Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506120049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech's football coach Frank Beamer must not have been kidding when he said the Hokies would seek earlier commitments this season.
The Hokies got one of their earliest commitments - if not the earliest - when quarterback Nick Sorensen from George Marshall High School in Falls Church confirmed that he would enroll in the fall of 1996.
Sorensen, a 6-foot-3, 185-pounder, passed for 991 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior in helping George Marshall to a 6-4 record. He was intercepted only twice.
``Virginia Tech is a school that was on my list even before I was recruited,'' said Sorensen, who has an older sister and an older brother who will attend Tech next year. ``When this opportunity came along, it helped my decision.
``My coach told me earlier this week that Tech was interested, but I didn't know just how interested until, wow, I got a letter in the mail saying they were offering me a scholarship. Then, I talked to [quarterback] coach [Rickey] Bustle and he confirmed it.''
Sorensen has a 3.2 grade-point average and met NCAA eligibility standards when he scored 980 on the Scholastic Assessment Test in the fall. He recently took the test for a second time and expects to go over 1,000 under the new scoring system.
Sorensen, the back-up quarterback for George Marshall as a sophomore, did not become a regular this year until the second game. He rushed 44 times for 304 yards and six touchdowns in Marshall's option attack.
``We actually read the option rather than pre-determine it,'' caoch Dean Sissler said. ``That's how well he ran it. He also throws the ball extremely well. Tech must have been impressed to jump on him this early.''
Sorensen said he was timed in 4.59 seconds for 40 yards at a Northern Virginia scouting combine, but said a second clocking of 4.67 was more consistent with the times he usually runs.
Sorensen clearly is the cornerstone of a revised Tech recruiting strategy. Many of Tech's rivals received early commitments last year from players who had not taken official visits.
``When they told me they were starting the class with me, it made me feel pretty special,'' Sorensen said.
by CNB