Thursday, February 02, 2006
Hokies get even with 'Cocks
Randy King
Randy King's Tech Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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Don't expect Frank Beamer and South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier to be joining each in the same foursome on the golf course anytime soon.
After the Gamecocks raised Beamer's ire by stealing blue-chip tight end John Hannah from the Hokies on last year's National Signing Day, Tech drew a measure of revenge Wednesday when it received a national letter of intent from defensive tackle Olufemi "Ladi" Ajiboye, who had committed to South Carolina on Jan. 13.
Ajiboye, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound native of College Park, Ga., de-committed to South Carolina after visiting Tech on the weekend of Jan. 21-22. Last year, Hannah didn't take any more campus visits after committing to Tech. For that reason, Beamer said the two situations were entirely different.
"I've always said, and I say this in our coaches' meetings that if a guy commits to another school that we shouldn't go back and try to recruit that guy unless that guy wants us to continue to recruit him," Beamer said. "And if they say that, I think you've got to continue to recruit him. That's my whole deal on the thing.
"[Ajiboye] committed to South Carolina and then he was scheduled to visit here the next weekend. He wanted to keep the visit and he got here and liked it. His high school coach came with him, so it was just one of those deals where he wanted us to continue to recruit him."
On the contrary, Beamer said he considered Hannah's recruitment a closed deal last year.
"In my understanding at the time, [Hannah] wasn't asking them to keep recruiting him," Beamer said. "Now the more that I know, he probably was asking them. And if he did, that was fine ... South Carolina was in the right and I don't have a problem.
"I didn't know that at the time last year. As long as everybody knows it's OK that you made a reservation at one place, but 'I'm going to continue to look around' ... if everybody understands it, that's the way it is."
Beamer has often said he thought it was wrong for schools "to try to get a kid to break his word" after committing to another school.
"I wish there was some way we could get this thing where we don't have all this changing about to be quite honest," said Beamer, who would heavily endorse an early signing period for recruits. "I just don't think it's good overall for college football. But that's the way the game is."
The Hokies did lose one recruit who reneged on a commitment. Defensive end Budd Thacker orally committed to Tech in November, but changed his mind and signed with Florida State on Wednesday.
INTERESTING SPRING: In addition to the scramble at quarterback to find Marcus Vick's successor, Beamer will be keeping a close eye on his tailback spot in spring drills.
Danville's Kenny Lewis, who has been in the Cincinnati Reds' baseball organization the past few years, will get a good look at the position, Beamer said. Lewis enrolled at Tech last month and will get a lot of work with lead back Branden Ore sitting out spring practice after undergoing shoulder surgery.
"We're looking forward to seeing his speed in spring practice ... we're going to give him a chance," said Beamer of Lewis, whose father of the same name was a standout back at Tech in the late 1970s.
"We thought he was a good back coming out of high school. The kid has speed, his dad was a good back and had a lot of records, and I think he's going to be a good back. Between him and Elan Lewis and George Bell and Branden Ore, I think we've got some good tailbacks."
Beamer said he and running backs coach Billy Hite are entertaining the idea of taking a peek at Macho Harris and Jahre Cheeseman at the position. Both cornerbacks played some tailback in high school.
"They were pretty good tailbacks in high school, too, so we may have some guys working both sides there a little bit," Beamer noted.
WORKING NEW JERSEY: Before leaving his position as Tech quarterbacks in early January coach to take a similar post with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, Kevin Rogers did yeoman duty on the recruiting trail in his native New Jersey.
The Hokies landed three of the top 12 recruits in the Garden State, according to rivals.com. The trio includes: defensive end Jason Adjepong, the state's No. 4-rated recruit; No. 10 defensive end Mike Gee; and No. 12 Zach Luckett, a 6-foot-3 wide receiver.
"Kevin is from New Jersey and had some contacts up there. He got in there and got in on some great players," Beamer said. "When he left we were able to hang onto those guys.
"I think it goes back to name recognition and that Virginia Tech is better known now that it was a few years back."
THE NAME GAME: Unlike many folks, Beamer doesn't seem to have a lot of problem with properly pronouncing the names of recruits Adjepong (ADD-juh-pong) and Ajiboye (ADD-jih-boy).
"I've practiced up," said Beamer, laughing during his Wednesday recruiting teleconference with reporters.
"I think they're pretty good players and when they're pretty good players, I learn their name."
