the Broncos are listing Justin Motley, a defensive back from Virginia Beach Landstown as the only Virginian among their list of signees.
Also, defensive back Daquan Stewart from Mountain View in Stafford did not sign with Temple as had been anticipated. The same fate had befallen one-time Marshall recruit Antonio Wells from Magna Vista.
That drops the number of FCS signees for the state to 46, down from 53 in 2010 and 2011 and significantly down from a high of 67 in 2009.
Boston College, aside from Tech and UVa, was the only FBS school to sign more than one player from Virginia. The Eagles signed two Virginians, including unheralded Loudoun Valley wideout Harris Jackson, who had no other FBS offers.
FOLLOWING IS A LIST of FBS signees from the state as I’ve got them:
2012 DIVISION I-A FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS FROM VIRGINIA (46)
VIRGINIA TECH (17) – Joel Caleb, Deon Clarke, J.C. Coleman, Augie Conte, Seth Dooley, Trey Edmunds, Ken Ekanem, Desmond Frye, Der-Woun Greene, Dakota Jackson, Brenden Motley, Alston Smith, x-Thomas Smith, Adam Taraschke, Devin Vandyke, Nigel Williams, Jerome Wright.
VIRGINIA (14) – Jamall Brown, Maurice Canady, Tyrell Chavis, Anthony Cooper, Kyle Dockins, Ryan Doull, Mark Hall, Eli Harold, Andre Miles-Redmond, Kwontie Moore, Mario Nixon, Wil Wahee, Divante Walker, Courtnye Wynn..
BOSTON COLLEGE (2) – Win Homer, Harrison Jackson.
TEMPLE (1) – Romond Deloatch, Daquan Stewart.
BUFFALO (1) – C.J. Stancil
EAST CAROLINA (1) – Ryan Revia
MARYLAND (1) – Avery Thompson
MARSHALL (1) – Devon Johnson
N.C. STATE (1) – John Tu’uta
NOTRE DAME (1) – C.J. Prosise.
PENN STATE (1) – Derek Downey.
PURDUE (1) – Thomas Meadows.
STANFORD (1) – Alex Carter
VANDERBILT (1) – Colby Cooke
WAKE FOREST (1) – Will Smith
WESTERN MICHIGAN (1) –Justin Motley
