Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993 TAG: 9304250227
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The only state players who are certain to be drafted come from Virginia, not counting West Virginia center Mike Compton, who is from Richlands.
UVa has had three first-round selections in the past four years - and four in the past seven - but most analysts predict that the Cavaliers' best draft prospects, running back Terry Kirby and outside linebacker Chris Slade, won't go higher than the second round.
Nevertheless, draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. continues to tout them. Kiper ranked Slade as the No. 1 outside linebacker and Kirby as the No. 2 running back Thursday night on ESPN.
Another analyst, Joel Buchsbaum, had Slade seventh on his list of outside linebackers.
"Kiper had some really nice things to say about me and had me going in the fourth round," said David Ware, a UVa offensive tackle from Roanoke. "Buchsbaum was kind of nasty but he projected me as a third-round pick.
"All the agents were sending me the Kiper book. I found Buchsbaum's ratings lying around the weight room."
Hampton University wide receiver Terrence Warren shows up on several lists of prospects, but the non-UVa player with the best chance of being drafted is Virginia Tech running back Vaughn Hebron.
A pair of Tech juniors, center Jim Pyne and cornerback Tyronne Drakeford, are viewed as potential first-round picks in 1994.
Hebron finished as the No. 6 rusher in Tech history with 2,327 yards and set a record for receptions by a running back with 60. But that didn't matter when he was clocked in 4.78 seconds for 40 yards at the National Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
"With Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Jones, Al Davis and all those types [watching], I reverted back to football - came straight up, did a lot of things wrong," said Hebron, who subsequently went to Tech's track coaches for some sprinting tips. "By the time they came [to Tech], I had a lot more technique."
The scouts had to be checking their watches when Hebron consistently ran under 4.6 in workouts in Blacksburg.
"I think he's got good enough speed," Tech coach Frank Beamer said Friday, "but Vaughn's main asset is his quickness. Scouting is such a `stat' business that a lot of teams, when they saw those [early] times, may have marked him off their lists."
Tech assistant Billy Hite said Hebron is "the best running back I've coached - running, blocking and catching." Hebron played in 36 of 44 games in his Tech career, having been plagued by chronic ankle problems and assorted pulled muscles.
Two of Tech's other top seniors, wide receiver-return man Bo Campbell and defensive tackle Jerome Preston, have injuries in their past. Preston had reconstructive surgery after a knee injury in 1991 and Campbell missed part of his senior year with an elbow injury.
"I think they would have been drafted if not for the injuries," said Beamer's administrative assistant, John Ballein, who deals with the pro scouts.
The draft has been reduced from 12 to eight rounds, which means a lot of players who would have been drafted in past years will not be drafted this time. The first four rounds will be held today.
A fourth Virginia player who could go as early as the first day is Greg Jeffries, a two-year starter at cornerback. Jeffries does not have great size (5-9, 184 pounds) but is one of the fastest players on the UVa team.
The 10th selection in the past two drafts has come from the Cavaliers - wide receiver Herman Moore by Detroit in 1991, and offensive tackle Ray Roberts by Seattle last year - but Virginia received a not-so-pleasant surprise in 1990 when ACC player of the year Shawn Moore went in the 11th round.
"I've wondered what goes into [the draft process]," UVa coach George Welsh said. "It's not just Shawn Moore. It's a lot of things, but they don't ask for my opinion and I don't give it."
Said Ware: "I remember when [UVa's] Jeff Lageman was picked in the first round [in 1989] and Mel Kiper just about had a baby. He didn't have him going till the third round."
The Virginia players, when asked to guess their destination, point to former Cavaliers' cornerback Tony Covington, who never heard from Tampa Bay until the Buccaneers selected him in the fourth round in 1990.
Slade, who visited Pittsburgh last weekend and met with the Steelers' staff, said he was asked too many questions to think the trip was strictly a formality. Kirby said he would like to play on the East Coast but otherwise has no preferences and might not even watch the draft.
"You can believe that if you want," said Slade, likely to be separated from Kirby for the first time since their sandlot days. "Something tells me he's going to know what's going on."
by CNB