Friday, July 01, 2011
Any way you look at it, Arizona is a long way from Texas
Some teams take QBs two at a time
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
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Last week’s Notebook Plus was produced during my coverage of baseball’s College World Series and I didn’t stop to think while conducting a Google search.
The issue concerned T.J. Millweard, a promising quarterback prospect who had committed to Arizona State while breaking an oral commitment made to Virginia Tech more than four months earlier.
My point was that Millweard’s decision probably wasn’t based on distance because, while his Fort Worth, Texas, home is 1,004 miles from Blacksburg, it’s 853 miles from Fort Worth to Tucson.
However, Arizona State isn’t located in Tucson. It’s located in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe.
Reader William Barkley wrote, “Saying that Arizona State is located in Tucson is comparable to saying that the Hokies are located in Charlottesville.”
I’ll take his word for it.
The same mileage calculator I used last week indicates that it’s 844 miles from Fort Worth to Tempe, Ariz., so my premise wasn’t flawed, but I’ll have to remember that the wonders of the Internet mean that no oversight goes undetected.
It’s flattering to think that Arizona State fans make a point of checking out Notebook Plus each week but I’ve figured out that 5-6 emails pointing out my error were sent from Tech fans. None were rude, which I appreciated, and that has prompted me to get some additional information on the Millweard de-commitment.
THE WORD I’M getting is that the stability of Millweard’s commitment was a topic in Tech staff meetings as recently as the start of June; however, it was felt that the commitment was solid.
In other words, the Hokies’ staff was not oblivious to the possibility that Millweard could be persuaded to change his mind but saw no major storm on the horizon.
It is interesting to note that other schools stepped up their pursuit of Millweard not long after he was named to ESPN.com’s list of the top 150 prospects and was given a four-star rating on the five-star scale used by many services.
There is a suspicion that some coaches closely monitor the various rating services, not so much to make them aware of talent, but because the recruiting of a four-star player endears them to their fan base.
After landing Millweard, Tech was not determined to add a second quarterback to its 2013 recruiting list, but the Hokies had a list of QB prospects that they wanted to keep on their radar. In many cases, schools who add a throwing quarterback like Millweard will lean toward a second quarterback who is more of an “athlete” capable of playing other positions.
The Hokies are looking at Logan Thomas as their starting quarterback for the next three seasons, but a quarterback they recruit now possibly could be their starting quarterback as a redshirt sophomore in 2014.
The rivals.com database lists the Hokies as having made offers to dual-threat quarterback prospects Bennie Coney (6-2, 210) from Plant City, Fla., and Chris Moody (6-0, 197) from McDonough, Ga., and I also hear they’re evaluating a quarterback from North Carolina.
Of course, Tech already has taken a commitment from one dual-threat quarterback, Brenden Motley from Christiansburg, but Motley is likely to play another position and is designated as an “athlete” by most services.
MARYLAND HAS BECOME the second ACC football program, along with Miami, to take commitments for 2012 from two quarterbacks.
Eleven days after taking a commitment from pro-style quarterback from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Perry Hills, the Terps added a second pro-style quarterback, Caleb Rowe, from Greer, S.C.
Rowe, with offers to that point from Big South members Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, was one of 29 quarterbacks at a Maryland quarterback camp June 21, according to Mark Klem of TerrapinTimes.com.
Rowe (6-2, 190) had 27 touchdown passes, compared to four interceptions, as a junior. He was not recruited by the ACC program closest to his home, but that might be a good omen for the Terrapins, whose current No. 1, Danny O’Brien, was passed over by the ACC school closest to his home, Wake Forest.
Maryland had four quarterbacks on its spring roster, but one of those, Tyler Smith, transferred to Elon. Jamarr Robinson, the Terps’ starting quarterback before O’Brien’s emergence, had elected to transfer before the spring.
The best “get” for new Maryland coach Randy Edsall so far has been 6-6, 280-pound Mike Madaras, a four-star offensive lineman from Good Counsel in Olney, Md.
VIRGINIA WAS AMONG the schools disappointed when 6-6, 280-pound Jacksonville, Fla., offensive lineman Jon Heck committed to North Carolina. Heck’s father, Andy, was an assistant coach on the original Al Groh staff at Virginia that included current Cavaliers’ head coach Mike London.
Had Heck wanted to come to Virginia, it might have created a dilemma for the Cavaliers, to whom a commitment this week from Andre Miles-Redmond was the fourth from an offensive lineman -- and fifth if they put DL Tyrell Chavis on the offensive side of the ball.
