Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 20, 1993 TAG: 9301200187
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
JENNINGS CHOOSES HOKIES
The tight end from Jefferson Forest High School gives Virginia Tech a big catch in football recruiting.\ Bryan Jennings, the Group AA state football player of the year, on Tuesday became the first Parade All-American in almost 20 years to commit to Virginia Tech.
Jennings, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end, canceled trips to Virginia and Florida State after spending the weekend at Tech.
"It was everything I expected and more," Jennings said. "I knew about the campus before, but I hadn't spent a lot of time around the players."
Jennings averaged more than 30 yards every time he touched the ball, and he scored 11 touchdowns this past season in helping Jefferson Forest to a 13-1 record and the Division III state championship.
"He's probably got the quickness to move [to wide receiver], but he's everything you would want as a tight end," Jefferson Forest coach Bob Christmas said. "He has outstanding hands, but I think what he does best is run after he catches the ball."
Jennings, who has 4.6-second speed for 40 yards, had 19 receptions for 654 yards as a senior. He rushed nine times for 220 yards.
Jennings will take the Scholastic Aptitude Test on Saturday in hopes of making the same kind of improvement he did in November, when he reportedly raised his score within 50 points of the required 700.
"They've been with me through a lot," Jennings said in reference to the Hokies. "Some of the other schools stopped calling, but not Tech. If they can be there for me, I can be there for them."
It is believed that Jennings is Tech's first Parade All-American since nose guard Bill Houseright from Gate City in 1973.
Jennings is one of five players who have committed to Tech since the weekend, three of them tight ends. Two of the tight ends - Chris Ewald (6-6, 215) from Lake Braddock High School and Sean Sullivan from Olympic Heights High in Boca Raton, Fla. - were praised by their coaches for their blocking and have the frame to play the interior line.
Ewald, like Jennings, was rated one of the top 25 prospects in Virginia by the Roanoke Times & World-News. Ewald visited Richmond and canceled a trip to James Madison.
"Not to take anything away from his hands, but he's a maniacal blocker," Lake Braddock coach Francis Dall said. "His motor runs all the time."
Sullivan, a second-team all-state selection, picked Tech after visiting North Carolina State and Louisville. He canceled trips to Syracuse and Maryland.
"I think it came down to Tech and Syracuse," Olympic Heights coach Ray Buscemi said. "[At Tech] you don't get the cold weather, but you still have the excellent academics."
As expected, Tech also received a commitment from 5-11, 180-pound wide receiver Shawn Scales, who had 30 receptions this season for Fork Union Military Academy.
"Once he catches the underneath ball, he has an incredible knack for making people miss," Fork Union coach John Shuman said of Scales, a former running back at Woodbridge High School.
Also committing to the Hokies was Chris Andreadis, a 6-4, 285-pound offensive and defensive tackle from St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J. Andreadis, a preseason All-American in SuperPrep magazine, visited Tech and Minnesota and canceled a trip to Connecticut.
Andreadis was ranked among the top 20 prospects in New Jersey after the season, as was Quincey Holloway, a 6-2, 290-pound offensive lineman who committed to Virginia. Holloway, from Woodrow Wilson High in Camden, missed his senior year with a knee injury.
Roanoke Times & World-News Top 5 selection Mike Geter, a running back from Yorktown High in Arlington, is expected to make an oral commitment to North Carolina today.
The Cavaliers have 10 commitments and Tech has nine, not counting fullback Butch Jennings, a transfer from VMI by way of Central Virginia Community College. Jennings, who plans to join the Tech program as a walk-on and earn a scholarship, is Bryan Jennings' older brother.
"This is a dream come true," Bryan Jennings said. "We didn't even go to the same high school [Butch played at E.C. Glass], so this will be the first time we've been on the same team together."