Battle for the 757: Cavs gain on Hokies

Rivals100Five-StarChallengeCampinfo

AftergrowingupinVirginiaandcoachinginthestatefornearlytwodecades,Virginia'sMikeLondonunderstandsonemajortaskinvolvedinmakingtheCavaliersACCtitlecontenders.

Winthebattleof757.

The757areacodecoversthesoutheasternsectionofVirginiathatincludessuchcitiesasNewportNews,Hampton,NorfolkandVirginiaBeach.Thatstretchmakesuponeofthenation'stoprecruitinghotbedsoutsidethetalent-richstatesofFlorida,CaliforniaandTexas.

Overtheyears,the757areahasproducedthelikesofBruceSmithandMichaelVick.BoththoseguysplayedforVirginiaTech,whichbuiltitselfintooneofthenation'smostconsistentwinnersbycontinuallyfindingAll-AmericatalentintheTidewaterarea.

"Techbuiltitsprogramwithkidsfromthisarea,"ChesapeakeOscarSmithHighSchoolcoachRichardMorgansaid.

Virginiawantstodothesamething.

AssoonashetookoverasVirginia'sheadcoachinDecember2009,Londonpreachedtheimportanceofrecruitingtheentirestateandparticularlythetownsinthat757areacode.

"Eversincehe'sbeenanassistantfootballcoach[atVirginia]andaheadcoachatRichmond,he'smadethatareaaprioritybecauseheknowsthatareaisveryfertile,"VirginiarecruitingcoordinatorJeffHansonsaid."Thatwasahugeprioritywhenhecamein.''

London'seffortsarepayingoff.

TheCavaliers'2012recruitingclassincludedthestate'stopprospect:VirginiaBeach(Va.)OceanLakesdefensiveendEliHarold.Virginiaalsolandedthestate'sNo.4recruitinNorfolkChristianlinebackerKwontieMoore,oneoffourplayersfromhisschooltosignwiththeCavaliers.

VirginiaTechstillhadthehigher-rankedclass.TheHokiesranked22ndnationally,whileVirginiawas27th.ButtheCavaliersactuallysigned10playersfromthe757areacode,whereasVirginiaTechonlysignedfour.

ThatrepresentsamajorchangefromformerVirginiacoachAlGroh'sapproach.Groh,aformerNewYorkJetsheadcoachandlongtimeNFLassistant,didn'tfocusonin-staterecruitsnearlyasmuch.

"[Groh's]firstrecruitingclasswasoutstanding,"Rivals.comnationalrecruitinganalystMikeFarrellsaid."Thenhestartedtofocusontheareaheknew,whichwasupnorth.HedidverywellinNewJersey,NewYorkandstartedhittingPennsylvania.ButthatallowedVirginiaTechtodominatethestate.Andwhenyouallowthattooccur,it'shardtogetitback.''

VirginiaTechhasmadethatparticularlytough.

Overthelastfiveyears,68.6percentofVirginiaTech'srecruitshavecomefromthestateofVirginiaortheDistrictofColumbia.NoFBSprogramoutsideofTexas,CaliforniaorFloridahassignedahigherpercentageofin-staterecruitsduringthatstretch.

Justwithinthelastdecade,former757recruitstoearnAll-AmericahonorswiththeHokiesincludelinebackerXavierAdibi(HamptonPhoebus),cornerbackDeAngeloHall(ChesapeakeDeepCreek),defensiveendDarrylTapp(ChesapeakeDeepCreek)andcornerbackJimmyWilliams(HamptonBethel).

AccordingtoVirginiaBeachBaysidecoachDarnellMoore,arecruitfromthe757areafiveyearsagowouldbefourtimesmorelikelytopickVirginiaTechoverVirginiaifhereceivedanofferfrombothschools.NowMoorebelievesit'smoreofatoss-up.

"Youcaneasilyseethingshavechanged,"Mooresaid."JustlookatthispastyearandthekidswhocommittedtoVirginiaoutoftheTidewaterarea....TheymadesomebiginroadssinceCoachLondonhastakenover.They'vereallyputforththeirbestefforttoforgerelationshipswithallthecoachesinthearearegardlessofwhethertheyhaverecruitsthatparticularyear."

London'slocaltieshavehelped.

AftergraduatingfromHamptonBethel,LondonplayeddefensivebackattheUniversityofRichmond,aVirginiaschooljustoutsidethe757area.HeworkedasanassistantatVirginiaandledRichmondtoanFCStitleastheheadcoachathisalmamaterbeforemovingtohiscurrentposition.

