Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210197
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Moments later, Dunnigan, a two-way lineman who helped lead Pulaski County to back-to-back appearances in the Group AAA Division 6 state championship game, announced that he will sign a letter of intent with West Virginia.
"West Virginia is the best place for me to be," Dunnigan said during a news conference Thursday at the high school.
Dunnigan, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound tackle, was the defensive player of the year in Timesland and one of Virginia's top 25 college prospects according to the Roanoke Times & World-News. He was a first-team All-Group AAA defensive lineman.
During Dunnigan's junior year, the Cougars won the state title. They carried a 13-0 record into the 1993 final before losing to Annandale.
Dunnigan, who has been timed in 5.0 seconds for the 40-yard dash, probably will play on offense at West Virginia. Hicks said he was told by the Mountaineers' coaching staff that Dunnigan would play either guard or center.
"Randy's strongest asset is his ability to run," said Hicks, who asked Dunnigan to do a lot of pull-blocking in the Cougars' Wing T offense.
"He has good feet. In an I formation, he'll be able to drive-block and pass-protect," said Hicks, who played at West Virginia in the 1960s.
Dunnigan, who was recruited by Mountaineers assistant Steve Dunlap, took an official visit to West Virginia this month and made his decision after returning from a visit to Wake Forest. He canceled visits to Virginia and Penn State. He also was recruited by Clemson.
Dunnigan breaks a string of Pulaski County players who have gone on to Virginia Tech in recent years. Todd Grantham, Billy Myers, Chris Kinzer and Mickey Thomas signed with Tech after stellar careers with the Cougars, and Grantham went on to become an assistant coach with the Hokies.
After showing some early interest, Tech did not actively recruit Dunnigan.
"In the Big East, you get to play some of the best teams up and down the East Coast," Dunnigan said. "I'm really looking forward to playing Tech."
The Mountaineers, who won their first 11 games in 1993, had slim hopes of winning the national championship before losing 41-7 to Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
"It suits me a lot to play for a team that played for the national championship," Dunnigan said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.