Ellis feeling the pressure

Chris Ellis has been a busy young man lately. After spending much of his time switching the dates of his official visits, Ellis is starting to feel some pressure.

"The whole thing is tiring me," said the 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end. "It's still interesting but sometimes the teams recruiting me seem kind of pushy. I was switching my dates around for my visits and Tennessee wasn't happy at all.

"I had originally scheduled an official visit there for Nov. 29 but had to change some things so I could take the SAT in January and still go to the Virginia-Virginia Tech game that date. I decided I would visit Jan. 24 and they were kind of upset.

"They were like 'you'll be committed by then' and 'why not schedule it earlier'. It wasn't too bad but it was one of the first times I felt pressured into something by one of the schools high on my list. I still like Tennessee and I'm not ruling them out, but I may have made a decision before I take the visit there. You can't make everyone happy."

Ellis is one of the most highly recruited players in the state and was a force in the regular season for Hampton (Va.) Bethel. The fight for his services is becoming one of the most hotly contested recruiting battles on the east coast.

"My leader is Virginia Tech," said a confident Ellis. "They've lost a couple of games but that still looks like the best school for me right now. Virginia is my second favorite school. It looks like I'll probably stay in the state. I'm still looking at schools like Tennessee and Maryland (Jan. 10 visit date), but they're a little lower on my list than the in-state schools."

Ellis has about 25 sacks the last two seasons and should earn first team all-state honors. He's rated the No. 7 weak-side defensive end in the nation by Rivals.com.

"My decision could be anytime between now and signing day. More than likely it will be just after the Virginia visit. If I'm convinced I need to be at Tech then I'll commit earlier. But I feel like I might owe it to UVA to visit before I commit. They've been after me pretty hard for a long time."