
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993                   TAG: 9306150057
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

PRESTON MAKES MOVE FOR HOKIES

TO P.J. PRESTON, football once meant playing receiver. Virginia Tech coaches had other uses for his athletic skills. The Hokies have benefited - and they hope to benefit more this fall. \

"I really wasn't defensive-minded," P.J. Preston says, recalling his arrival four years ago at Virginia Tech. "I think I'm changing."

Yes. Literally. Preston, a Martinsville native who went to Tech as a wide receiver, worked at tight end, then played three years at outside linebacker, then spent his fourth spring practice at strong or free safety, will play defensive end as a senior.

Got it?

"I thought I'd be a receiver, catching touchdown passes," said Preston, who did that 32 times at Martinsville High School. "I'm the last person in the world to ever think I'd be playing defense."

Not only defense, but a 6-foot-2, 221-pound down lineman for a team under pressure to win this fall. It might be an unusual move, but it wasn't rash. Preston is among Tech's best athletes and has dominated games as a defender, but he admitted the change from linebacker to safety was "overwhelming."

He and defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian wondered what to do: Move him back to linebacker, or somewhere else.

"We were fighting time back there as much as anything else," Elmassian said of the secondary. "We went back [to films from] two years ago to study his assets and liabilities. The most productivity came when he was coming off the corner."

Preston has speed (4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash), weight-room strength (350-pound bench press) and athleticism (team-best 39-inch vertical leap), and he said defensive end in the 4-3 scheme is a lot like outside linebacker in the shelved wide-tackle six. He was qualified, but not accepting - at first.

Then, Elmassian suggested Preston watch the 1992 Rose Bowl film of Washington Huskies strong-side linebacker Donald Jones, a similar player in a similar scheme.

"It sold me," said Preston, who also discussed the move with his father, Louis. "He ended up having [three] sacks. I feel like I have just as much talent."

The Hokies are gambling that this move helps a Tech defense that often was the goat in a 2-8-1 season last year. Preston displaces Hank Coleman at left defensive end; Bernard Basham and J.C. Price are at the other end. Elmassian said Stacy Henley moved from cornerback to strong safety and was "unbelievable" during the spring; freshman Antonio Banks, he said, will work at free safety in the fall.

Preston still wonders how playing end will affect his pro prospects. Some observers think he'll be switched to the secondary by an NFL team; the adjustment might be tougher after playing on the line of scrimmage for a year.

"He's very unselfish, going into his senior year, to do these things," Elmassian said.

Said Preston: "A lot of people have their opinions: `That's messing you up for the pros.' The pros know what I can do. Playing all those positions, they know I can play anywhere. My play will dictate whether I go to the pros."

by CNB