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FOOTBALL
RECRUITING 2007-08

Coach: Frank Beamer

2008 Virginia Tech Signees:

Recent Recruiting Rankings (By Rivals.com): No. 45, No. 27, No. 41, No. 14, No. 32, No. 29 under Beamer from 2002-07.

Consensus 2008 Prep All-Americans: VA WR D.J. Coles, VA OL Vinston Painter, SC LB Bruce Taylor, VA RB Ryan Williams.

Interesting Story: Peter Rose led Amherst High to a perfect 26-0 record as the team’s starting quarterback during his junior and senior seasons, leading the Lancers to back-to-back Virginia state championships. In his final high school game, he rushed for 249 yards on 13 carries, along with three touchdowns, while helping his team produce a state playoff-record 559 yards of total offense.

Top Recruiters: Offensive line coach Curt Newsome did an outstanding job of luring talent from the Hampton Roads area in this year’s class, recruiting five prospects from Virginia Beach and one from Norfolk. Included were prep All-American offensive lineman Vinston Painter, athletes Xavier Boyce and Marcus Davis, wide receiver Randall Dunn, linebacker Lyndell Gibson, running back Tony Gregory and defensive end Joe Jones. Defensive line coach Charlie Wiles plucked a pair of standouts from North Carolina — offensive lineman Nick Becton and defensive back Lorenzo Williams — plus arguably the top linebacker prospect in South Carolina, Bruce Carter.

States Represented (4): Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.

Academic Worries: many. Joseph Clayton and Ben Barber are likely not going to enroll until January 2009. At least four other players in the class are expected to attend prep school.

Key Misses: FL WR T.J. Lawrence (Florida), SC DE Devin Taylor (South Carolina).

Quotable Quote: "We hit on a lot of guys who liked Virginia Tech. Some years, Virginia has gotten the best of us (recruiting in-state), and some years we’ve gotten the best of them, but I think you’ve just better keep your head down and keep working, because we want to get the best players out of the state. If you go back and look at the numbers of players we lost (from the 2007 season), there’s probably going to be more opportunity to play as a freshman than it’s been in some years at Virginia Tech. We might not be ranked as highly as others, but I can tell you we liked them. All these kids, we liked them. Now we hope they’re going to turn out as I think they will. We’ll see how it all turns out."
— Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer

Tech Football Recruiting Articles (Links):

Wilmington recruiting feature: Nick Becton — WRAL.com

Hokies dominate in-state — Richmond Times-Dispatch

Randall Dunn commitment story — Richmond Times-Dispatch

Joe Jones commitment story — Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Joseph Clayton commitment story — Newport News Daily Press

Joseph Clayton commitment story — Roanoke Times

Beamer in-state recruiting — Newport News Daily Press

Marcus Davis feature — Newport News Daily Press

Marcus Davis signing story — Associated Press

Marcus Davis spurns Penn State for VT — Pocono Record

Austin Fuller signing feature — WBOY.com

Kevin Whaley/Lyndell GIbson signing feature — Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Jeron Gouveia commitment story — Washington Post

Tony Gregory feature — Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Hokies get cream of crop in Virginia — Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star

Antoine Hopkins profile — Digital Sports

Antoine Hopkins feature — Richmond Times-Dispatch

Leon Mackey signing feature — Roanoke Times

Vinston Painter commitment story — Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Dyrell Roberts feature — Newport News Daily Press

Peter Rose "Player of the Week" feature — WDBJ 7 Roanoke News

Rose leads team to playoffs — Amherst New Era Progress

Allen Stephens feature — South Boston News and Record

Bruce Taylor "Mr. Football" Finalist — WPDE News Channel 15

Dwight Tucker article — Newport News Daily Press

VT reeling in big fish — Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Michael Via feature — Roanoke Times

Eddie Whitley injury story — WCNC.com

Lorenzo Williams commitment feature — WRAL.com

Ryan Williams commitment feature — Manassas Journal-Messenger