Eriq Lewis is a Monarch

   The morning of National Signing Day can throw curve balls as a reporter. After months of digging a phone calls to see which player is going where, you think you've got a rock-solid list. And I thought going into this morning I had a rock-solid list of players who would sign with ODU.

   Then I got an email from a fan who had heard that Eriq Lewis, a strong safety from Coolidge High in Washington, D.C, was wavering, than he might end up at UMass.

   So I called Lewis, who told me that was news to him.

   "I heard some of that too and I don't know where that rumor started," Lewis said, as cool as the other side of the pillow. "I just turned in my paperwork to ODU. That's where I'm going."

   So while I had him on the phone, I asked if he was ok with the idea of redshirting and saving his four years of eligibility for the Colonial Athletic Association.

   "If that's what coach (Bobby) Wilder wants, then I gues that's what it will be," Lewis said. "But I'm going down there looking to play this fall. I'm just competitive by nature."

   That rumor, it turns out, was just that. Lewis even told me he already has his roommate picked out. It'll be wide receiver Larry Pinkard, who is from Washington, D.C., as well and played at Ballou High.

   "We go way back," Lewis said.

   That sounds like as done a deal as they get.

   More coming from National Signing Day this evening.

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