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By Doug Doughty
Nansemond River's Dewayne Alford, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end, decided to attend Virginia Tech. His high school coach described him as "a diamond in the rough."
Alford also played running back during his sophomore year at Portsmouth Christian, then transferred to Nansemond River, where he had 61 tackles as a junior. He had six sacks last season for the Warriors.
Nansemond River coach Tracey Parker said Alford has some of the same attributes as Chris Ellis, who played for Parker at Bethel High School in Hampton before an outstanding college career as a defensive end for the Hokies.
"What they both bring to the table is a great burst and speed," said Parker, who also coached Tech defensive back Jimmy Williams at Bethel. "They have an uncanny ability to disrupt plays."
Alford's other offers were from James Madison and Old Dominion, and he may have "flown under the radar because he's only been here for one year," Parker said.
"A lot of I-A schools were hesitant to pull the trigger but Tech saw what I saw."
Alford runs the 55 meters and 300 meters in indoor track and has a 40-yard time estimated at 4.75 or 4.8 seconds.
Alford, the eighth player to commit to Virginia Tech for the class of 2011, said the Hokies have asked him to "greyshirt" and enroll in January 2012.
"At first, I had to think about that," said Alford, a 3.0 student.
"I weighed the pros and cons, but there were actually more pros. "
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Really
I am not bitter about his decision, just stating the facts. remember hokie boy you compete in the same 32 sports we have won NATIONAL titles in. I was mistaken you have one individual nat'l champ in bass fishing congrats. Before you call us tier 3 remember that we beat you 4 out of 5 years in hoops, seth will not schedule us, we went to the dance, you went to the NIT. You played the weakest schedule in Division 1. Football is not the only sport everyone cares about. The score is 32-0 in national championships...
okay
Basketball you guys are viable and I was jumping through the roof when you beat ND. Let's schedule MEN'S football ODU v. VT 2012. What is your predication for how that would end? Would VT break 80 or 100 points? If he was an all star bball player choosing between starting at ODU and being an 8th man at VT your argument would make sense. However, football???? Really.
What are the 32 titles in?
Just curious, because I googled it and couldn't find any info on it at all other than a quote by your new AD. And no, Tech doesn't compete in sailing. And it's not me that's calling ODU a "tier 3" school, it's the US News and World Report calling ODU that. It's a nice way of saying "4-year Community College".
Wait, nevermind I found it!
From the ODU official sports site, under "Traditions": Other than sailing, ODU doesn't have a SINGLE division 1 national title in ANY men's sport. Also, Tech does NOT compete in women's field hockey or sailing. So I come away highly unimpressed with your "32 national titles". And say what you want about basketball, but your program has peaked. The best you can hope for is to give Georgetown a game every once in a while, and to make the occasional NCAA tournament via the, haha, CAA tournament. Tech will be in the top 25 this year, and will continue to take their program to another level. Trust me, you don't want us on your schedule in the next few years.
As a Hokie student and Fan
I currently attend Virginia Tech and I completely agree with the comments about Dewayne coming to Tech. It will be a great opportunity for him and I am excited to see what he can bring for the Hokies. When you speak of Old Dominion basketball you need to be corrected though. "Give Georgetown a game every once in a while." This is an ignorant comment. I do believe that ODU won a first round tournament game this year in the tournament that actually means something. I enjoy going to the Tech basketball games as a student, dont get me wrong, but for year after year they have not been able to get any post season play better than the NIT. Also take a peek at the Tech vs. Old Dominion record for say the last 6 years. I believe Tech won 1 game? Seth Greenberg will not even think to schedule Old Dominion anymore because he continues to be embaressed time after time.
Sounds like sour grapes ODU fans
You should probably go ahead and get used to Tech, UVA or ANY D1 team plucking whomever they want from you. You'll never win a recruiting war against any D1 team. Ever. Relating to Dewayne though, I hear the Tech coaches are very excited about him. He performed very well at their camp a couple of weekends ago. Definitely an under the radar kind of guy who will benefit greatly from the greyshirt. It gives him an opportunity to bulk up some more, and get an extra spring practice in before his eligibility starts.
Nice Pick
Good Luck at VT, they have zero national championships in any sport, ODU has 32. I prefer the Beach over Bleaksburg anyday
HAHA
Hampton High School has several "championships" as well. You are comparing men and mice.
32, wow, that's a lot
were any of them in something more meaningful than rowing or badmitten? Tech is a top 10 Division 1 football program, and is ranked well-within the top 100 universities in the country. ODU isn't even playing a real FCS schedule yet, and it's a tier 3 university. You guys crack me up. And I'm willing to bet that you've never even been to Blacksburg, which is a beautiful college town.
from jmu/odu
to Tech? Can you say practice squad. You'll never hear from this kid again. Every H.S. coach just wants to say he's put X-number of players @ Tech or UVA or any other D-I school. It must boost their egos, but I think he fits in better @ D-II. He'll get more playing time too. Not hating, just saying.