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In-State Offensive Line Recruiting Has Been Mixed
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, TSLMail #491, July 1, 2011


So far in the class of 2012, Virginia Tech has lost the top two offensive linemen in the state to other schools with a much lower football profile. Offensive tackle Win Homer will attend Boston College, and offensive guard Andre Miles-Redmond will play at UVA.

The Hokies have been hit or miss with the top offensive line recruits in the state in recent years. Here is how things have gone since 2008 for the guys TSL ranked amongst the top 30 prospects in Virginia.

OL Prospects in the Top 30
Player Year Rank School
Vinston Painter 2008 1 VT
Bobby Massie 2008 6 Ole Miss
Jimmy Bennett 2008 12 UConn
Morgan Moses 2009 4 UVA
Andrew Miller 2009 18 VT
Mark Shuman 2010 6 VT
Russell Bodine 2010 11 UNC
Khamrone Kolb 2010 15 PSU
Matt Arkema 2010 16 VT
Conner Davis 2010 17 UVA
Quinton Spain 2010 21 WVU
Caleb Farris 2010 26 VT
Landon Turner 2011 4 UNC
Jay Whitmire 2011 11 UVA
Jake Goins 2011 24 VT
Ross Burbank 2011 25 UVA
Grant Jones 2011 28 Liberty


Virginia Tech signed six of the 17 players on that list. On the surface that may not sound good, but it's not as bad as it seems.

First of all, the Hokies didn't offer Grant Jones, Ross Burbank, Jay Whitmore or Quinton Spain. They are listed as having offered Jimmy Bennett, though I'm not sure they pursued him particularly hard, and he's yet to do anything at UConn. Even if you include Bennett, that means Tech landed six of the 13 players that they offered.

To dig further, you might remember that Bobby Massie originally committed to Virginia Tech. However, he didn't qualify and ended up playing in the SEC after a year at Hargrave. He is now projected as a possible first round draft pick by the NFL. Had he qualified and stuck with his Tech commitment, the Hokies would have signed seven of the 13 players they offered in that four-year span.

If you take it back to 2007, you'll see the Hokies did very well with their in-state offensive line recruiting.

2007 In-State OL
Rank Player School
8 Blake DeChristopher VT
10 William Alvarez VT
11 Khalil Latif VT
13 Andrew Nuss ND
16 Greg Nosal VT
17 Jaymes Brooks VT
27 Anthony Mihota UVA


Latif and Alvarez didn't work out, but DeChristopher, Nosal and Brooks are multi-year starters. The Hokies didn't offer Mihota. Though they did offer Nuss, he has been a career backup and special teams player at Notre Dame heading into his r-senior season.

As you can see, going back to 2007, things haven't been bad at all for the Hokies as far as their in-state offensive line recruiting goes. Things aren't going well with the 2012 class, but there's no guarantee that either Homer or Miles-Redmond will develop, just like with any other offensive line recruit.

Despite missing out on Homer and Miles-Redmond, Tech still has a chance to have a solid offensive line haul for 2012. Much will depend on whether or not they can find some new, quality prospects at their July 9 camp. Hopefully there will be a stronger in-state class in 2013, because there just aren't a lot of options available in 2012.

 

 

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