Virginia Tech will be playing host to approximately 20 top prospects this weekend from the Class of 2008, 2009, and 2010 and YOU can help make it great!  Show up at the Cassell before the football game tomorrow.  Festivities are scheduled to kickoff around 9 AM with the prospects getting tours of the facilities and meeting coaches, staff, and you the fans!  Show them your support! 

TechHoops.com has learned that verbal commit Victor Davila will be on campus for his official visit, along with top recruits Shaquille Johnson and Tyshawn Taylor from the 2008 Class.  Johnson is a 3-star guard from the same AAU team as Jamon Gordon (the Jax Lee Bulls) while Taylor is a guard from national powerhouse St. Anthony’s in Jersey City, NJ.  Not sure what exit that is or if its near the shore.  St. Anthony’s is coached by the legendary Bobby Hurley, yes, the father of duke ACC super-punk Bobby Hurley, Jr.  Taylor is very high on the Hokies, so there is hope he might commit.

From the Class of 2009, VT will have two Virginians visiting, including Rivals.com Top 100 prospect Donte Hill of the 757 area.

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For my second installment of this rolling masterpiece known as The Weekend Warrior column, I decided to give a little insight into who we are here and what we are all about.

As our “About Us” page states, TechHoops.com was formally launched on 1/19/07, shortly after the Hokie victory over #1 unc (what better time, right?).  The page goes on to state this was in the works for about a year.  That’s humorous to me because the first I heard of this was on 1/19/07.  Wick sent the following email:

“The Dork In Me

Fellas,

I purchased about a half dozen Virginia Tech basketball related domains last winter with the intention to create a dorky little [enemy's name deleted] like website.  The domains are pretty good … techhoops.com, cassellcoliseum.com, techbball.com, vpibasketball.com, vpihoops.com, and techhoops.net.

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Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch complains about the length of the basketball season. Must be a slow sports day for Richmond.

Coach Greenberg is schoolin’ some coaches at the Delaware Beach Basketball Coaches Clinic on Sunday.

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We heard it through the grapevine and now it is official.  According to the Roanoke Times, Hokie signee Darrion Pellum will not be in an orange and maroon uniform this year, or any following year.  He also cannot ever play for another ACC school.  Darrion was declared a nonqualifier by the NCAA and the ACC will not allow its schools to take athletes that are nonqualifiers.  Pellum must now look at going the JUCO route, as expected, and find another school and conference after that.

The big blow here was the fact he had enrolled at VT.  It means Darrion must now pay for this semester.  Also, had he not enrolled, he would have potentially had the chance to come to VT, or another ACC school, later on.  That is out the window now.  [That's a weird loophole.]

In other news, VT is still waiting to hear about J.T. Thompson.

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Darrion Pellum does not meet NCAA eligibility standards; will not play for the Hokies.
Read more about it around the web: TechHoops.com | roanoke.com

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ACC Nation Special Feature
Column by Patrick Hite

We’re six weeks from basketball season and I just got my first college basketball preview magazine of the season. Yes, we’re only a month into football season, but humor me. The Tuesday Twelve this week asks 12 questions about this upcoming hoops season.

12. Can James Gist carry a team? With maryland’s other three top scorers – D.J. Strawberry, Mike Jones and Ekene Ibekwe – from last year gone, Gist will be expected to carry a big load until some of the younger players come along. He averaged 12.6 points per game last year. He’ll need more this season.

11. Is this the year clemson makes it back to the NCAA Tournament? It’s tough to start 17-0 and not make the field of 65, but the tigers pulled if off last year. With only Vernon Hamilton gone from that team, Oliver Purnell will have to get his team to the Big Dance.

10. Can John Oates be a force inside? The loss of Jared Dudley and Sean Williams leaves Oates as boston college’s most experienced frontcourt player. He’ll get some help, but he’ll have to improve.

9. How much will the death of Skip Prosser affect wake forest? Losing Prosser was a blow to the program, but Dino Gaudio was a good choice to help keep the deacons moving forward.

8. How much will the loss of Ra’Sean Dickey early in the season hurt georgia yech? The jackets lost a lot of talent after last season, but Dickey was expected to help ease those losses. Then he was booted from the team for the fall semester because of academics.

