Notebook: Learning Where Recruits Want to Play
So which school is better to play for, Virginia or Virginia Tech? No, seriously. Let's say you are a rising senior and reside in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where are you planning your legacy, Tech or UVA?
If you're accustomed to doing the 'Hokie Poke', then this one is easy. With a dominant conference record, four straight 10 win seasons, and one of the most passionate fan bases in the country, then why not Tech? If you're a Wahoo, however, then why on earth would anyone pass up the chance to go to Charlottesville and get one of the premier educations in the world? Not to mention playing for a top 25 football team that sends numerous players to the NFL.
Or maybe better yet, why would any in-state kid leave the state of Virginia at all? You can't really go wrong with either school, can you? Well it seems you can. Logan Heastie, Kevin Newsome, Tajh Boyd, Damien Thigpen, Bryn Renner, Zach Thompson, and Brian Slay are all outstanding Virginia home-grown talents, but all have left the state.
The recruiting battle that exists between both in-state schools is a fierce one and whoever is the victor will likely win more ballgames, which is the bottom line in this recruiting war. Judging by last year, it was Virginia Tech who easily won over the 2008 class of Virginia talent as they swept up big name talent such as Ryan Williams (Stonewall Jackson), Vinston Painter (Maury), and Dyrell Roberts (Smithfield).
And who can blame those kids for choosing Tech? The program has emerged as a national powerhouse the last few years and just had eight players get drafted by the NFL in one year. I don't care who you are, that's pretty darn good. So with that being said, you'd think that Tech would sweep the state every year and put a lock on all the in-state talent, right? Wrong. This year, as mentioned above, there are kids going out of state and now committing to Virginia. It seems they're avoiding Tech like it's the plague.
So what gives? How can UVA all of a sudden sweep the rug up underneath from Tech? Or why can't Tech or UVA lock down on players such as Thigpen, Newsome, or Heastie? Do the kids out there today all want to play for Tech as shown last year or do they all like UVA?
To answer those questions, we turned to Tommy Buzzo, an expert in the field of recruiting. Head coach of the Liberty Eagles in Bealeton, he is the authoritative voice in this field. Since 2001, he's sent 10 kids to the FBS (Division I-A) level. Every year, it's almost expected that he'll be sending at least two of his kids to the highest level of college football. Whether it's Alabama, Eastern Michigan or Indiana, he's sent his players far and wide across the U.S.
Buzzo's track record goes on and on , but to keep things simple, let's just say he knows what he's talking about. So when asked about which in-state school the kids are appealing to these days, he gave quite an interesting answer.
"It really just depends on the kid," said Buzzo. "I think the schools have a whole lot of things that are similar and a lot of things that are different. So it just depends on the kid."
And he's right. Both schools do have a whole lot in common, but at the same time can be completely different.
"There's no right or wrong answer," said Buzzo. "There's no way for me to say that most of the kids want to go to Virginia or Virginia Tech."
Maybe 'Exhibit A' of this should be Corey Lillard. Lillard currently plays for Buzzo's Eagles and had committed to play for UVA over the spring despite growing up a huge Virginia Tech fan all his life.
"Oh yeah, I was a fan of Virginia Tech," said Lillard rather excitedly. "I always watched them on TV and have always known their players to be great. I was a huge Michael Vick fan and that was a big reason why I liked Tech so much."
So how on Earth could a lifelong fan of Virginia Tech slip away from them? Wouldn't this be an indication that UVA is winning this in-state feud for talent? Well, not exactly. Buzzo says that things are not all clear-cut as they appear. With Virginia Tech having a limited number of scholarships to offer, Lillard getting the chance to play for his favorite team was never a possibility.
"Coach Beamer visited our school and basically said he's a scholarship player for us but said, 'I feel really bad because this is the first time that we've been in this situation where we're going to have solid Virginia Tech kids but we're not going to be able to recruit them because they don't fit the position we're looking for,'" said Buzzo. "[Beamer] also said, 'at my tenure at Tech, the situation has never been like this before.' So we knew early on that Corey playing the position of safety wasn't an area of need for Virginia Tech, so Tech wasn't really ever an option for him to consider."
