Hokies Add More Beef – 2013 Center Maurice Kirby Commits to VT

Posted on12 October 2012. Tags:

This coming season, like many over the last 10 years, will see the Hokies struggling with the fact they have almost no depth on the interior post.  Well, Coach Johnson is trying to doing something about that, at least for the future.  Tech got a commitment from 6’9″, 230 lbs. Maurice Kirby out of Arizona.  Kirby originally committed to arizona state to be close to home (Chandler, AZ is just southeast of Phoenix and a few miles from Tempe, where asu is), but later re-opened his recruitment.

Kirby might be a huge recruit physically, but he was not a big recruit nationally.  Tech beat out the likes of northern arizona, loyola-chicago, and brown to get him.  He is rated just a 2-star by Rivals and ESPN Recruiting Nation (#37 center on the ESPN list), and wasn’t rated at all by 247Sports.  Still, we need beef, and he’ll bring that.  Is Kirby a project or was he just undervalued?  Time will tell, but probably worth the gamble given Tech has 5 scholarships available this year and Maurice is just the third commit (along with another center, Trevor Thompson, and wing Donte Clark).

Roanoke Times Article

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  • goodraisin

    Piecing together some different things I have heard:

    It sounds like Kirby was the #2 center prospect in his class when he was a sophomore. At some point after that, he gained a lot of weight which really hurt his development. He has supposedly shed that weight since his last evaluation by the major recruiting services. I don’t know if this means he’ll be ranked highly by the end of his senior season, but the truth is he’s probably somewhere between a 5-star prospect and a 2-star prospect. He’s at least a 3, and with enough work this season, could be a 4 by the time he leaves high school.

  • Jack

    Bringing in a guy who can flat out stroke it! Ben Emelogu, 6-5 190 – SG from Texas. We’re all over the map lately!

    • Max

      Well I guess its encouraging to see that we are getting players from other parts of the country to commit. But, I can’t find much about this kid, and just like with Kirby, we didn’t beat out any bcs schools to get him. He also isn’t rated by any of the major recruiting services. I’ll have to hold my judgement on this kid. Here’s to us finding a true pg to top of the class of 2013!

    • Les

      He has three HM offers from Washington, Marquette, and TCU.

      http://bustingbrackets.com/2012/10/14/virginia-tech-basketball-ben-emelogu-commits/

      • Max

        Thanks for the link Les! I had no idea that he had those offers. Sounds like a solid pickup.


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2012-13 Schedule

November
11/10 Hokies 80, etsu 62
11/12 Hokies 69, rhode island 50
11/15 Hokies 95, vmi 80
11/19 Hokies 96, unc-g 87
11/23 Hokies 87, appalachian state 76
**ACC/BIG Ten Challenge**
11/27 Hokies 95, iowa 79
December
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12/8 wvu 68, Hokies 67
**Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic**
12/10 Hokies 70, mvsu 49
12/15 Georgia Southern 78, Hokies 73
12/22 Hokies 66, bradley 65, OT
12/23 colorado state 88, Hokies 52
**Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic**
12/29 byu 97, Hokies 71
January
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1/9 boston college 86, Hokies 75
1/12 Hokies 70, georgia tech 65
1/19 Hokies 66, wake forest 65
1/24 virginia 74, Hokies 58
1/27 clemson 77, Hokies 70
1/30 miami 73, Hokies 64
February
2/2 unc 72, Hokies 60, OT
2/7 maryland 60, Hokies 55
2/9 Georgia Tech 64, hokies 54
2/12 virginia 73, Hokies 55
2/16 nc state 90, Hokies 86
2/21 duke 88, Hokies 56
2/24 Hokies 80, fsu 70
2/27 miami 76, Hokies 58
March
3/2 Hokies 69, clemson 61
3/5 duke 85, Hokies 57
3/10 wake 90, Hokies 79
**ACC Tournament in Greensboro**
3/14 vs. nc state, 2:30 p.m.
3/15 Quarterfinals
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