2001 class one of the best
Not many misses among top 25 recruits

By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

In a daily reshuffling of paper that rarely yields any column ideas, I have come across the 2000-2001 listing of the top college prospects in Virginia.

I hadn’t looked at the list of 2001 signees recently, but I do remember last year’s review of the 2000 signees and what an unimpressive list that was.

I won’t recount what happened to all those players, but here was The Roanoke Times’ top 10 (in order): Brandon Royster, Raymond Mann, Chris Perry, Maurice Shanks, Chad Cooper, Jeremiah Davis, John Dunn, Robert Bennett, Mike Daniels and Josh Spence.

Six years after the end of their high-school careers, only Perry and Dunn are in the NFL, and Perry wasn’t even a Virginia resident, having played in the undergraduate program at Fork Union as a boarding student from Winston-Salem, N.C.

In comparison, the class of players who graduated from Virginia high schools in 2001 was eminently more impressive:

No. 1 Bryan Randall – Randall, a quarterback from Bruton High School in Williamsburg, was the ACC player of the year and led Virginia Tech to a conference championship in its first year as a conference member. He will have a legacy as one of the true class acts in Virginia Tech football.

No. 2 De’Angelo Hall – Hall, a cornerback from Deep Creek in Chesapeake, was a first-team All-East selection, a second-team All-American and The Roanoke Times’ selection as the Division I state defensive player of the year in 2003. He turned pro after his junior year at Virginia Tech and was the first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons.

No. 3 Mike Robinson – After playing in a variety of roles and positions early in his career at Penn State, Robinson started at quarterback for Penn State this year and led the Nittany Lions to a turnaround 11-1 season. He was fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

No. 4 Justin Hamilton – Hamilton, from Clintwood High School, started six games at defensive back for Virginia Tech this year after serving in a variety of roles – mostly on offense – earlier in his career. He was the Hokies’ second-leading receiver as a sophomore in 2003 and had 75 rushing attempts as a reserve tailback in 2004. He also was a valuable special-teams performer.

No. 5 Patrick Estes – Estes, a tight end from Benedictine in Richmond, was not as celebrated as one of his Virginia classmates and fellow tight ends but received considerable playing time and was drafted by San Francisco, which moved him to the offensive line and kept him on the active roster.

No. 6 Carlos Campbell – Campbell, a former Hampton High School quarterback, was recruited by Notre Dame as a wide receiver. He never was redshirted and eventually finished his career at cornerback, where he was the 12th-leading tackler for an Irish team that went 6-6 in 2004. He did not make a single start.

No. 7 C.J. Fayton -- Fayton, a quarterback at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, was recruited as a wide receiver by Tennessee. He was the Vols’ third-leading receiver this year, with 24 receptions, and had 74 receptions in his career, seven for touchdowns.

No. 8 Darryl Blackstock – Blackstock, a defensive end at Heritage High School in Newport News, spent one season at Fork Union Military Academy before starting for three years at outside linebacker for Virginia. He was second on UVa’s all-time sack list before passing up his final year of eligibility. He was a third-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals.

No. 9 Cedric Humes – Humes, a running back from Princess Anne, had something of a Randall-type career in that he was well-regarded for the workmanlike way he went about his business. Humes led the Hokies in rushing this year as a fifth-year senior, with 752 yards, and had more than 1,600 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns in his career. He was particularly lethal against archrival Virginia.

No. 10 D.J. Walton – Walton, a running back from Hylton High School, may have been the biggest bust on the Top 25 and you can take that any way you want. Walton, who picked Virginia Tech over Penn State, Virginia and Wake Forest, moved to defensive back – as expected – and was on the verge of playing time before two arrests, the second of which, an armed robbery, led to his permanent dismissal from the team.

No. 11 Ottowa Anderson – Anderson, a wide receiver from Norview High School in Norcom, had 72 receptions in his UVa career but was another player dogged by off-field issues. He was academically ineligible even before he was arrested for fighting with his girlfriend in the summer of 2004. He had a redshirt year at his disposal but was suspended for one game for a violation of team rules and had only 10 receptions this past season.

No. 12. Jeff King – King, a tight end from Pulaski County, was personally responsible for the reintroduction of the tight end into Virginia Tech’s offense. After catching a total of seven passes in his first two seasons, King had a total of 51 catches in his last two seasons, 10 for touchdowns and twice was named second-team All-ACC.

No. 13 Melvin Massey – Massey, a linebacker for Tommy Reamon at Warwick High School, was a backup nose tackle for three years at Virginia before transferring to Division I-AA Hampton University, where he had instant eligibility for a fifth year. Massey, not a major factor at Hampton, played in nine games and for a total of 47 plays in his final season at UVa.

