Kitchens close to setting trips

Roanoke (Va.) weakside defensive end / tight end Maurice Kitchens is near the end of his high school career, and is looking to the future. The 6-foot-3, 215 pound athlete runs the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds and is in the process of scheduling official visits. One thing, however, stands in his way.

North Carolina, Virginia, and VMI have all expressed interest in having Kitchens in for an official visit, but one thing has held them up: Although he maintains a 3.0 GPA, he has yet to take the SAT. He is scheduled to take the exam this upcoming Saturday and hopes that will open things up.

“I would also like to visit Florida State and Maryland,” he added. “Those two are the main schools calling me.” He is still waiting on offers, and several schools have intimated that they are waiting on his SAT results. He plans to take an unofficial visit to North Carolina on Nov. 8 on an unofficial visit.

Kitchens is basing his impressions of his top schools on things others have told him and is interested in seeing these schools in person. “I have heard good things about Maryland and FSU,” he commented. “Tech is a nice school and close is basically what I have been hearing, and I also heard Penn State has a nice computer field.”

Maurice wants to major in computer engineering, and this is one of the key factors he is considering while looking at colleges. The environment and how people act and interact with each other are other areas he is watching. One area will not have an affect, however.

“I am not looking at the student-teacher ratio,” he said. “I just need to pay attention and do my work and I can get through anywhere.”

Kitchens has recorded more than 90 tackles this season along with four sacks. He has also caused a fumble en route to leading his team to a 5-2 record. As a junior he was named all-district with 88 tackles and 12 sacks.

Click here to see some video clips of Kitchens in action.