Despite Tech never being able to offer Lillard, he certainly wasn't devoid of any attention. He was sitting on nine offers before committing to UVA in April, which brings up another interesting point. How strong is the pull to go out of state? Already not being able to play for a team and school he loved, it would seem viable to just go out of state and open up your options. Yet it appears the appeal of playing in-state made all the difference, even it meant playing for his rival.
"I've been in Virginia my whole life. I've probably left the state only a handful of times, and the farthest I've been is Ocean City, Maryland. So I mean, I've been here all my life and want to hold it down," said Lillard.
For those not up on the current lingo of today, 'hold it down' translates into 'I will defend my home state of Virginia.' Okay, so I may have butchered that translation a little bit, but how great is that quote? Not only does Lillard not mind playing for his rival, but he wants to do so in defending his home turf. He's almost like a throwback Revolutionary War soldier who will defend his home despite the enemy being something he's familiar with all his life.
But is every prospect in the state like this? Lillard seems to think so, as does fellow 2009 UVA commit and four-star back Dominique Wallace.
"He's saying how we need to get all these in-state guys and keep them in Virginia. He's basically the same way as me," said Lillard. "When it comes down to it, where your home is, that's what you wanna do. I would say kids would stay in-state more than they go out of state."
For Buzzo, though, he offers a different take on the situation.
"Each kid is different, they really are," said Buzzo. "Most kids come in and one of the things I'll ask them is, 'do you want to stay close to home?' A lot of times they say, 'no, I want to go wherever the best is for me.' So we have a whole bunch of questions that we go over and we talk about things."
Brandon Gore, one of Buzzo's Division I-A products went through that same exact process. He ultimately ended up at Virginia Tech, but Buzzo tells us the path to Blacksburg wasn't all that easy. Staring down offers from around the country, Gore nearly was drawn away from his home state to play for a more traditional power.
"Brandon Gore, for him, it really came down to Michigan and Virginia Tech, and he almost at the last second went to Michigan," said Buzzo. "So for him, one of the questions was, 'is Michigan enough to take you out of the state of Virginia knowing that your parents are going to have to travel much farther and not be able to see you play each Saturday?' And it almost was."
Not every one of Buzzo's blue-chippers, though, has had the mentality of Gore or Lillard in wanting to stay in-state. There was the case of Alex Stadler, a massive four-star lineman who held offers from nearly every school on the East Coast. Just like Gore, his future home would either be at an in-state school or a traditional power.
"I always thought that he would eventually end up in-state but he fell in love with Alabama when he was doing that big spring-break tour," said Buzzo. "In the end, he had come down to Alabama and Virginia Tech, but just couldn't get away from his heart and felt the best fit was the University of Alabama."
That then brings up an interesting point. In the case of Gore and Stadler, it was the big-time traditional powers holding the most amount of pull, which begs the question: what exactly are the benefits then of staying in-state? Once the big-name schools come a knockin' it seems the in-state benefits are no longer apparent.
"Well, obviously both our Division I-A in-state schools are great schools," said Buzzo. "There is not a good education a kid couldn't get at both of those schools if staying in-state, but again, kids have to make intelligent decisions."
But still. It seems recruits these days may not be totally enamored with just academics. As noted earlier, just being a big-name program was enough to lure one of Buzzo's finest recruits ever away from Virginia Tech. Yet Lillard disagrees with that notion. To him, academics should be placed over good football.
"Basically, why I wanted to go to UVA is because I think it's going to help me in life," said Lillard. "I know there will be a time after college when I'm going to be like, 'wow, this is the real world now. What am I going to do? How am I going to survive?'"
When it comes down to it, though, Buzzo says he's all about just finding his kids the right fit. Even as a native Virginian, he admits he can't be partisan towards his home state or favorite team.
"My job is to get the kid the exposure when he's done some things that would make him a Division I scholarship player by him seeing the schools whether it's UConn, North Carolina State, Florida State, or Miami or wherever," said Buzzo. "So when I have a kid who's capable of playing at that level, I'd like for him to explore more options than playing for Virginia or Virginia Tech. In the end, if he wants to stay home, then that's a good thing too."
As for Lillard, he probably best made sense of the wild and whacky recruiting world when he just bluntly stated, "When they're standing there with a scholarship in their hand and it's a great academic school and they're saying I can go play football for them, shoot, I'll take that."
Now that makes sense.
For specific questions or comments on Northern Virginia recruiting, please email me, Derek LeComte, at GamedayRecruits@aol.com
