Your guide to breaking news, recruiting updates and important offers from TechSideline.com!
 
   Welcome to TSLMail #317 - Friday, February 15, 2008    
To Remove Yourself From This Email List:
See the instructions directly to the left.

To Change Your Email Address:
Log onto the TechSideline.com web site (see the instructions directly to the left) and access your "account info" area. Then uncheck the "Check to Receive Free TSLMail" box.

TSL Links
  Home Page
  Football Home
  VT Hokie News
  Football Recruiting
  Message Board

TSL Products
  TSL Pass
  MaroonHelmet.com

TSLMail Archives
  Complete Archives

 

If you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list:
  • Log into TechSideline.com by going here:  TechSideline.com login and entering your email address (the one where you received this email) and your TechSideline.com password.

  • If you can't remember your TechSideline.com password, then use our Password Reset function to set up a new password that you can use to access your account.

  • Once you're logged into the site, find one of the many "account info" links around the site to access your user profile and change the preferences there, including turning TSLMail on and off. Look for the "Check to Receive Free TSLMail" box.

Thanks, and we hope we haven't inconvenienced you.

Will Stewart
General Manager and Managing Editor
TechSideline.com

   Advertise on TechSideline.com!


Advertise Your Business On TechSideline.com!

TechSideline.com has come a long way since its inception in 1996. We are the #1 media source and community covering Virginia Tech athletics, producing an average of 130,000 unique viewers and 10.5 million page views each month. We reach a coveted demographic (you know who you are) 24/7, 12 months out of the year.

Rooting for their team clearly represents one of the big passions in the life of our TechSideline.com community members. This site greatly enhances this never-ending passion through information, analysis and most importantly through communal dialog and networking.

Our advertising approach is different in that we make it abundantly clear in a direct and honest way that your company's commitment of sponsorship dollars is what enables the site to continue existing and improving into the future.

To learn more about advertising on TechSideline.com, please contact [email protected].

TechSideline.com is a vital part of a unique collegiate sports network that reaches nearly 2 million individuals per month. Like TechSideline.com, each site in the SportsWar network is an organically grown community and the emotional home for its fans.

To learn more about SportsWar network sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected] or visit our online media guide- http://www.sportswar.com

To view a list of our sponsors, please visit our Sponsors Page.

 CampusEmporium.com, the Official E-commerce Sponsor of TSL


Maroon and Orange
Spirit Scarf


100% Polyester Maroon and Orange Spirit Scarf

$15.99

   Our Featured Sponsor


CarMax: The Way Car Buying Should Be

CarMax is the nation's largest retailer of used cars. Created more than 13 years ago, CarMax brought integrity and transparency to the automotive industry. Their unique no-hassle, no-haggle process was designed to make car buying easy and fun.

Here's where you, the TSL community, can help:  Show CarMax your appreciation of their support of TechSideline.com by choosing CarMax for your next used car purchase. If you've got a CarMax story, feedback or commentary or just a simply want to say "thanks," email it to us at by clicking here and we'll put the emails together and pass them on to CarMax.

And remember, in the future, please consider CarMax first when you're shopping for a used car.

Your email response to sponsors Allstate, Lowe's, TicketCity.com and CarMax has been phenomenal and critical in signing them to long-term sponsorships. Please take a moment to drop CarMax a line!

   Tech Sports News


Projecting Numbers for the 2009 Recruiting Class
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Virginia Tech signed 31 players last week on National Signing Day. Their class was completely full, and not all of those players are going to be able to enroll in August. Some will have to prep because of qualification issues, and some will simply grayshirt (enroll in January 2009). Because the Hokies signed such a full class this year, the numbers in the 2009 class will be pretty small.

Tech will have just nine scholarship seniors on the 2008 roster. Here is a look at the players who must be replaced following this season with members of the 2009 recruiting class.

Current Virginia Tech
Football Rising
Scholarship Seniors
Name Position
Macho Harris CB
Sean Glennon QB
Cory Holt WR
Branden Ore RB
Dustin Pickle RB
Brett Warren LB
Purnell Sturdivant LB
Ryan Shuman C
Nick Marshman G
Orion Martin DE


With those numbers, Virginia Tech will only be able to sign ten players in the 2009 recruiting class. With that being said, that number will go up as the days go by. There are still candidates on the team that aren't rising seniors that are candidates to leave the team early. We won't mention any names here since it would just be speculation at this point, but it wouldn't be surprising to see four or five guys decide to leave the program at the conclusion of spring practice, or over the summer.

When you factor that in, it's more likely that Virginia Tech will sign about 15 players next year, maybe as high as 17 if there is any more attrition. Next year's class will be low on numbers compared to this year, but it will still have some depth.