7. Can virginia repeat last year’s surprising finish? Sean Singletary returning for his senior season will be a big help, but replacing J.R. Reynolds will be a challenge.

6. Will Kyle Singler live up to the hype? If duke is to bounce back from a sixth-place conference finish, it will need a lot of help from the 6-8 freshman.

5. Can florida state make it three years in a row with 20 wins and no NCAA Tournament appearance to show for it? With Al Thornton gone, it would seem to be a difficult task to win 20 or make it to the NCAA Tournament this season.

4. Is this the year Tyler Hansbrough plays in the Final Four? The carolina junior turned down the NBA after his freshman and sophomore seasons, but despite his individual success, the team has come up short in the NCAA Tournament.

3. Can Virginia Tech win a game in the ACC? OK, the Hokies will probably get a conference win or two, but with only four players returning that have played more than 40 minutes in their college careers, Seth Greenberg has his work cut out for him.

2. Who will play point guard for n.c. state? The wolfpack seem to be on the verge of being a top-four team in the ACC, but replacing Engin Atsur won’t be easy. A pair of transfers – Farnold Degand and Marques Johnson – appear to be the best choices.

1. Can any team other than north carolina win the ACC title? The tar heels look loaded, but they also looked pretty good going into last season and were lucky to get a tie for first. It’s the ACC. Anything can happen.

For the most ACC coverage, visit ACCNation.com.
ACCNation.com is a collaborative partner with TechHoops.com.

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Seth Curry verbals to Liberty.

New commit, Victor Davila, on YouTube.

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The following column is a new piece I will publish by late Saturday morning each week. No promises on when it will be. Publication depends on when, and how hard, I hit Happy Hour on Friday. It will loosely take a look at VT basketball, or just focus in on some of my random rants.

For my first Weekend Warrior, I figured we should take a look back at the year that was. Let’s give praise one more time to one of the greatest seasons ever for Hokie roundball. After all, it was Tech’s first 20 win season and NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years, and yielded Tech’s first ever ACC Tournament win. But forget the regular lists, here’s my top 10 moments, which may not necessarily have anything to do with actual games…

10) Niemo arm curls three VT signees at the Capital Classic – Heck, after I arm curled half the current team in March (see #4 below), I figured I had to arm curl the recruits, too. Malcolm Delaney, Dorenzo Hudson, Jeff Allen, and Gus Gilchrist played in an all-star game I attended. So I arm curled them. Everyone but Gus (and guess who ended up bailing… that should tell you something). People always ask me how I talked the players into letting me arm curl them… simple… I asked. Capital Classic Gallery

9) The thread on a maryland message board about me arm curling the recruits – pure hilarity! terp loser message board BTW: How much of a loser is “terpfanatVT”??? He should be beat up… see his post halfway down.

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To quote Homer Simpson, “And now we play the waiting game… screw the waiting game, let’s play Hungry Hungry Hippo!”  The Hokies continue to wait on whether or not 2007 signees Darrion Pellum and J.T. Thompson are going to be cleared to play by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Scrolling the message boards and online publications, word on the street is that 2007 signee Pellum is not going to be cleared by the NCAA, possibly forcing him to go to a JUCO.  This is similar to what happened to 2006 signee Tyrone Appleton, who is currently at a JUCO in Texas.  Pellum would be released from his commitment if this happens but could still re-sign with Tech down the line.  But no official word has been released on this matter.

As for Thompson, it appears the NCAA has not made a decision yet.

Recruiting: Some prospects from the 2009 and 2010 classes will be on campus this weekend.

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Come out for the Collegiate Inn Open House, located in the courtyard of the Holiday Inn on Prices Fork Road. The Open House will begin following the William & Mary game on September 22 and will run until 8 PM. There will be food, refreshments, entertainment for the kids, an opportunity to view our model rooms, and prizes – including an opportunity to win an all Expenses Paid Weekend for either the BC, Florida State, or Miami home football games. All attendees will receive a prize and they will be giving away 80 chances to win an opportunity to make reservations at the Holiday Inn for one of above home games.

For more information on the open house, click here.

