ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: College Notebook
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
One of the easiest ways to get a ticket for the Virginia Tech men's basketball showdown with No.1-ranked Massachusetts is to be on the Hokies' recruiting list.
Four players will be taking official visits to Tech this weekend, including 6-foot-6, 230-pound Rolan Roberts, the top senior for reigning Group AAA champion Potomac High School in Dumfries.
Also scheduled to be on campus are 6-8 Russ Wheeler from Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga.; 6-1 Brendon Dunlap from Mount St.Michael's in the Bronx, N.Y., and 6-4 Tony Stanley from Washington-Lee in Arlington.
Several prospects are expected to visit Tech unofficially, including 6-4 Cornelius ``C.J.'' Jackson from Oak Hill, W.Va., and Hargrave Military Academy teammates Jesus Rodriguez and Jermaine Kilgore.
Hargrave (22-3) will play Tech's junior varsity shortly after the Hokies' varsity meets the Minutemen at noon. It will not count as an official recruiting visit for Rodriguez and Kilgore, both of whom plan to take a later, paid trip to Blacksburg.
Kilgore, a 6-6, 200-pound forward who went to Hargrave from Kannapolis, N.C., reportedly will have difficulty meeting NCAA eligibility guidelines. Rodriguez, a 6-71/2, 200-pounder from Levittown, Puerto Rico, is close to the required score on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
Some recruiting services have said Roberts is close to making an oral commitment to Tech. Roberts is averaging 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks for Potomac, which is 45-2 in the past two seasons.
Roberts wears size-20 shoes and there is some feeling he may grow to 6-8. More important is whether Roberts will qualify academically, although Potomac coach Kendall Hayes said he is ``guardedly optimistic.''
Tech had one signee in November, point guard Nathaniel Bailey from Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tenn., and can sign three more. Science Hill (26-1) is ranked No.6 in the country by USA Today.
MEDIA BLITZ: Jack Williams, director of media relations at Tech, said 98 requests for media credentials to the UMass game had been received by Tuesday. The average media turnout for a Tech men's basketball game is 45, said Williams, who said he has not seen a bigger demand in his 18 years at Tech.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING: The biggest sleeper in the state had to be defensive back Roman Nelsen from Robinson High School in Fairfax. Nelsen, who was not rated among the top 100 prospects in the state by The Roanoke Times, joined teammate Brent Mueller in signing with Auburn.
Auburn coach Bobby Bowden was at Robinson to recruit Mueller, rated the No.2 prospect in the state, when he was approached by Nelsen. Bowden agreed to look at film and was impressed by what he saw of Nelsen, who missed the first five games of his senior season with an ankle injury.
Football recruiting junkies may be unfamiliar with North Carolina signee Quintin Savage, a 5-11, 185-pound defensive back from Bethel High School in Hampton. Savage played in nine games for Jefferson High School in Denver before moving to Bethel, where he was not eligible to play.
Savage is one of 36 players from Virginia who have signed letters of intent with Division I-A programs, including defensive end John Kraus from North Stafford High School, who had made a previously unreported commitment to Ohio University, coached by former Ferrum College and UVa linebacker Jim Grobe.
LOOKING ELSEWHERE: Stephon McQueen, who committed to Virginia in September, will take visits to Maryland and East Carolina after the Cavaliers rescinded his scholarship offer on the eve of the national signing day Feb.7.
``It was professionally handled,'' said Ned Gonet, McQueen's coach at Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh, N.C. ``They had laid down some stipulations that he did not meet, [but] it put us in a heck of a situation. A lot of the people who had been interested were not in a position to become re-involved.''
Gonet said McQueen, a defensive end, was told by the UVa staff there would be a problem if he had a ``D'' among his semester grades, which he did. There is a possibility McQueen might sign with the Cavaliers again after a year in prep school, but that is unlikely if he gets another offer and qualifies academically.
IN THE ACC: Only Dean Smith has coached in more ACC men's basketball games than Mike Krzyzewski, who passed ex-Maryland coach Lefty Driesell on Sunday when he coached in his 508th game at Duke. Smith has coached in 1,089 games in 35 years at North Carolina - 542 before Krzyzewski even got to Duke.
Maryland expects to get a hardship year for junior guard Matt Kovarik, the eighth man for the Terrapins' final 16 team a year ago, who has a stress fracture and last played Dec.9 in Maryland's fifth game. ... N.C. State may not be as lucky with senior Marcus Wilson, who had played in seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
LOCAL UPDATE: Multi-sport standout Kelly Fackler, a junior from Fieldale-Collinsville High School, was dismissed from the Lynchburg College women's basketball team Feb.3 for unspecified reasons. Fackler, a preseason All-American, was averaging 13.9 points - down from 16.9 last season.
NON-REVENUE: Virginia Tech's volleyball signees are 6-foot twins Britton and Rachel Julian from Camden, S.C., and Kristin Wright from Gretna High School. Tech coach Stephanie Hawbecker said they were the top three players on her recruiting list.
Virginia's first men's soccer signees under new coach George Gelnovatch are midfielder Brian West of Ellicott City, Md., and defender Michael Green from Columbia, Md. At 6 feet 4, Green is taller than any player currently in the UVa program.
The Cavaliers have signed two members of the under-18 U.S. national field hockey team, Meredith Elwell from Moorestown, N.J., and Laura Lindsay from Deerfield, Mass. ... UVa women's soccer signee Megan Boeh, a goalie from Columbia, Md., was rated one of the top 25 prospects in the country by USA Today.
Dawn Turpin, a junior from Radford High School, has been named one of the co-captains of the women's gymnastics team at Radford University.
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