ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Appalachia junior Travis Turner has led his teams to two state championships.
It was no great surprise to Appalachia High School football coach Tom Turner when his son, Travis, committed to Virginia Tech.
``Personally, I've felt that was where he was going to end up since he was four years old,'' said the older Turner, who played defensive tackle for the Hokies during the early 1970s.
Travis Turner's interest in Tech picked up when he entered high school and he plans to make a formal commitment tonight in a phone call to Hokies head coach Frank Beamer.
It will be Tech's second commitment from a junior. Grant Noel, a quarterback from Ridgeley, W.Va., committed to the Hokies in January.
Turner has been the starting quarterback at Appalachia for three seasons, leading his team to Group A Division I championships in 1994 and 1996, and this year was named first-team All-Group A at defensive back.
Turner has passed for 3,800 yards and 45 touchdowns in his career, and he also has rushed for 29 touchdowns. He also has 19 interceptions and, at 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds, he is viewed as a prospect on both sides of the ball and at several positions.
``They told me I will be given the opportunity to play quarterback,'' said Turner, a drop-back passer who has thrown a football 70 yards and runs 40 yards in 4.8 seconds.
The Tech coaches have known for several weeks that Turner was prepared to commit, but he waited until the end of the basketball season to make his decision public. He has scored 976 points in basketball.
``Now I won't have to visit any campuses and I'll be able to concentrate on my grades and winning another state championship,'' Turner said.
Turner has not taken the Scholastic Assessment Test, but he has a 3.2 grade-point average and ranks among the top 10 students in his class.
Turner received a letter Wednesday from new Southern Methodist coach Mike Cavan, previously at East Tennessee State. Wisconsin and Tennessee had requested tape and Virginia invited him to a basketball game March 2 in a letter that arrived March 4.
``We pick the all-state team in Charlottesville and I've met [UVa] coach [George] Welsh,'' Tom Turner said, ``but, when I've seen him a couple of other times, he didn't seem to know me or know that I had a son.''
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