SB Nation DC - National Signing Day 2012: Complete Coverage Of Local Commitments, Local Schools And Morehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48897/dc-fave.png2012-02-02T14:13:44-05:00http://dc.sbnation.com/rss/stream/25267162012-02-02T14:13:44-05:002012-02-02T14:13:44-05:00Virginia Tech Football Recruiting 2012: National Signing Day Recap
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/virginia-tech-hokies">Virginia Tech Hokies</a> picked up a big class of 28 recruits on National Signing Day and <a target="_blank" href="http://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/2/2766050/virginia-tech-recruiting-ranking-2012/in/2526716">just missed out on the Top 25</a> in terms of the year's big winners for the 2012 class of prospects. Here's the full rundown on who the Hokies managed to pick up.</p>
<p>A whopping seven of the commitments to Virginia Tech were consensus four-star prospects, <a target="_blank" href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/bwi/football/recruiting/commitments/2012/virginiatech-16">according to Rivals</a>. The four-stars are athlete Joel Caleb, linebackers Deon Clarke, Trey Edmunds and Ken Ekanem, running backs J.C. Coleman and Drew Harris and defensive back Donaldven Manning.</p>
<p>Three-star recruits for the Hokies were defensive ends Woody Baron, Seth Dooley and Jarontay Jones, offensive lineman Augie Conte, defensive backs Desmond Frye, Der'Woun Greene, Donovan Riley and Davion Tookes, wide receivers Mark Irick, <span class="sbn-auto-link">Thomas Smith</span> and Joshua Stanford, tight end Dakota Jackson, running back Chris Mangus, linebackers Dahman McKinnon and Devin Vandyke, athletes Brenden Motley and Jerome Wright and defensive tackles Alston Smith and Nigel Williams.</p>
<p>Offensive linemen Adam Taraschke and Jack Willenbrock comprised the two-star recruits for the Hokies.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px;"><i style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">For all your recruiting news, follow SB Nation's Recruiting Twitter feed, <a style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting"><b style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">@SBNRecruiting</b></a>. For complete college football coverage, please visit SB Nation's <a style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="../../ncaa-football" target="blank">NCAA football hub</a>. </i><i style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Hokies, visit SB Nation's Virginia Tech blog, <a style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" target="_blank" href="http://www.gobblercountry.com/"><b style="outline-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Gobbler Country</b></a>.</i></p>
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https://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/2/2/2766843/2012-virginia-tech-recruiting-national-signing-dayBill Hanstock2012-02-02T13:57:43-05:002012-02-02T13:57:43-05:00Virginia Football Recruiting 2012: National Signing Day Recap
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/virginia-cavaliers">Virginia Cavaliers</a> narrowly <a target="_blank" href="http://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/2/2766076/virginia-recruiting-ranking-2012/in/2526716">missed finishing in the Top 25</a> with their 2012 class of football recruits, but their commits from 26 national prospects make for a deep and varying class of players with a big ceiling.</p>
<p>The Cavs picked up four different four-star prospects by National Signing Day on February 1, including two Virginia natives. 6'4" defensive end Eli Harold is from Virginia Beach and linebacker Kwontie Moore played for Norfolk Christian School. The two other four-star recruits are defensive end Michael Moore, from Hyattsville, MD and athlete Canaan Severin from Worcester, MA.</p>
<p>Three-star recruits for the Cavaliers consisted of linebackers Demeitre Brim and Mark Hall, athlete Maurice Canady, offensive linemen Tyrell Chavis, Sean Karl, Andre Miles-Redmond and Michael Mooney, wide receivers Anthony Cooper, Adrian Gamble and Mario Nixon, quarterbacks Matt Johns and Greyson Lambert, defensive backs C.J. Moore and Kelvin Rainey, running back Kye Morgan and defensive end Courtnye Wynn.</p>
<p>VA's two-star recruits in the new class are wide receiver Jamall Brown, tight end Kyle Dockins, offensive lineman Ryan Doull, athletes Max Valles and Wilfred Wahee and running back Divante Walker.</p>
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https://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/2/2/2766761/2012-virginia-recruiting-national-signing-dayBill Hanstock2012-02-02T10:21:13-05:002012-02-02T10:21:13-05:002012 Virginia Football Recruiting Ranking: Cavaliers Climb Towards Top 25
