Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Almost any way you look at it, Tech outrecruited Virginia this year, and it has been awhile since the Hokies could say that.
Oh, you might not get Virginia to admit it. The Cavaliers can be a little bit smug sometimes. It wasn't a horrible year for UVa, particularly if most of its committed players qualify, but the Hokies never have looked stronger during the Frank Beamer era (1987-94).
That was apparent when running back Ken Oxendine and quarterback-safety Tony Morrison, both rated among the top five prospects in the state by the Roanoke Times & World-News, picked Tech over UVa. You have to go back to 1978 to find the last year Tech signed two Top 5 players (Cyrus Lawrence and Johnnie Edmunds).
"This is the best class I've been associated with," said Billy Hite, a 16-year Tech assistant coach.
From 1986-88, Tech did not get a single visit from a Top 5 player. This year, the Hokies entertained three and thought they had a good shot at the Group AA player of the year, Jefferson Forest's Anthony Poindexter, before he committed to UVa.
Tech signed seven players rated among the Roanoke Times & World-News Top 25, the same number as last year and one fewer than 1991, but this year there was a difference - the signees came from the top of the list instead of Nos. 15-25.
It was a tribute to the Tech staff and Beamer, who not only gave the Hokies a major selling point with a 9-3 season, but spent two weeks on the road in December and still managed to prepare the Hokies for the Independence Bowl, in which they smashed Indiana 45-20.
UVa coach George Welsh said he intended to spend a week on the road in December but couldn't because he had to attend a Carquest Bowl news conference, a lame excuse if there ever was one.
After the Cavaliers had lost four of their last six games, including their fourth consecutive bowl setback, Welsh said the staff would have to work harder, presumably arriving at 5 a.m. instead of 6 to watch film and meet. Yo, George. It's not about hours. It's about players.
Welsh's approach might have worked in the late 1980s, when North Carolina was 1-10 in back-to-back seasons and Tech went 5-17 in Beamer's first two years, but both of those programs are on the rise and UVa can't afford to spot them a month in recruiting.
Why, Tech even has two of Welsh's former assistants, defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian and new offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill. Elmassian, incidentally, signed Oxendine and Morrison.
The addition of Ferguson High School quarterback Aaron Brooks, who signed Thursday, gave Virginia two players among the Top 5 and seven from the Top 25. Five other UVa recruits were rated among the top 25 prospects in North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland, but only 11 of 18 had met NCAA academic standards at the time they committed.
Don't think that has escaped the notice of UVa's rivals, eager to make light of the Cavaliers' age-old pride in academics. On the other hand, Virginia's staff has been irritated by the loss of two top prospects after it was unable to get a straight answer from its admissions office.
Of Tech's 17 signees, two remain shy of the required score on the Scholastic Assessment Test. Not only have the Hokies signed more qualifiers, but Tech won a majority of its head-to-head battles with UVa and did a better job of filling its needs.
The name to put on the marquee was Oxendine, who not only gives the Hokies the heir apparent to 1,000-yard rusher Dwayne Thomas, but whose loss leaves UVa with only two scholarship tailbacks heading into the 1994 season.
In state recruiting, the long-awaited year of the quarterback turned out to be a bust. Morrison, the first-team All-Group AAA quarterback, is viewed foremost as a defensive prospect. Craig Akins, the first-team All-Group AA quarterback, has no definite offers. Opinion is divided on Brooks and North Carolina signee Toney Coles, and UVa recruit Shannon Taylor of Patrick Henry High School is just hoping to qualify.
In the final analysis, Oxendine and Poindexter may be the only impact recruits in the state, and their impact probably won't be immediate. Only two Virginia players signed with Division I-A programs not in the ACC or Big East - and one of those (Penn State-bound David Van Dyke) missed the season with an injury.
Doug Doughty has covered recruiting for the Roanoke Times & World-News since 1983.
by CNB