Kent Hicks ready to choose

Culpeper (Va.) Culpeper County safety Kent Hicks could be getting close to a decision.

"He has his next official visit set up for this weekend with Virginia Tech," said his father, William. "He'll be checking out the Virginia Tech-Miami game and he's excited about that."

Hicks, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, visited Virginia for their game against Florida State a weekend ago. If his father has anything to do with, Hicks will do two things.

"He'll choose a school that will make sure he gets an education," his father said. "And he'll decide soon to get all this over with. Kent has said for awhile now that he would like to stay close to home, so if he sees enough to compare UVA and Virginia Tech this upcoming weekend, he might decide. If not, he likes Maryland quite a bit as well and will probably visit there."

Tennessee and Boston College are also in the mix, although on the outside looking in right now. Hicks' visit to Virginia went well.

"They were very good to him and really stressed academics," his father said. "That's my No. 1 thing and he knows it. I look forward to hearing what Tech has to offer in that regard."

Hicks' team is 1-6 this season and he's getting double and triple teamed on offense. On defense, opponents don't even look his way.

"Don't get me started," his father laughed. "It's very frustrating."

Hicks is ranked as the No. 5 safety in the country by Rivals.com