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Committed Players: DL Noland Burchette, WR Fred Lee
Uncommitted Players: LB Donte Newsome, WR Josh Hyman, WR Donta Smith, WR Brenden Hill, plus 4-5 recruited walk-ons/possible scholarship players

It's the invasion of the wide receivers, as the Hokies bring four of them on campus to visit with long-time verbal Noland Burchette and linebacker Donte Newsome. Tech is also hosting a handful of potential recruited walk-ons.

WR Fred Lee Recommits to Tech

The Hokies picked up a critical recommitment from Harrisburg, PA wide receiver Fred Lee, who signed with Tech last year but failed to qualify. Lee has been attending Milford (CT) Academy Prep for the last season and was once again, like last year, torn between Virginia Tech and Michigan State. But yesterday, Lee told Rivals.com reporter Marty Skinner that he was recommitting to Tech and that MSU was out of it.

Lee's commitment to VT yesterday makes the Hokies 2-for-3 on the day. They landed Lee and RB Mike Imoh, but lost LB Justin London to UCLA.

Dosh Visiting Florida

Meanwhile, QB Patrick Dosh has decided to visit Florida this weekend. As we reported last week, the Gators made a late rush, visiting Dosh at Benedictine High School and asking him to come to Gainesville for an official visit. The Gators even went so far as to offer Dosh a scholarship. Dosh talked it over with his parents and coach and decided to go on the visit. He has told the press that he remains committed to Virginia Tech, but as he takes his visit, Tech fans keep a wary eye on him to see if he signs with the Hokies next Wednesday.

Brooks to Decide on Monday?

The Knoxville (TN) News is reporting that coveted LB Ahmad Brooks has "tentatively" scheduled a press conference Monday to announce his college choice. KnoxNews said that Brooks will choose from a final three of Tennessee, Florida State and Virginia, but Hokie fans who follow recruiting are well aware that VT -- and not FSU -- are in Brooks' final three, as Brooks himself told Rivals.com earlier this week.

DL Jimmy Williams Narrows it Down to Tech, South Carolina

Defensive tackle Jimmy Williams, from Memphis TN via Pasadena (CA) City College, has eliminated the Alabama Crimson Tide from his final list of schools. Williams told Palmetto Recruiting that Alabama's impending NCAA sanctions have caused him to drop the Tide. Williams visited VT last weekend and had a great time, and this week, the Hokies have paid in-home visits not just to Williams in California, but also to his mother in Tennessee.

More About London

The loss of local boy Justin London to UCLA was shocking and disappointing to Hokie fans, but don't fault the Tech coaching staff. The Hokies were the first to offer London a scholarship, back before his tenth grade year, and the Hokie coaches worked London hard over the years and did not take him for granted.

I watched film clips from London's press conference and follow-up interviews. It might make Hokie fans feel better if I could tell you London was a surly, mumbling punk, but he's quite the opposite -- very articulate, intelligent, handsome, gracious, and oh yeah, built like a total stud. The Hokies missed out on a good one here, but not much can be done about it, other than to forget it and move on.

London showed up in a jean jacket covering an orange sweatshirt. He put on a VT visor before he started talking, but he turned it around backwards. ("That's when I knew Tech wasn't getting him," one observer told me later.) He said that he wanted to follow his child hood dream, but unfortunately (for the Hokie fans in attendance), "that dream -- " and here London peeled off the visor, jacket and sweatshirt to reveal a #1 UCLA jersey -- "is taking me to UCLA."

The crowd pulled a combination gasp/cheer, and as they clapped, London broke out into a huge, excited smile and started clapping himself. He appeared to be incredibly relieved that the process was over.

Hokie fans mourn the loss of London to the Bruins, but as one source close to the Tech program said to me, "The people who are doing all the complaining don't have a clue how good linebackers who are already on the team, like Jordan Trott and James Anderson, really are."

Time will tell.

Will Stewart
General Manager and Managing Editor
TechSideline.com

The Recruiting message board received 2,904 posts, also second all-time, behind the 4,424 posts that the Football board took on -- you guessed it -- 11/27/2000.

In addition, traffic for the month of January of 2002 was at an all-time high, as we recorded an average of 232,425 pages views a day, the first time the web site has averaged over 200,000 page views a day in a given month. This tops the record of 177,893 in January of 2001, and it equates to just over 7.2 million page views for the month!

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting TechSideline.com by visiting often, subscribing to the TSL Extra, shopping at TechLocker.com, and giving your business to our sponsors, like Advance Auto Parts. Keep it up, and TSL -- including TSLMail -- will be here for years to come!

Football News:
Hokies Release 2002 Football Schedule - News and Notes, 1/25/02
The regular season football schedule released by Virginia Tech Friday includes 12 regular season games, seven home games, five games already slated for national TV, and three weekday games, including one on Wednesday.

South End Zone Construction Update - 1/28/02
Pictures of the South End Zone construction show that the lower decks have been completed, some lower-deck seats supports are in place, and construction on the upper deck supports has begun.

Other News:
Hokie Hotline Notes - by Apex Hokie, 1/29/02
Monday’s Hokie Hotline featured a variety of guests on a number of different topics, from Athletic Director Jim Weaver on various football-related topics to former Hokie and current St. Louis Ram Nick Sorensen on the upcoming Super Bowl in New Orleans.