Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Ike Whitaker says he has slipped up a few times since leaving rehab, but he has avoided a full relapse.

BLACKSBURG -- Nevermind that Kenny Lewis Jr. had just cut Ike Whitaker's hair on Monday. It was Wednesday night, and Whitaker was on the phone asking for another.

"That's our code," Lewis said of his Virginia Tech teammate and best friend. "If Ike needs a haircut, that means Ike needs to be rescued."

Some weeks, Whitaker needs three haircuts.

This is how alcoholics get by. Whitaker, a 20-year-old backup quarterback for the Hokies, is an alcoholic.

Is, not was.

"Oh, it's temptation every day," said Whitaker, who calls Lewis whenever he finds himself tempted to drink. "The pull comes from everywhere.

"Friends, close friends, teammates ... they're not doing anything hurtful. They just forget. It's just a temptation that's always going to be there, every single day."

Yes, he spent 28 days in a rehabilitation clinic in December, while his teammates were preparing for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Yes, he came back to the team for spring practice with a clear head, an extra 20 pounds and in the best shape of his life.

No, he doesn't have to hide from Tech's coaches anymore because of bloodshot eyes and the stench of beer seeping from his pores.

But as much as he'd like to look you in the eye and say he hasn't had a drink since rehab, Whitaker won't.

"I wouldn't stand here and lie," he said Saturday, pacing the turf at Lane Stadium, where he still someday hopes to make an impact. "I've slipped, but I rebound every time. And when I did slip, it wasn't a major slip."

Whitaker said he hasn't had a drink in Blacksburg since before rehab. And he hasn't been on any weeklong binges like the ones that landed him there.

But this summer, on trips back home in Maryland, old friends and old habits got the better of him a few times.

Lewis wasn't there to cut his hair. Whitaker's three sponsors in Alcoholics Anonymous weren't around. Tech's coaching staff couldn't check up.

"People call me -- 20, 25 people calling me, and it's always, 'Ike, let's go out,' " said the third-year sophomore. "They know what I've been through, but they don't think I need to stay sober the rest of my life, as a 20-year-old kid."

Reaching that conclusion himself was the hardest part. Surely a bright-eyed college student couldn't be an alcoholic, right?

Drinking, while illegal for those under 21, is widespread on campuses across America. In a tiny town like Blacksburg, alcohol consumption ranks high on the list of popular extracurricular activities.

"It's a little party place," said Gary Bennett, a Virginia Tech sports psychologist who began working with Whitaker in the weeks leading up to his decision to enter rehab. "Everywhere he goes, somebody wants to buy him a drink."

Very few people Whitaker's age would see that as a problem, Bennett said, or even notice when their social drinking slipped into addiction.

"There aren't many 20-year-old college students who'll stand up and say, 'I need to do something about this,'" said Bennett, who was interviewed for this story only after receiving Whitaker's OK. "I tip my hat to Ike for taking the steps he has. ... He's been very honest about where he is and what he's dealing with."

Honesty is paramount in this struggle. So when Whitaker drank this summer, he had some hard phone calls to make. He called Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.

"Coach Beamer is very open," Whitaker said. "Whether he's mad at me or not, I feel like I can still go to him and be honest. He said to stay on the right track. I don't think any of the coaches expected me not to drink the rest of my life."

Whitaker compared his struggle to an avid golfer. Try playing 18 holes a few times a week for several years, then decide one day to give it up cold. Don't think you can pass a driving range and not want to knock a few around, he said. Just a couple of shots.

"That's hard if you love golf. And I loved drinking," Whitaker said.

Bennett points out that treatment doesn't destroy desire. He said that even among those who go through a rehabilitation program, slips are all but inevitable.

"It's not atypical at all," Bennett said. "It's part of the process, ... talking about risky situations and if you slip, how do you bounce back and prevent that from becoming a full-blown relapse?"

For Whitaker, the recipe for continued success has been part football and part religion, plus a support system to help keep him out of trouble or to catch him if he falls.

"We check with him every day," Beamer said. "He's a guy that's got to always be on guard. And we've got to be there for him."

Each week, Whitaker meets with Bennett once and attends two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He calls his sponsors. He calls Lewis, a devout Christian and nondrinker who never passes judgment.

"I just told him not to beat himself up," said Lewis of the call he got this summer when Whitaker confessed to stumbling. "Every time I talk to him, I try to give him some encouraging words, even when things are going good."

As football goes, there's plenty to keep Whitaker busy. He fell behind starting quarterback Sean Glennon last season, in part because of his drinking. He has yet to close that gap, and now Whitaker is practicing some at wide receiver.

"If my time never comes, my time never comes," Whitaker said. "But I can't stress about that. I can't worry about who's ahead of me. That would put me in a bad place.

"I just want to help this football team, and I'm putting all of myself into that."

When times are tough, Whitaker turns to God. Like many coping with addiction, religion is a relief for him. He accompanies Lewis to church regularly and often can be found lugging his Bible to class. Whitaker even wears a hat while running that proclaims, "I believe in God."

Shortly after leaving rehab, he got a new tattoo. Surrounding a VT logo is this phrase:

Life is God's Novel.

Believe in My Story.

"That's why I made what I went through public," Whitaker said, "so others going through it don't have to be ashamed of it. Everybody's human, no matter who you are."

Quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain said Whitaker, once fidgety during meetings, is sitting still. He's not displaying any erratic behavior. His mental grasp of the game has improved, along with his work ethic.

Whitaker's grades are good, O'Cain said.

"He's given us no reason to believe he isn't going to fight this thing and stay on the straight and narrow," O'Cain said.

Said Bennett: "He's a stand-up guy. I don't know if I'd have said that a year ago, but it's true today."

The thing about alcoholism, the thing Whitaker is first to point out, is that today's success can give way to tomorrow's failure. He knows the battle won't end, and he knows he won't win it alone.

"I'm going to be everywhere he is," Lewis said. "I'm going to be that No. 3 on the back of his jersey. I'm not going to let him get in trouble."

For Whitaker, beating his addiction is about awareness -- knowing that help is just a haircut away.