Expect Virginia Tech to be very selective in offering 2009 prospects, with so few scholarships to offer. They have already offered some players, and once again, the camps in Blacksburg over the summer will be critical for those players on the fringe of being offered a scholarship.

At this point, what positions are the Hokies emphasizing for the 2009 class? The best guess is a quarterback or two, a tailback, a couple of offensive linemen, four or five defensive linemen and a few defensive backs. Those are likely the positions of emphasis, though players at other positions will be recruited as well, such as linebacker.

Just in case you've forgotten, Virginia Tech already has a player committed for the 2009 recruiting class. Stone Bridge (Ashburn, VA) DT/OL David Wang (Ed Wang's brother) verballed to the Hokies back on September 1st.

2008 a Primer for 2009

The table above shows that Virginia Tech will be a young team in 2008, but they should be very hard to handle in 2009. Eight of the players in the table are starters, and when you consider that Tyrod Taylor is a part-time starter, the Hokies would have 15 returning starters returning for the 2009 season. 15 out of 22 is a lot. They could be one of the most experienced teams in the ACC in 2009.

While the 2008 season looks promising, and the Hokies have a solid chance to win the ACC again, the 2009 season looks like it could be even better. The schedule works out well in 2009 as well, with the two biggest names on the schedule, Nebraska and Miami, coming to Lane Stadium. For those of you who like to focus on the best times for the Hokies to make a run at a National Championship berth, mark 2009 on your calendars as the next legit possibility.

Still, we've got to play the 2008 season before we can move on to 2009. Many things will change between now and then. However, there's nothing wrong with gazing into the future, and what we see now looks pretty good.

ACC Basketball Race: Stuck in the Middle

In men's basketball, the Hokies are mired in the mud right now. With a 5-5 ACC record, they are sixth in the ACC standings. They are two games either way from being near the top, or being near the bottom. Two ACC teams have four losses, three have five losses, and another three have six losses.

ACC Standings, as of 2/15/08
School Conf. Overall
Duke 10-0 22-1
North Carolina 8-2 23-2
Clemson 6-4 18-6
Maryland 6-4 16-9
Wake Forest 5-5 15-8
Virginia Tech 5-5 14-10
Georgia Tech 4-5 11-12
NC State 4-6 15-9
Boston College 4-6 13-10
Miami 3-6 16-7
Florida State 3-7 14-11
Virginia 1-9 11-12


Duke and UNC sit at the top, with zero and two losses respectively. At the bottom is Florida State with seven losses and Virginia with nine losses. The other eight teams who have between four and six losses are still in the running to get a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament.

It's impossible to predict. We'll just have to let it play out. Tech has a tough stretch coming up, with road games at UNC and Maryland, two of the top four teams in the ACC. They are likely to be 5-7 at this time next week, but they'll still be in the hunt to finish in the top half of the conference.

   TechSideline.com Pass - Your Ultimate Ticket to Hokie Sports!


TechSideline Pass - Only $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year!

  • Feature Articles
  • Interviews with recruits
  • Editorials
  • Recruiting updates from Chris Horne, our in-house specialist
  • Recruiting prospect and class evaluations
  • A subscribers-only Recruiting message board (only accessible to subscribers)
  • A subscribers-only message board for general discussion

For more info on TechSideline Pass, and to subscribe, click here.

   TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week

Basketball Game Preview: Virginia Tech at #5 North Carolina

February 15, 2008
The road doesn't get any easier for the 5-5 Hokies this weekend, as they travel to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that will be nationally televised by CBS. The Tar Heels are trying to stay within striking distance of Duke in the ACC standings, while the Hokies will try to get things turned around after losing two games in a row.
more

Hermitage Standouts Add Offers
February 15, 2008
Hermitage High School (Richmond, VA) football standouts Theron Norman and Duan Perez-Means figure to be two of the more highly recruited players in the state of Virginia's 2009 recruiting class. Norman, a 6-3, 185-pound wide receiver/safety, and Perez-Means, a 6-4, 215-pound defensive end/wide receiver/tight end prospect, each have at least two Division 1A scholarship offers in the fold already.
more

2008 Recruiting Grades: The Defense
February 14, 2008
Just like the offensive side of the ball, the Tech coaching staff did a good job filling defensive needs with talented recruits this year. The 2007 class saw the Hokies do well at linebacker and in the secondary, but not such a good job on the defensive line. They made up for that this year, and still managed to do very well at the other positions on defense.
more

Varina's Rhodes May Visit VT Soon
February 14, 2008
Virginia Tech remains the only Division 1A scholarship offer for Varina (VA) star DeAntre Rhodes, but there is plenty of other interest in the 6-2 1/2, 265-pound defensive lineman. Varina offensive coordinator Blanda Wolfe provides the latest on the talented junior, a VHSCA second-team all-state selection on offense and defense.
more

