GAINES' DECISION COMING TODAY
Nash Central (Rocky Mount, N.C.) senior defensive end Houshun Gaines will announce his college choice this afternoon at a press conference at his school. The 6’4”, 215-pound prospect revealed via Twitter that the announcement will come at 2 pm. The finalists are Florida, NC State and Virginia Tech, but at this point I expect the choice to come down to the Hokies and Wolfpack.
Virginia Tech defensive line coach Charley Wiles watched Nash Central in action last Friday. On Tuesday of this week, Gaines received a call from head coach Frank Beamer.
Great talking to the head honcho Coach Beamer today, always a pleasure. #GoHokies
— Houshun Gaines (@HZGduoUno) October 1, 2014
Did Coach Beamer close the deal? We’ll find out this afternoon.
CHECKING IN AT FORK UNION
Then a senior at Brunswick High School (Lawrenceville, VA), Xavier Burke signed a letter of intent with Virginia Tech in February of 2014. The expectation was for the 6’4”, 240-pound tight end prospect to enroll at Tech this past summer. Burke fell short academically, so he headed to Fork Union Military Academy (VA) for postgraduate work.
Longtime FUMA postgraduate head coach John Shuman provided the latest on Burke’s academic status. More specifically, Shuman was asked what Burke’s chances are of making it to Tech in January of 2015.
“I think he has a good shot,” Shuman answered. “He’ll take the SAT next Saturday. We should see some improvement. He’s close. He’s got work to do. He needs to get about 30 or 40 points more on the test. If he can knock that out early, he should be in good shape.”
Taking care of business off the field is obviously Burke’s top priority. On the field, Shuman said: “We like Xavier. He has good speed and good hands. He is growing into a tight end/defensive end. We’re trying to get him a little tougher, a little faster, a little stronger. He has hit a little injury bug so far. He’ll get rid of one thing and another thing pops up. We’re trying to get him straight.”
Shuman noted that he spoke with Virginia Tech’s coaches last week. At that point he provided the staff with a heads up on two offensive line targets to keep an eye on.
“Torsten Norberg is looking pretty good. He’s a big, thick guy with good feet. He is out of Northern Virginia. He’s about 6’6”, 295,” Shuman said.
“Harrison Elam is another good guy. He’s a big tackle. He’s 6’5”, 290 pounds.”
In addition to Norberg and Elam, Shuman also noted Mason Phoenix.
“He is 6’5”, 255 pounds,” Shuman said of Phoenix. He has been jumping around, playing a lot of spots like defensive end and defensive tackle.”
MORE RECRUITING NOTES
- 5-star senior defensive end Josh Sweat still plans to take most, if not all, of his official visits, ESPN reported last weekend. Sweat has taken an official to Ohio State already, and he plans to take trips to Florida State, Georgia, Oregon and Virginia Tech.
- Salem (VA) senior running back/safety Coleman Fox tweeted yesterday that Virginia Tech has offered him a full scholarship. Fox, a 5'11", 190-pound prospect, camped at Tech this past July and worked out with the defensive backs in the afternoon. It'll be interesting to see which position the Hokies are recruiting him to play, so stay tuned for more as we get it.
- I posted a summary of my conversation with Hopewell (VA) senior defensive end Darrell Taylor last Friday night on the TSL Recruiting Board. Here is the actual quote from Taylor on why he chose Tennessee over the Hokies.
“I think [Tennessee] kind of grew on me because Virginia Tech was my first option. They kind of grew on me because they talked to me every day. Whatever they could do to get in touch with me, like Twitter or Facebook. Whenever they could call, they would call or they would get me to call them. They just kind of grew on me over the summer,” Taylor said.
Tech primary recruiter Shane Beamer learned of Taylor’s decision earlier in the day, when he made a visit to Hopewell High School.
“Coach Shane Beamer was like just keep us in mind. He said congratulations on everything,” Taylor said.
This race may not be over. The 6’4”, 227-pound senior said he still plans to take all five of his official visits. In addition to Tennessee and Virginia Tech, Taylor says he wants to visit Florida, Ohio State and South Carolina. No dates have been set, though Hopewell coach Ricky Irby mentioned the Boston College weekend could be an option as far as Virginia Tech is concerned.
- Football-wise, Tech class of 2015 targets Ricky DeBerry Jr. (Tennessee) and Tim Settle (Oklahoma State) are taking official visits this weekend. Settle took an official visit to Blacksburg last weekend, and all indications are that the trip went very well.
Basketball-wise, Tech target Chris Clarke will take an official visit to Tennessee this weekend. As reported on TSL earlier this week, the Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, VA) senior small forward could make a commitment soon after this weekend’s trip. Connecticut, Creighton, Tennessee and Virginia Tech are the finalists.
- It has been a really good week for Hylton (Woodbridge, VA) freshman tailback Ricky Slade, who received scholarship offers from Virginia, Virginia Tech and Ohio State this week.