Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 29, 1995 TAG: 9506290063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A third Tech signee, All-Richmond Metro selection Ricky Hall from Thomas Dale High School in Chester, intends to enroll at Butler County (Kan.) Community College. Butler is the alma mater of 1995 Tech signees Greg Melvin and Myron Newsome.
McGirt, a quarterback from Patterson High School in Baltimore, and Rice, a wide receiver and defensive back from Macedonia, S.C., were players Tech started to pursue when scholarships became available at the end of the first semester.
McGirt passed or ran for 25 touchdowns as a senior, when he both passed and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Rice had 41 receptions for 641 yards and 10 touchdowns, although he may play in the secondary in college.
McGirt, who had a score of 820 on the Scholastic Assessment Test, was one of many prospects confused by a re-centering that raised the minimum requirement from 700 to 820 starting with the April SAT.
``I made 740 on the April test and I was really excited,'' McGirt said Wednesday. ``I called down to Tech to tell them I had made it and they told me, `No, you didn't.' Then, I made 790 on the May test and thought I had missed it.
``The thing is, they have this conversion chart. My 280 on the verbal test in December converted to a 360 on the new scale. When you added that to the 460 I had in math in May, that gave me exactly 820. But, I didn't know it. So, I took the test again in June even though I didn't have to.''
McGirt was viewed as a professional baseball prospect, which is why some schools were reluctant to make a big investment in recruiting him. ``I heard rumors I would be drafted [for baseball],'' he said, ``but my coaches told everybody that I wanted to go to college.''
CAVS WORRIED: One of Virginia's top football signees, defensive tackle Mo Anderson, entered school at mid-year and was able to practice in the spring, but that arrangement may have backfired on the Cavaliers. Anderson had academic problems in the spring, when scheduling is more difficult, and could be ineligible.
WHITAKER HURT: UVa basketball signee Melvin Whitaker, a 6-foot-10 center from Oak Hill Academy, underwent surgery after breaking one of his elbows in two places in a pick-up game. Whitaker might be playing again within a month but still has not learned if he will be at UVa.
Whitaker is awaiting results from the American College Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which he took on back-to-back weekends in early June. If Whitaker does not make the required scores, provisions already have been made for him to attend Hargrave Military Academy.
Oak Hill coach Steve Smith will have at least four Division I prospects in his senior class, of which the most prominent nationally are 6-7 Steve Jackson from Port Arthur, Texas, and 6-2 point guard Johnny Carson from Springfield, Ohio.
Next year's Oak Hill roster will include two other future collegians in 6-7 Richard Carter from Richmond and 6-4 Dee Tolliver from Raleigh, N.C., both entering their junior year. Smith also has heard from representatives of two 6-11 players, one from Siberia and another from Lithuania.
LOCAL UPDATE: Tony Joyce, leader of Roanoke Catholic's 13-0 state championship football team, has made an oral commitment to Hampden-Sydney. Joyce, an all-state quarterback and All-Timesland defensive back for the Celtics, could play wide receiver and return kicks in college.
All-state Celtics' tight end Bill Massello is going to Randolph-Macon and defensive end P.L. Bratton is bound for Virginia Union. Fullback Cameron Blont will try to walk on at Alabama and 1993 Catholic graduate Justin Thompson, a UVa sophomore, plans to try out for the Cavaliers' football team.
Amy Pitts, a standout in the hurdles and jumps for Salem High School, has accepted a scholarship to East Tennessee State. Pitts' father, Richard, is a former football and track coach at Glenvar. ... Bryan Monroe, a point guard on Salem's boys' basketball team, is headed to Emory & Henry.
SHELLENBERGER TO BE INDUCTED: Former Lynchburg College coach Bill Shellenberger will be inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y., on Sunday. This is the second Hall of Fame induction for Shellenberger. He entered the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in January.
Shellenberger compiled a 371-167-48 mark at Lynchburg during his 34-year coaching career. The Hornets won 32 postseason championships under Shellenberger, who retired after the 1988 season.
KEYDET CASHES: VMI junior Ryan Glynn, selected by Texas in the fourth round of the free-agent baseball draft, could sign as early as this week. Glynn had a team-high 14 home runs but it was his 95-mph fastball that attracted the attention of scouts.
Glynn is expected to receive a bonus in excess of $100,000 from the Rangers, who would pay for him to return to VMI for his senior year and would not require him to report to Hudson Valley of the New York-Penn League until he completes the first session of summer school.
In addition to their selection of Texas quarterback Shea Morenz in the first round of the draft, the New York Yankees selected Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell, a Heisman Trophy candidate who has pitched without great distinction for the Seminoles' baseball team.
Martinsville Phillies pitcher David Coggin is not the first Clemson quarterback recruit to pass up a college football scholarship for baseball. Rico Brogna of the New York Mets was a quarterback hopeful when he signed with the Tigers in the late 1980s.
MAROONS HOPEFUL: Brent Beever, a freshman lacrosse player at Roanoke College, remains in a coma almost a month after being injured in an auto accident in his hometown of Baltimore. There is some cause for optimism because Beever opened his eyes last week, Maroons coach Bill Pilat said.
by CNB