Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201160067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
LINEMAN COMMITS TO TECH
If T.J. Washington does not gain a pound between now and the time he enters Virginia Tech in the fall, he might be the biggest man ever to play football for the Hokies.Washington, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound tackle from Nandua High on the Eastern Shore, announced Wednesday that he has made an oral commitment to the Hokies.
Washington, rated one of the top 25 prospects in Virginia by the Roanoke Times & World-News, took visits to Tech, Rutgers and Wake Forest. He canceled scheduled trips to East Carolina and North Carolina.
"Virginia Tech was my first visit [in early December] and, to be honest, I knew then where I wanted to go," Washington said. "There was a spark there. You could say it was magic.
"I liked the idea of a brand-new conference [the Big East] with the co-national champion [Miami]. I think I still would have gone if Tech was an independent, but that was the hook, line and sinker."
Washington's host was Tech offensive guard William Boatwright, who played for Washington's father, Tony, at Northampton High in Eastville. Tony Washington was the line coach at Northampton before moving to Nandua as line coach.
Tony Washington was 6-5 and 330 pounds when he played at Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, N.C. A younger son, Todd, played for Nandua this year as a sophomore at 6-4 and 296 pounds.
"We only eat three meals a day," T.J. Washington said, "but we eat a lot at each setting. My mother feeds us well."
The Hokies are projecting Washington as a defensive tackle, although he played both offense and defense in high school. He has lifted 300 pounds in the bench press, 525 in the squat and 715 in the dead lift, and can run 40 yards in 5.0 seconds.
"My weight is up because I've been lifting weights," he said, "but I've been trained for endurance. I think I can play at 315."
\ Tech received a commitment earlier Wednesday from Bill Conaty, a 6-3, 275-pound center from Pennsauken, N.J., who spent the first semester at Milford (Conn.) Academy. Conaty will enroll at Tech on Monday.
Conaty scored 1,070 on the SAT in high school, but went to prep school to improve his grade-point average. He cited Tech's affiliation with the Big East as one reason he picked the Hokies over Tulane.
\ Virginia got its ninth commitment when Ken Buczynski, a 6-4, 250-pound offensive tackle from Wyomissing, Pa., picked the Cavaliers after also taking visits to Syracuse, Boston College and Rutgers.
Buczynski, who has a 94 grade average and scored 1,300 on the SAT, was named lineman of the year in the 15-school Lancaster-Lebanon League.
\ When asked last week to name the top five prospects in the state, coaches or recruiting coordinators from three schools all mentioned the same three players: running back Lamonte Still from Cox High in Virginia Beach, running back Tony DeSue from Kempsville High in Virginia Beach and defensive back Percy Ellsworth from Southampton in Courtland.
Unlike the other two, Ellsworth was not selected one of the top five prospects in the state by the Roanoke Times & World-News, but he has become the object of the state's most intense recruiting battle - between North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Syracuse.
What makes Ellsworth so attractive is his athletic ability and his recruitability. He not only scored over 1,000 on the SAT, but he has not indicated a preference for any school. His cousin, Steve, played wide receiver for Virginia Tech but that will not enter into his decision.
Ellsworth admits he could be influenced by an opportunity to play basketball in college. According to one Division I assistant, Ellsworth could play basketball for any of the teams that are recruiting him for football. He was averaging 31 points after nine games and shooting nearly 50 percent on 3-pointers.
\ Florida football coach Steve Spurrier and North Carolina coach Mack Brown, one-time ACC rivals, were reunited this past weekend at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, where Spurrier was head coach and Brown an assistant with the East team.
When Spurrier was in his last year at Duke in 1989, the Blue Devils had their team picture taken under the scoreboard at Carolina's Kenan Stadium after a 41-0 romp over the Tar Heels. The Carolina players didn't forget and taunted their Duke counterparts after whipping the Blue Devils 47-14 in Chapel Hill, N.C., this year.
\ Lorenzo Carpenter, junior center for VMI's basketball team, was named third-team Division I-AA All-American by Don Hansen's Football Gazette, a non-Division I-A newsletter. Carpenter earlier was named second-team All-American by the Associated Press, all-Southern Conference and first-team all-state by the Roanoke Times & World-News.
\ Lakista McCuller, starting for the North Carolina State men's basketball team as a freshman, has been declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. McCuller's suspension was so sudden that he was introduced among the Wolfpack starters while sitting on the bench in streetclothes.
\ Ali Colgrove, a second-team All-Group AAA choice last year at Cave Spring, started four of the first eight games for Coastal Carolina's women's basketball team and was averaging 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 17, 1992.
Lorenzo Carpenter is the center for VMI's football team, not basketball as reported in Thursday's editions.
Memo: CORRECTION