Sherando's Metheny Focused on 2008 Season
February 14, 2008
Sherando (Stephens City, VA) came up just short of a state title last season, falling to Amherst by a score of 56-12 in the championship game. The game could have, and likely would have, been much closer had the Warriors not lost star junior quarterback Ross Metheny to a broken fibula early in the contest.
more

TSL Audio: The Len Martez Show, 2/13/08
February 14, 2008
Len Martez and TSL's Chris Coleman talked about the 2008 Tech football schedule yesterday, and discussed if it suits fans' desires and VT's goal of a national championship. Do the Hokies need to schedule harder or easier? After that debate, they moved on to talk about next year's Tech football team and the challenges it faces, and then wrapped it up with a basketball discussion (WMA format, compatible with Windows Media Player and MP3 players, 3.1 MB, 13:09).
more

Deep Run Boasts Two Division 1A Recruits
February 13, 2008
Defensive end/tight end Jake Snyder isn't the only Division 1A recruit coming out of Deep Run High School (Glen Allen, VA) in the class of 2009. Within the past seven days, defensive back prospect Antone Exum has picked up scholarship offers from Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, respectively.
more

2008 Recruiting Grades: The Offense
February 13, 2008
Virginia Tech has spent the last two years attempting to revamp their struggling offense through recruiting. They did a good job in 2007, signing Tyrod Taylor, two tailbacks, and an excellent class of offensive linemen. They followed that up with another strong showing in 2008.
more

Logan Thomas Has Options in Football and Basketball
February 13, 2008
Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) star athlete Logan Thomas will ultimately make one school very happy whenever he makes his college choice. However, he must first decide which sport he wants to play. Thomas, a 6-6, 220-pound standout in football and basketball, has scholarship offers for both sports and does not seem too interested in playing both sports on the college level.
more

Mackey Reflects on his Decision
February 12, 2008
For 4-star recruit Leon Mackey, all four of the official visits he made were terrific. When it came down to making a college choice, Virginia Tech was the pick, receiving the 6-5, 275-pound defensive end's letter of intent last Wednesday over Florida State, North Carolina and N.C. State.
more

Thoughts on the 2008 Football Schedule
February 12, 2008
The 2008 football schedule has the ability to excite you in some ways, but it's going to make you really depressed in other ways. A year after having perhaps the most exciting home schedule in school history, the 2008 home schedule doesn't cause as much enthusiasm. The Hokies play Furman, Western Kentucky and Duke at home, but don't get three of the ACC's highest profile teams -- Clemson, Miami, or Florida State -- in Lane Stadium.
more

Third Stone Bridge Junior Lands 1A Offer
February 12, 2008
Not surprisingly, Group AAA, Division 5 state champion Stone Bridge High School (Ashburn, VA) has had its share of college coaches visiting over the past month. Stone Bridge head coach Mickey Thompson boasts a strong group of juniors, including three who have already landed at least one Division 1A scholarship offer.
more

Hokie Hotline Notes for 2/11/08
February 12, 2008
Presented by Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech: On Monday night's show, Tech athletic director Jim Weaver came on to discuss football scheduling issues. Head men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg talked about the loss to Miami, this Saturday's game against UNC, and what the Hokies will do with their week off.
more

Athletic Conference Financial Report: Where They Really Stand
February 11, 2008
During a spare hour or so prior to attending a Christmas party last December, I happened to read a newspaper article linked by a TSL poster that was touting some Big East Conference revenue numbers. So, I figured that I would spend a few moments searching the Internet for reliable information concerning athletic conference revenues and expenses.
more

Around the ACC: February 11th, 2008
February 11, 2008
Now that each team is over halfway through their ACC schedule, it's starting to become clear that there are probably only four NCAA tournament teams in the conference this year, with five being the ceiling. This week we'll look at what happened this past week, as well as give some postseason predictions for each of the ACC teams.
more

Deep Run's Snyder up to Two Offers
February 11, 2008
In terms of interest from Division 1A college football programs, recent weeks have been busy for Deep Run (Glen Allen, VA) junior Jake Snyder. Snyder, a 6-4, 235-pound defensive end prospect who has already received two Division 1A scholarship offers, says he is "excited to be in this position. It has been awesome having coaches come by to look at you."
more

Miami Edges Tech 74-71
February 9, 2008
Virginia Tech dropped a tough home game to Miami 74-71 on Saturday afternoon in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies fell behind by double digits in the second half, rallied, but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game. Tech dropped to 14-10 overall and 5-5 in the ACC with the loss. Miami is now 16-7, with a 3-6 conference record.
more
 
    TSLMail is a trademark of TechSideline.com - Copyright © 2008 - All Rights Reserved