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<p>National Signing Day isn't typically a very exciting time of year for Virginia Cavalier fans, but thanks to Mike London and the rest of his staff, the Cavaliers are starting to get some national attention in recruiting. The Cavaliers had a second-straight strong class, one which nearly ranked in the top-25 Nation-wide.</p>
<p>The guys over at <a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=8&toinid=658&yr=2012">Scout </a>have the 26 commitments the Cavaliers received ranked as the 28th best class in the Nation. <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/teamrank/2012/ACC/all">Rivals</a> has Virginia ranked as the fourth best recruiting class in the ACC for 2012. The gem of this class is Eli Harold, a five-star on Scout and a four-star on Rivals, that helps bring this class up a few rankings.</p>
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https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/2/2766076/virginia-recruiting-ranking-2012Jordan Ruby2012-02-02T09:38:57-05:002012-02-02T09:38:57-05:00Maryland Football Recruiting Rankings: Terps Ranked 47th After National Signing Day 2012
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<p>Randy Edsall was hired too late in the process to make a real significant impact on the Terrapins 2011 recruiting class, so this was really the first class that he could get his hands on. And considering that the Terps are coming off a 2-10 season, the class they were able to secure is actually pretty impressive.</p>
<p>The Terps finished strong and came in with the 47th best class in the Nation according to <a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2012">Scout.com</a>. They rank them by the Conference over at Rivals, and the Terps are given the 7th best class in the Conference, right behind North Carolina. The Terps got some important local recruits in Wes Brown and Albert Reid, which could set the foundation of even stronger classes moving forward.</p>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><i style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Click the link for more on <a href="http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/1/31/2762675/national-signing-day-2012-eddie-goldman" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">National Signing Day 2012</a></i><i style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">. For all your recruiting news, follow SB Nation's Recruiting Twitter feed, <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting" target="_blank" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><b style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">@SBNRecruiting</b></a>. For complete college football coverage, please visit SB Nation's <a target="blank" href="http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/1/26/ncaa-football" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">NCAA football hub</a>. </i><i style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Terrapins, visit SB Nation's Maryland blog, <a href="http://www.testudotimes.com/" target="_blank" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #093369; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><b style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Testudo Times</b></a>.</i></p>
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https://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/2/2/2766151/maryland-football-recruiting-rankings-national-signing-day-2012Jordan Ruby2012-02-02T08:52:18-05:002012-02-02T08:52:18-05:002012 Virginia Tech Football Recruiting Ranking: Hokies Almost Crack Top-25
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<p>When the dust settled on National Signing Day 2012, the Hokies had a very large class with 28 commitments, but the quality might not have been what Hokie fans have come to expect from Frank Beamer and company. But because the class was so large that it gave the Hokies pretty respectable class rankings across the various agencies.</p>
<p>According to<a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=8&toinid=658&yr=2012"> Scout.com</a>, Virginia Tech had the 26th best class in the Nation, just missing out on the top-25. Their class is made up predominantly of three-star and below level talents, with only three four-star prospects and no five-stars. <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/teamrank/2012/ACC/all">Rivals</a> is much more generous with their rankings, giving the Hokies the fourth best class in the ACC but with seven four-star prospects. Not a banner year for the Hokies, but certainly one with some successful program-building.</p>
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https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/2/2766050/virginia-tech-recruiting-ranking-2012Jordan Ruby2012-02-02T08:00:28-05:002012-02-02T08:00:28-05:00Eddie Goldman Picking Florida State Just Part Of A Banner National Signing Day For Friendship Academy
