Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993 TAG: 9309230015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Flimsy hope rather than expectation usually props up the offer, but occasionally the seller has reason to believe. Virginia Tech assistant football coach Todd Grantham said he thought the door might open again when he parted with high schooler Larry Green, who had committed to Georgia Tech last January.
Grantham was right.
"There was something about, `We couldn't bring you in until January, because you got [standardized test scores] kind of late,' " Green said of Georgia Tech. "My next move was, I was sitting around for a while, saying, `Aw, man, what am I gonna do?' Coach Grantham had said if anything goes wrong, call."
Green did. Grantham arranged a campus visit, and Green committed to Virginia Tech right after he returned home to Boynton Beach, Fla. Green, a high-school option quarterback who ran for 1,072 yards and 16 touchdowns and threw six scoring passes his senior year, may start at cornerback Saturday against Maryland.
Defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian declared Green the starter unless practice dictated otherwise. That seems unlikely, considering Green's performance last week after missing the first two games with a sprained ankle.
"He came back to practice last week and really played very well," Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "For anybody to do that, that's probably a pretty good statement about the kid."
No one is predicting yet that glory awaits Green in the defensive backfield, in part because he was recruited as a wide receiver both at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
However, he won a starting job in preseason practice, and the former high school sprinter and center fielder proved in his first game against Miami he has the speed to blitz from the corner. If he does become a star for Tech, he may brush away the chip some Hokies' fans tote on their shoulders when they hear Herman Moore's name.
Tech was about to sign Moore in 1987, but told him it couldn't guarantee him admission until he scored better than 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Virginia, however, told Moore it would take him regardless of test scores, and he became an All-American receiver for the Cavaliers. (Neither Tech nor Virginia accepts Proposition 48 non-qualifiers now, and Moore exceeded 700 on his first try, anyway.)
Georgia Tech recruiting coordinator Lance Thompson said the Yellow Jackets accepted Green's commitment contingent on him scoring 700 or better. When Green got his test scores back and had surpassed 700, Thompson said, Georgia Tech's scholarship numbers were squeezed and Green was told he might not be able to enroll in August.
Green said he knew a couple Georgia Tech players were on the verge of flunking out, which would have opened a spot for him, but didn't want to chance it.
"It kind of depends," Grantham said when asked if he thought the call-me-back line would come true. "If you see there's a little doubt, yeah. I could tell he was a guy that liked Georgia Tech, but he wasn't quite sure either."
As it turned out, Thompson said, scholarships were available - "but he didn't know that. Once he told us he was going to Virginia Tech. . ."
One Tech shrugged; another smiled.
"I hope he's liked Virginia Tech, because we've liked him ever since," Beamer said.
Not to worry, says Green.
"I think I made the right decision," he said. "Tech has treated me great, given me the chance to come here as a true freshman and play."
Both Beamer and Elmassian say Green's play relies as much on his head as on his athletic ability. The 5 foot 9, 170-pounder played cornerback at Port St. Lucie High School, but offense brought him honors and a scholarship.
Once he discovered there was a vacant cornerback position at Virginia Tech, he applied. Elmassian hasn't built the Green Bandwagon yet, but knows he has something to work with.
"He's a one-year person playing with two years of experience," Elmassian said. "He's a mature, intelligent youngster in terms of his presence."
Beamer, a former defensive back, said Green isn't one of those super athletes who will scorch your eyes running the 40-yard dash but dissolves when the ball is snapped.
"He's got very good closing ability, exceptionally quick feet and good toughness," Beamer said. "As much as anything, he's a very football-smart guy."
Green's first-game report card, Elmassian said, included "adequate" coverage techniques and one missed coverage. But Green tackled well, Elmassian said, odd for a player whose timing should have been affected by missing several weeks of practice.
Green doesn't seem concerned about time off.
"A lot of our defense is mental," he said. "You've got to know your assignments. Getting back into the rhythm, that's the hard part. I guess it just came easy. It wasn't really that hard."
Green had four tackles and a quarterback hurry against Miami. He played his first collegiate game in his home state against the nation's third-ranked team defending its 51-game home-field winning streak, but admitted to no jitters.
"Our practices are so intense and so hard, and [Elmassian] is a real get-after-it guy . . . I had been through it in practice," Green said. "I thought practice was harder than the game."
by CNB