Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 15, 1993 TAG: 9301150070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
NORTHSIDE'S DEREY PICKS FOOTBALL, CAVS
After all the letters and phone calls and recruiting pitches, Walt Derey couldn't escape one fact: He had always been a Virginia fan."I've been following UVa since [basketball star] Ralph Sampson was there," said Derey, who broke Sampson's state tournament record for rebounds but plans to play only football for the Cavaliers.
Derey, a 6-foot-5 1/2, 235-pound tight end and defensive end for Northside High School, announced Thursday he had chosen UVa over the only other school he visited, North Carolina. He canceled a trip to North Carolina State.
Derey was chosen first-team All-Timesland as a defensive end, although he expects to play tight end in college. He led the option-oriented Vikings in receptions for the second year in a row with 14.
"I'll be surprised if he doesn't weigh 260 at some point," Northside coach Jim Hickam said. "Even at that size, he can play exactly what they recruited him to play [tight end]. He's got excellent hand-eye coordination for catching the ball, and he's an outstanding blocker."
Derey is the 10th Viking to sign with a Division I-A program in the past 10 years, but he never viewed himself as a college football prospect until his junior year.
"I always played football," he said, "but basketball was my favorite sport when I was younger. Now, they're about even."
Derey, who came out of his junior year with a 3.1 grade-point average and close to 950 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, was rated one of the top 25 football prospects in Virginia by the Roanoke Times & World-News.
UVa is awaiting word today on 6-4, 260-pound Julius Williams, an All-Ohio choice from Dayton who also is considering Ohio State.