Sunday, December 17, 2006
Hill should be thrill for Hokies
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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Virginia Tech continues to have everything covered when it comes to cornerbacks.
A program that has produced the likes of NFL corners such as DeAngelo Hall, Jimmy Williams and Eric Green the past three years, welcomed another projected gem to its secondary Thursday when Richmond's Cris Hill verbally committed to the Hokies.
How good is Hill? Unless everybody is wrong, this guy is the definite goods. His list of offers included the current top three teams in the nation -- Ohio State, Florida and Michigan -- plus such heavyweights as Louisville, West Virginia and Tennessee.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Hill and his blazing speed will join forces with former Highland Springs Hill teammate Victor "Macho" Harris at Tech. Harris, a Parade All-American as a high school senior, turned down such powerhouses as Michigan, Southern California and Miami two years ago in choosing Tech. Harris hasn't disappointed, starting every game this season at field corner as a sophomore.
Throw in fellow sophomore Brandon Flowers, a first-team All-ACC choice and third-team Associated Press All-American this season at boundary corner, and the Hokies will enjoy the luxury of having one of the best -- if not the best -- corner combos in the nation next fall.
Hill got a laugh Thursday night when asked if his old pal, Harris, should be a bit worried about his starting job with him coming to Blacksburg.
"I don't know ... he might! said Hill, giggling.
Highland Springs coach Scott Burton said Hill is "farther along" as a corner than Harris was coming out of high school in 2005.
"Not only is he faster, I think Cris can be a better player than Macho," Burton said. "I would say the same thing for C.J. Fleming," the Springers' other corner who recently committed to Tennessee.
"Macho was mainly an offensive guy for us, so when he left Highland Springs he wasn't as polished as these guys were at cornerback ... he wasn't as far along as these guys were in their technique."
Burton knows what it takes to play in the defensive secondary. He was a standout college safety at Richmond.
"Cris has developed faster than any player I've ever coached," Burton said. "His work ethic and his consistency of play are just so good and have gotten him to the point where I think the sky is the limit for Cris. His future is really unlimited. He's an exceptional player now whose best days are ahead of him. I think he's going to make a name for himself at Virginia Tech."
As good as player as Hill is, Burton said he has great character.
"He is a first-class kid who comes from a first-class family," Burton said. "I know his father and mother really well and they're first-class parents. He's has great character. Nobody is going to have to worry about Cris Hill, believe me."
As solid as he was on defense for the Springers this season, Hill wasn't too shabby on offense, either. He caught 25 passes for 500 yards and seven touchdowns as a wide receiver, and was named the Captial District's offensive player of the year.
While he has the understanding that he's coming to Tech as a true corner, Hill doesn't rule out the possibility that he could wind up playing some wideout at Tech. The Hokies will lose four experienced wideouts -- Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Justin Harper and Josh Hyman -- after next season to graduation. Flowers and Harris will both in their seniors seasons in 2008, a situation that could lead Hill to seeing action on both sides of the ball.
"There was some talk about playing offense, too," said Hill, the latest in a long line of big recruiting catches reeled in by wily Hokies assistant coach Jim Cavanaugh.
Hill, though, concedes that life on the island of cornerback is his preferred place of residence. He loves playing defense. He said there's better place to play defense than in Blacksburg.
Barring a total meltdown against Georgia in the Dec. 30 Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Bud Foster's defense will wind up the season as the nation's No. 1 defense in total yards allowed. It would mark the second straight season that Tech has led the country in total defense. The last team to turn the trick was Oklahoma in 1986-87.
"I like the way they fly around on defense," Hill said. "They're so aggressive, so enthusiastic, having so much fun out there. And I like that lunch pail they have up there, too. Maybe I can get my hands on that thing one day."
Hill said he has been a longtime Tech fan since he started watching the Hokies a lot on television in the Michael Vick era in the late 1990s. He's watched the program become stronger on the national front and become one of the most-tapped feeder colleges for the NFL.
Besides Hall and Williams, who were both college All-Americans, and Green, Tech has had nine other secondary players drafted by the NFL in the past 10 years. Vincent Fuller, Justin Hamilton, Kevin McCadam, Pierson Prioleau and undrafted Ronyell Whitaker join the aforementioned trio as current active members of NFL rosters.
"They've sent a lot of guys to the NFL," said Hill, whose future position coach, Torrian Gray, was among the bunch. "I saw that and that was certainly impressive. Now I just want to become part of that tradition."
The fact that Tech was only a 3.5-hour drive from Richmond also played heavily in Hill's decision.
"Tech is far enough away home, it's not too close," Hill said. "At the same time, it's close enough where my family can come and watch me play."
It has the makings of some show.