No. 14 Heath Miller – Miller, a quarterback at Honaker High School and the Group A player of the year, was moved to tight end at Virginia and ended his career as an All-American, a two-time All-ACC selection and the winner of the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end. He was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been a starter since the opening game.

No. 15 Blake Warren – Warren, a linebacker from Centreville High School in Fairfax County, played in 48 games during his Tech career and had 96 tackles. His only start came in the 2004 opener before the Hokies turned to Xavier Adibi. One of his brothers, Brett, is another Tech reserve linebacker. A third brother, Beau, will arrive at Tech next year.

No. 16 Chris Pannell – Pannell, a defensive end from Robert E. Lee in Staunton, was last mentioned in The Roanoke Times by teammate Tim Sandidge, noting that Pannell once had been hit by an apple thrown by a West Virginia fan. Pannell was listed as a backup offensive tackle in the fall of 2003 but subsequently left the team. His biggest claim to fame was that his girlfriend once posed for Playboy.

No. 17 Nate Ilaoa – Ilaoa, named Washington Post offensive player of the year as a senior at North Stafford, had Virginia Tech in his final four before signing with Hawaii. Ilaoa, a native Hawaiian, had 85 carries for 636 yards and six touchdowns this year. Listed as a 5-9, 248-pound wide receiver and running back, he also had 36 receptions and 274 yards and one TD. He had 46 receptions as a redshirt sophomore, then missed nearly two seasons with a knee injury.

No. 18 Elton Brown – Brown played in one game as a senior at Hampton High School after being charged with assault one year earlier after his junior year at Heritage High School in Newport News. But he was a qualifier and vastly underrated at No. 18. He became a starter for the final month of his freshman year at Virginia and ended his career as a first-team All-American and winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy that goes to the ACC’s top offensive lineman. He started this year for the Arizona Cardinals.

No. 19 Nick Smith – Smith, the Group AA offensive player of the year in 2000 as a junior at Park-View Sterling, transferred to Centreville High School before signing with Wake Forest. It was reported that he was transferring to James Madison prior to the 2002 season. However, he did not enroll at JMU, Centreville coach Mike Skinner said Friday, and did not play in a college football game.

No. 20 Danny McGrath – McGrath, an offensive lineman from Herndon High School, is one of the few players on the list who has remaining eligibility. McGrath made his first career start this season and ended up starting eight games at center. He received an extra year because he did not enroll at Tech until the January following his senior year in high school.

No. 21 Tyree Spinner – Spinner, younger brother of former Virginia quarterback Tyree Spinner, followed his brother to UVa and then to Richmond when his brother transferred. Spinner, from Paul VI in Fairfax, played tight end in high school and was a defensive end at Richmond. He never played for the Cavaliers and played only briefly for the Spiders before surfacing at Morgan State, where, listed as a 6-7, 300-pound senior tight end, he caught three passes this past season.

No. 22 Chris Clifton – Clifton, a quarterback at Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake, ended up seeing most of his action at Virginia Tech at wide receiver. Clifton, who indicated last spring that he was leaving the program over a lack of playing time, returned this past season as a redshirt senior. He played in 31 games in his career and made one start. Clifton played on special teams in nine games this season.

No. 23 Tim Sandidge – Sandidge, a 6-1, 310-pound defensive tackle from Amherst County, started three games for Virginia Tech at the end of the 2003 season and then didn’t start again until this season, when he started nine games and finished with 36 tackles, only two behind the highly regarded Jonathan Lewis.

No. 24 Aaron Alexander – Alexander, a quarterback at Henrico High School, was a quarterback in four games at Michigan State as a true freshman, then moved to wide receiver. Alexander (6-5, 200) was never redshirted and caught a 26-yard pass in his final college game against Hawaii in Honolulu (maybe Nate Ilaoa was there). In his best season, Alexander caught 44 passes in 2003.

No. 25 Ernest Hunter – Hunter, a nose tackle from Lake Braddock High School in Fairfax County, had 24 tackle this season for West Virginia (11-1). Hunter was a starter at defensive tackle in 2003, was plagued by injuries in 2004, then changed positions and started again last season.

WHO WE MISSED? Three starters on Virginia Tech’s Gator Bowl championship team were not on the list – outside linebacker James Anderson (No. 26), offensive lineman Will Montgomery (No. 43) and offensive tackle Reggie Butler (No. 57).

Montgomery, a first-team All-ACC selection this past season, was a walk-on from Centreville. Butler was a late recruit from Monticello High School in Charlottesville, and, at No. 26, Anderson barely missed the Top 25.

Some of the other Top 25 players who have played at the Division I-A level include Florida State punter Chrius Hall (No. 42), Ohio University wide receiver Anthony Hackett (No. 44) and Maryland wide receiver Derrick Fenner (No. 93).

Fenner, a two-year starter for the Terps, originally was scheduled to play for Connecticut after becoming eligible late in the recruiting process at Hampton High School.