Londonhasauniquebackgroundandanoutgoingpersonalitythathaveallowedhimtobondwitharearecruits.

"Hejustpulledmein,"saidHarold,thenation'sNo.50overall2012recruit."Hereeledmerightonin.Whenwetalked,he'saveryuniqueguy.He'saman'sman.He'sagreatguy.He'samanofintegrity.He'sahumbleman.He'ssoextraordinary."

Haroldlosthismothertopancreaticcancerlastyear.Londonisaformerpoliceofficerwhooncehadagunpointedathim.Morerecently,LondondonatedbonemarrowtoadaughterwhowasdiagnosedwithFanconianemia,arareinheritedblooddisorder.

"Wetalkedabouthispast,mypast,whathe'sbeenthroughandwhatI'vebeenthrough,"Haroldsaid."Wejustconnected."

Londonisn'ttheonlypersononVirginia'sstaffwithareaconnections.

VirginiacornerbackscoachandassistantrecruitingcoordinatorChipWestisaHamptonnative.Hansonhasnearlyfourdecadesofcoachingexperience-mostlyinthestateofVirginia-andcantalkaboutthetimebackinthelate1970sthathenearlygotarecruitfromWilliamsburgLafayettetosignwithRichmond.TheprospecthappenedtobeLawrenceTaylor.

"Wewerevery,veryclose,"Hansonrecalled."Wewouldhavegottenhimif[North]Carolinahadn'tcomeinandofferedhim.He'dcomeforanofficialvisit.We'dbeeninhishome.ItwasadealwherereallynobodyelseinthestateofVirginiahadofferedhimbutus."

VirginiaandVirginiaTechnowcontinuetosearchforthenextgreatplayertocomeoutofthe757area.

Onlythisyearisalittledifferentinthatregard.Foronething,manyofthetopVirginiaprospectsintheClassof2013comefromelsewhereinthestate.OfthesevenVirginiarecruitsintheRivals100,VirginiaBeachBaysiderunningbackTaquanMizzellistheonlyplayerfroma757school.MizzellindicatedhegrewupaVirginiaTechfanbutenjoyedarecentJuniorDayvisittoVirginia.

ClickHeretoviewthisLink.Moreover,thetop2013Virginiaprospectsseemmuchmoreopentoleavingthestate.StanfordClickHeretoviewthisLink.alreadyhasverbalcommitmentsfromtwoofthetopfourprospectsinVirginia:AshburnStoneBridgequarterbackRyanBurnsClickHeretoviewthisLink.andRichmondWoodberryForestlinebackerDougRandolphClickHeretoviewthisLink..

Thestate'sNo.1recruitisWoodbridgeC.D.HyltonlinebackerE.J.LevenberryJr.,whoseemstofavorFloridaStateandMichigan.Thestate'sNo.3prospectisRichmondHeritagerunningbackDerrickGreen,whoalsohasshowninterestinplentyofout-of-stateschools.ThegoodnewsforVirginiaandVirginiaTechisthatFarrellsaidthestateisasdeepasit'sbeeninadecade.

"Ifyou'relettingtheLevenberrysandDerrickGreensoftheworldleave-andyoualreadyknowBurnsandRandolphandsomeoftheotherguysareleaningoutofstateaswell-it'sgoingtobeextraimportanttokeepotherkidsinstate,"Farrellsaid.

Butifthosetopkidsfromelsewhereinthestateareleavinghome,thatmakesitallthemoreimperativethattheVirginiaschoolskeepcomingbacktoNewportNews,VirginiaBeach,Hamptonandtheother757towns.

VirginiaTech'sbeendoingthatsuccessfullyforyears.NowtheHokieshavealittlemorecompetition.

"Itjustfeltlikethisareawasn'tapriority[forVirginia]inthepastundertheoldregime,"HamptonPhoebuscoachStanSextonsaid."Nowitseemstobeapriority.IknowTechhasmadeitapriorityovertheyearsandhasmadethemselvesaperennialtop-10,top-15teameveryyear.AndIthinkUVAnowunderCoachLondonisdoingthesameformulanow."

SteveMegargeeisthenationalcollegecolumnistforRivals.com.Hecanbereachedatsmegargee@rivals.com,andyoucanclickheretofollowhimonTwitter.

MorefromRivals.com:

Rivals.com/VTO Alabama: Sleeper spotlightClick Here to view this Link.

[rl]