Brandon Lee Set To Announce

Brandon Lee 's birthday is Friday, November 8, and he plans on celebrating in style by making his college commitment. The 6'3", 215-pound senior linebacker, a product of Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis (IN), plans to announce his decision at 4 p.m. EST.

Virginia Tech is one of four finalists, joining California, Louisville, and Missouri. Lee took an official visit to Virginia Tech the weekend of the Duke game, and last weekend he took an official to Missouri. He has visited Cal (officially) and Louisville (unofficially) as well.

Tech has not yet landed a true linebacker in this class, but the Hokies are very much in contention with some top prospects. They are...

- Lee, who announces Friday. Only school I would be surprised to be the pick would be Cal.

- Gilman (Baltimore, MD) product Melvin Keihn , who is down to Tech, Maryland, Miami, Penn State and UVa. He has taken officials to UVa and Maryland and is scheduled to go to Blacksburg on an official the weekend of November 15-17. Tech appears to be the favorite here.

- Benedictine (Richmond, VA) star Raymon Minor has been high on Virginia Tech from the start. Hasn't come right out and named a clear favorite recently, but most (including me) feel he is a solid Tech lean. Minor has visited Blacksburg numerous times but says he wants to take official visits before committing.

- Jay Payton , a postgraduate currently at Atlanta Sports Academy (Atlanta, GA), is a heavy Tech lean. He has not received an offer from the Hokies as of yet, but he is scheduled to take an official to Blacksburg the weekend of November 15-17. If he gets an offer, look for him to quickly accept.


Donovan Dowling Lands First BCS Offer

Varina (VA) wide receiver/cornerback/returner/punter Donovan Dowling has turned in an excellent senior campaign. Just recently, the 6'1", 200-pound prospect was named Capital District Offensive Player of the Year and selected first-team all-district at receiver, defensive back, utility, and punter.

Marshall was Dowling's biggest offer by the end of October, with Delaware, Hampton, James Madison, Richmond and William & Mary coming through as well. On Tuesday of this week, though, the Blue Devil star scored an offer from the University of Virginia.

Boston College and Virginia Tech are among the other BCS schools aware of Dowling, who is excited about the Virginia offer but is also very much interested in Virginia Tech according to our sources. I asked Donovan, who also goes by "Doni," where he stands with his recruitment.

"I'm unsure right now. I don’t really know what I'm looking for. I'm not sure where I'm going to go," Dowling said. "The Virginia offer is great. We'll see what happens. A couple of weeks ago I went to Virginia Tech. I got to meet the staff and things like that. I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now."

Our sources indicate that Tech does not have room for Dowling at this point. If the Hokies miss on some guys, perhaps a spot opens up, or maybe the staff looks at a gray-shirt opportunity. We'll see. Dowling did see there is a "strong possibility" he would be in Charlottesville later this month for the Virginia/Virginia Tech game.

Three former Blue Devils -- sophomore CB Maurice Canady, freshman DT Tyrell Chavis, and freshman CB Tim Harris -- play for the Cavaliers.

FUMA vs Atlanta Sports Academy

Fork Union Military Academy's (VA) postgraduate squad hosts Atlanta Sports Academy (Atlanta, GA) Friday at 1:30 p.m. TSL will be in attendance and the plan is to catch up with all three of Tech's FUMA recruits -- safety Holland Fisher , corner Cequan Jefferson , and running back DJ Reid -- as well as aforementioned Tech target Jay Payton for updates.

FUMA is 5-2 on the year. Fisher, an Under Armour All-American out of Manchester (Midlothian, VA), is serving as one of the four team captains, perhaps not a bad sign as he aims for January enrollment at Tech.

Stay tuned for a full report on this game over the weekend. I'll also be tweeting any news from the game from @ChrisHorneSW.

Notes

- Check out senior season highlights of Virginia Tech offensive line commit Billy Ray Mitchell by clicking here. Mitchell, a likely interior lineman at Tech, is a product of Paramus Catholic (Paramus, N.J.) and one of five offensive line prospects to commit to Tech's class of 2014.

- Dan River (Ringgold, VA) junior Tremaine Edmunds scored an offer from Maryland earlier this week. The 6'4", 215-pound tight end/outside linebacker previously had received offers from Cincinnati, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Edmunds' father, Ferrell, starred at Maryland before moving on to a successful NFL career. His oldest brother Trey is of course a red-shirt freshman running back at Virginia Tech, while older brother Terrell is a senior at Dan River. Terrell has verbally committed to Virginia Tech.