Jami Frankenberry

Pilot staff writer Jami Frankenberry covers Old Dominion University's men's basketball team ... and blogs about it here..

Category: ODU Basketball

Maury: 5 Commodores sign

Feb 08

11:22 AM

9:15 a.m.

Maury High School, Norfolk

The folks at Maury were so excited to get their national signing day ceremony started that they began 15 minutes early.

That didn’t bother defensive back Ricky Nichols. He couldn’t wait to sign the dotted line to go to Old Dominion University. In October, he was the first player to commit to the new program, which begins play in 2009.

“It feels good to know that I’m getting ready to embark on a new legacy,” said Nichols. “It’s a building process at ODU and I guess I’m the first person to try to help build it.”

Nichols, 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, said he’s also looking forward to playing for former Maury coach Dealton Cotton, who is now an assistant on the Monarchs staff.

“It’s going to feel good playing for him because he is like a second father for me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in right now.”

Nichols was one of five Commodores to make their college decision official. The others were highly touted lineman Vinston Painter (Virginia Tech), linebacker Jamal Giddens (Liberty), lineman Travis Branche (Virginia State) and running back Carnell Cooke (Carson-Newman College).

Cooke, who rushed for nearly 900 yards this past season, said he was thrilled to be going to the Division II school in Tennessee.

“They were the only college that was really interested in me and I went down there to visit and it went great,” said Cooke. “I just loved the college and it’s a great little atmosphere down there.”