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<p>Eddie Goldman may have been the marquee name, but Wednesday's National Signing Day revealed the true depth of Aazaar Abdul-Rahim's Friendship Collegiate football program.</p> <p>WASHINGTON -- To the outside world, Eddie Goldman was the star. At five minutes past 10 o'clock on National Signing Day, a nationwide audience watching on ESPNU was patched through just in time to hear the 6'4", 300-pound defensive tackle at Friendship Collegiate Academy announce that he would be attending Florida State this coming fall.</p>
<p>"It was where I wanted to be," Goldman told America. "If I went anywhere else, I wouldn't have been happy."</p>
<p>"My feeling is relief," Goldman's mother, Sharon Davis, said. "Ultimately, it came down to who he could trust."</p>
<p>Yes, Goldman got most of the attention. But those who gathered in the Donald L. Hense Gymnasium and bothered to stay longer than the first 10 minutes saw an event that wasn't just about Goldman (whose announcement was but the first small part), but was also about his 18 teammates who had received scholarship offers to play college football.</p>
<p>Long after the ESPN cameras had been broken down and a technician had removed Goldman's earpiece and battery pack, his teammates were walking to the lectern one by one to announce their decision to attend places like Bowie State, Morgan State, Virginia State, Glenville State, Richmond and Cheyney University.</p>
<p>This sort of group recognition is part of the ethos of a program that has been made from scratch by Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, a graduate of Dunbar High School who also has two degrees from San Diego State and started the football program at Friendship in 2003.</p>
<p>"I was brought up to treat ordinary people special and to treat special people ordinary," Rahim said Wednesday after the ceremony. "And Eddie's the same way. He was asking Clemson and Alabama to take a look at his teammates."</p>
<p>Friendship Academy doesn't quite fit the profile of a rising football power. It has a perfectly respectable enrollment of around 1,300 students, more than the area's traditional athletic powerhouse, Dematha. But the school's densely packed urban location on Minnesota Avenue across from an Orange Line Metro station leaves no room for any athletic facilities beyond a gym. The football team practices on a small piece of land next to the school and plays most of its games on the road, occasionally renting out various facilities in the city.</p>
<p>"Honestly, at this point, a road game's just like a home game for us," Rahim said. "Between the rental costs, the security costs, and cleaning up afterwards, it's just easier for us to play games on the road."</p>
<p>In 2011, Friendship Academy went 9-1 against an eccentric schedule that featured schools from Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio. Because the school is a public school, it is ineligible to compete in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. Nor is Friendship eligible to compete in the season-ending Turkey Bowl, which traditionally determines the championship of the city's public schools, because it is not a member of the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray vowed to have Friendship play an all-local schedule by the fall of 2012, inevitably tying the issue to his larger, unending quest to achieve D.C. statehood. "If we want to be a state, we have to run our school sports like a state, and be as inclusive as possible," Gray said as part of his remarks Wednesday.</p>
<p>But that is for the future of Friendship Academy's football program. Wednesday's event was about the future of the 18 young men who announced their college choices to a room full of family and friends. In addition to Goldman, there was running back Albert Reid, who cited the University of Maryland's engineering program as his primary reason for choosing that school. Reid, defensive back Keith Davis (Bowie State), defensive back Douglas Moore (VMI), linebacker Selton Hodge (Richmond) and lineman Quincy Dickens (Morgan State) imitated their blue-chip peers by pulling on their school's baseball cap. The only one who spoke specifically about playing in the NFL was two-way player Ahja Frazier-Lancaster, who will be playing at the football factory that is West Virginia's Shepherd University. If he does make the NFL, Frazier-Lancaster would be only the third person in the 91-year history of Shepherd to play professional football.</p>
<p>"All we can do is preach," Rahim said Wednesday. "All we can do is point out some of the pitfalls and try to give them guidance."</p>
<p>But there's not long for Rahim to linger, even on this successful class. He claims that another one of his offensive linemen from next year's class has received 20 scholarship offers already and three more underclassmen have drawn national interest. They might want to start planning another ceremony at Friendship next year.</p>
