The Virginia Tech men's basketball team received their first verbal commitment for the 2006 recruiting class when junior point guard Nigel Munson announced his intentions to sign with the Hokies on Tuesday afternoon.

Munson is a 6-1, 170 pound point guard from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland who chose Virginia Tech over Xavier, Miami, Arkansas, Georgia and Clemson. Munson is a true point guard who is highly ranked by some recruiting services. HoopScoop ranks him the #46 player in the junior class.

“[Virginia Tech] had most of the stuff that I was looking for in a school,” Munson told TechSideline.com's Chris Horne Tuesday night. “... they just have a great coaching staff and playing in the ACC is a big plus, too.”

Munson is an extremely reliable ball handler who distributed 7.7 assists per game as a junior on a team that is stacked with Division I talent. He also averaged 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game. Perhaps his most notable accomplishment is the fact that he shot an outstanding 91% from the free throw line. That is the type of production from the charity stripe that the Hokies have lacked in recent years, and a highly desirable quality in a point guard.

Munson was also the MVP of his DeMatha team this past season, despite sharing the basketball with 9 other players who will play basketball on the Division I level.

“As a point guard, I don’t think most point guards can hit the open shot,” Munson said.  “I think I can do that.  I think I can dribble better than most point guards and I have good court awareness.  I’m a leader on the floor.”

With Munson's commitment, Seth Greenberg has filled a need for point guard for the 2006 class. It is likely that the coaching staff will try to sign a wing and an inside player to complement Munson, as VT now has two available scholarships (one of those scholarships could be used for the 2005 class, should a good prospect become available at this late stage in the game).

Munson is an extremely important pick up for the Hokies, who will now have a point guard who will be able to learn behind Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell during his freshman season, and be poised to take over the starting duties in 2007.