ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997                TAG: 9701060129
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER

QB AT HOME WITH HOKIES

GRANT NOEL grew up in West Virginia's back yard, but he was born in Low Moor and always wanted to play for Tech.

West Virginia was closer to his home. Virginia Tech was closer to his heart.

That's why Grant Noel, who recently completed his junior season at Frankfort (W.Va.) High School, has given the Hokies one of their earliest football commitments in memory.

Noel, a 6-foot-3, 208-pound quarterback, passed for 13 touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards this past season in leading Frankfort to a 10-0 record for the second year in a row.

``I've been going to Tech for games since I was 10 or 11,'' said Noel, who has relatives throughout the Southwest Virginia area and has attended the Hokies' football camp each of the past two summers.

``I wanted to commit early so I could get it over with,'' he said. ``Tech is where I've always wanted to go.''

Noel was born in Low Moor and lived in Alleghany County until he was 6, when his father, David, was transferred to Cumberland, Md., by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

The family lives in Ridgeley, W.Va., just over an hour's drive from Morgantown, W.Va., and West Virginia University.

It's nearly a 4 1/2-hour drive to Tech, but Noel (pronounced NOLE) has grown accustomed to traveling to Alleghany County and spending the night before completing the trip to Tech.

He has a grandfather in Clifton Forge, another set of grandparents in Low Moor, an uncle in Low Moor, an aunt and uncle in Fincastle and an aunt in Roanoke.

``We were kind of shocked to hear he had committed this early,'' said Greg Phillips, Frankfort's coach. ``There were a lot of schools interested in him and he would have had some other opportunities, but this really takes the pressure off of him.

``He's a strong thrower who has excellent speed and can run well. We had a real good running game and poor Grant wasn't able to throw the ball very much, but he's very accurate. He had only three interceptions.''

There are no quarterbacks among the 16 players who have committed to Tech this year and Al Clark, the back-up to senior Jim Druckenmiller this year, will be a senior when Noel arrives in 1998.

LENGTH: Short :   50 lines