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We just launched the Tech Hoops group on Facebook. Please Please Please Join. Don’t make us beg.

http://vt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5300570661 (login required)

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• Tyshawn Taylor, a 3-star Point Guard prospect from St. Anthony’s High School in Jersey City, NJ, was not able to visit Virginia Tech this weekend due to the passing of his grandmother.  He now plans to visit the weekend of the unc football game (9/28-30).  This will give him a chance to see VT owns unc in two sports – football and basketball.  Recent verbal commit, Victor Davila, is also making his official visit that weekend.
• Frank Ben-Eze, a 6’10″ 230 lb. post player from my hometown of Arlington, VA, made his official visit to VT this past weekend.  Frank plays for Bishop O’Connell and has offers from marquette, uva, and wvu, and has interest from harvard (though they cannot offer athletic scholarships as an ivy league school).  Frank is a 3-star prospect.
• Shaquille Johnson (gotta love the name), a 6’2″ guard from Jacksonville, FL, will also visit unc weekend.  He is a 3-star prospect at R.E. Lee HS.  Shaquille plays for the same AAU team that Jamon Gordon did, the Jacksonville Lee Bulls.

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The Latest Hokie News & Notes

Power Forward Victor Davila is Tech’s first verbal commitment for the Class of 2008. Read more about Davila …

Davila’s TechHoops.com Bio
TechHoops.com Article

Roanoke Times
Newport News Daily Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Winston-Salem Journal
Hokie Haven (subscription required)
CSTV

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The 2008 Recruiting Class is no longer bare with the news that Power Forward Victor Davila of Starmount HS in North Carolina has committed to Virginia Tech.  Victor is Puerto Rican like future teammate A.D. Vassallo and even was a member of the Puerto Rican National Team.  He has only been in the U.S. mainland for three years.

Davila will give the Hokies some much needed depth inside.  He is listed at 6’8″ and between 230-240 lbs depending on the source.  That would make him the 3rd tallest player on the team and 2nd heaviest if he was on campus right now.  Only Witcher and Diakite are taller (6’9″) and Allen is heavier (258).  And he still has a year to grow.

Victor is listed as the #94 overall player and #17 Center in the Class of 2008 by Scout.com and is a four star recruit.  Rivals.com lists him as a three star recruit, the #36 Power Forward, and #136 overall player.

Davila averaged a double-double with over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game last year at Starmount.

Davila is considered the only verbal of the 2008 Class with J.T.Thompson already on campus and Shamarr Bowden no longer committed to VT.  Davila had visited iowa state and reportedly had offers from appy state, charlotte, clemson, memphis, and wake.

Some posts/bios of Victor:

http://forums.interbasket.net/showthread.php?t=296

http://virginiatech.scout.com/a.z?s=191&p=8&c=1&nid=1824893

http://virginiatech.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=51548

OTHER RECRUITING NEWS: Tyshawn Taylor, considered a VT lean, was supposed to have visited Tech this past weekend.  He is a 6’3″ PG and would give the Hokies some depth at the guard position next year to spell Hank Thorns and allow Delaney to play more SG.  Taylor is a three star recruit from power program St. Anthony’s in Jersey City, NJ.  He is ranked #104 overall in the 2008 Class by Rivals.com.  Know who the coach of St. Anthony’s is?  Bobby Hurley’s dad… yes, the same Bobby Hurley of whiny duke fame.

For Spanish translation…

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Was anyone else as disappointed as I was with the “WE ARE” “VIRGINIA TECH” cheer that the cheerleaders were leading Saturday?  For those of you not at the ohio game, we decided to break out a new cheer.  As you know, we always do “LET’S GO” “HOKIES” before the team takes the field, and that was still the case on Saturday.  But for the rest of the game, the cheerleaders held up signs so half the stadium did “WE ARE” and the other half did “VIRGINIA TECH”.  This occured three times by my count, with no additional Let’s Go Hokies cheers.  There is nothing better than hearing LET’S GO HOKIES echo inside and out of the stadium before and during a game in Lane or Cassell.

I’m sorry, but this cheer just plain stinks.  I have emailed the cheerleading coach and told him so (never thought I’d be saying that).  The cheer doesn’t work.  “Let’s Go” “Hokies” has two syllables on each part.  As does “We Are” “penn state”.  But “Virginia Tech” has four syllables, depending on what part of Virginia you are from. 

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