Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
UVa coach Jeff Jones said he would have no comment until the end of the period, Nov. 17, but Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith said Warriors' guard Curtis Staples from Roanoke had signed with the Cavaliers, as expected.
A letter-of-intent also was on the way to UVa from 7-foot-3 Chase Metheney, who committed to the Cavaliers two weeks ago. Metheney goes to Charlotte (N.C.) Latin School.
Mark Byington from Salem and Reggie Reynolds from William Fleming in Roanoke signed letters-of-intent with North Carolina-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina, respectively.
Area players who had made oral commitments to Division I women's programs were Lynette Nolley of Floyd with Virginia Tech, Rebecca McNeil of Christiansburg with Radford, Mary Thorn of Blacksburg with East Carolina and Jenny Gates of Lord Botetourt with William and Mary.
Radford had men's commitments from 6-7 Kevin Robinson from Monacan and 6-9 Eric Parker from Decatur, Ga.
Virginia Tech men's coach coach Bill Foster said Wednesday it is possible that the Hokies will sign one or two players during the early period, "but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't sign anybody," he said.
Tech has four scholarships available this season, but with no juniors in the program, any signee this year will affect the number of grants Tech can give in 1994-95.
The two players who have taken official recruiting visits to Tech are 6-9 Eriq Mason from Pinkston High in Dallas and 6-9 Ryan Stack of Cheatham County High School in Ashland City, Tenn. Stack, who became acquainted with new South Carolina coach Eddie Fogler and his staff when they were at Vanderbilt, committed to the Gamecocks last week.
This weekend, Tech will entertain Myron Guillory, a 6-2 point guard from Barbee High School in Lake Charles, La. Guillory is said to be considering Penn State, New Orleans, Lamar and Northeast Oklahoma.
"We're looking for a guard and an inside player," Foster said. "We really need more of a point guard than an inside player because we lose [combination guard] Jay Purcell. That's a lot of minutes."
Virginia, which is prepared to give all four of its available scholarship, is awaiting word on 6-8 Norman Nolan from Dunbar High School in Baltimore, 6-7 Rob Hodgson from Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, N.Y., and 6-7 Mike Maddox from Mays High School in Atlanta, alma mater of UVa football players Symmion Willis and Bobby Neely.
Nolan reportedly has told friends that he will announce Monday that he is signing with Virginia. Georgia Tech furnishes the Cavaliers' chief opposition for Nolan and Maddox, who will visit Charlottesville this weekend.
Hodgson, whose uncle, Marty, lives in Roanoke, will announce either Friday or Monday from a group of schools that includes Indiana and Ohio State.
DeMarco Johnson, a 6-8 forward from Charlotte who had drawn the attention of UVa and Tech, signed a letter-of-intent with UNC Charlotte. Johnson, spending a postgraduate year at Fork Union Military Academy, was MVP of the AAU 19-under nationals last year.
Johnson was unable to take official recruiting visits to Tech and UVa because he had not met NCAA requirements of a 700 on the Scholastic Assessment Test. That is a new rule this year.
Another Tech target, point guard Jason Williams, committed to Providence even though he had not made the test score.
"I still think there will be more players available in the spring because of the new rule," Foster said. "Those unofficial visits can get kind of sticky."
Previously uncommitted players who signed Wednesday with Division I programs included 5-11 Randy Dodson from Herndon High School, who will play at East Tennessee State. Dodson averaged 21.7 points and 4.3 assists as a junior, when he made more than three 3-pointers per game.
"It was not between East Tennessee and another school; it was between East Tennessee and signing late," said Herndon coach Gary Hall, who feels Dodson was under-recruited.
Liberty signed 6-7, 215-pound Darnell Johnson from Harding Academy in Memphis, Tenn.
by CNB