<p><i>Click the link for more on <a href="http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/1/31/2762675/national-signing-day-2012-eddie-goldman">National Signing Day 2012</a>. For all your recruiting news, follow SB Nation's Recruiting Twitter feed, <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting" target="_blank"><b>@SBNRecruiting</b></a>. For complete college football coverage, please visit SB Nation's <a target="blank" href="http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/1/31/ncaa-football">NCAA football hub</a>. </i></p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/2/2764320/national-signing-day-2012-eddie-goldman-florida-state-friendshipSamuel Chamberlain2012-02-01T18:15:40-05:002012-02-01T18:15:40-05:00Virginia Football Recruiting: Cavs Officially Land 26 Commitments On National Signing Day
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<p>Virginia football officially announced 26 commitments on National Signing Day. The Cavs were able to pull in five-star linebacker Eli Harold from Virginia Beach, VA out of Ocean Lakes High School. Harold was rated as the No. 1 linebacker in the country and the Cavs were able to keep him in the state. Virginia was also able to land four-star quarterback Greyson Lambert from Jesup, GA out of Wayne County High School. Lambert is ranked as the No. 9 overall quarterback in the country.</p>
<p>Virginia was able to battle Virginia Tech to the right to the in-state recruits, getting commitments from 13 players hailing from the state of Virginia. The Cavs lost out on four-star defensive end Ken Ekanem however, who signed on with Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>The Cavaliers class is ranked No. 5 in the ACC and No. 27 overall as of now, according to Scout.com.</p>
<p><i>For all your recruiting news, follow SB Nation's Recruiting Twitter feed, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting"><b>@SBNRecruiting</b></a>. For complete college football coverage, please visit SB Nation's <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football" target="blank">NCAA football hub</a>. </i><i>For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Cavaliers, visit SB Nation's Virginia blog,<a target="_blank" href="http://www.streakingthelawn.com/"><b>Streaking The Lawn</b></a>.</i></p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/1/2764921/virginia-football-recruiting-national-signing-day-2012-eli-haroldAlfie Crow2012-02-01T17:44:29-05:002012-02-01T17:44:29-05:00Virginia Tech Football Recruiting: Hokies Officially Land 28 Commitments On National Signing Day
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<p>Virginia Tech football has <a href="http://www.hokiesports.com/football/recaps/20120201aaa.html" target="_blank">officially announced 28 commitments</a> on National Signing Day. The prize of the class for the Hokies was pulling in home state four-star defensive end Ken Ekanem from Clifton, VA out of Centreville High School. Ekanem is ranked as the No. 25 ranked defensive end in the country. The Hokies were also able to bring in four-star wide receiver Joel Caleb from Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, VA, the No. 26 ranked wide receiver in the country.</p>
<p>The Hokies did lose out on three-star linebacker Jawand Blue, who flipped at the last minute to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/miami-hurricanes">Miami Hurricanes</a>. Blue's flip <a href="http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2012/2/1/2764794/national-signing-day-2012-frank-beamer-al-golden-jawand-blue-virginia-tech" target="_blank">caused a bit of a controversy</a>. Overall however, the Hokies were able to pull in 17 recruits from the state of Virginia as the Hokies hoped to recapture the state from Virginia.</p>
<p>"I am tremendously excited about this recruiting class," head coach Frank Beamer said. "I think every year you have a good group, but I think this one is special. It'll help us continue to move toward our stated goals. I'm particularly happy with the caliber of player, both from an athletic standpoint and from a character standpoint, that we recruited from Virginia. Plus, we were able to go outside of the state and recruit some high quality kids."</p>
<p>The Hokies class is ranked No. 4 in the ACC and No. 25 overall as of now, according to Scout.com.</p>
<p><i>For all your recruiting news, follow SB Nation's Recruiting Twitter feed, <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting" target="_blank"><b>@SBNRecruiting</b></a>. For complete college football coverage, please visit SB Nation's <a target="blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football">NCAA football hub</a>. </i><i>For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Hokies, visit SB Nation's Virginia Tech blog, <a href="http://www.gobblercountry.com/" target="_blank"><b>Gobbler Country</b></a>.</i></p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/2/1/2764885/virginia-tech-football-recruiting-2012-national-signing-dayAlfie Crow