[Sly Fox]

Nugget hidden in story in Roanoke fishwrap about 6' 4" 210 lb QB:

Richlands is loaded with star material. Running back Caleb Jennings has scored 37 touchdowns. Quarterback Justin McCracken, possibly bound for Liberty University, has thrown for 27 TDs and scored 13 himself.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/highschool/wb/93933


McCracken handing off to Caleb Jennings

And from the Bluefield fishwrap a couple of weeks ago:

McCracken is leaning toward attending college and playing football at Liberty. He hopes to get there a little early.

“Liberty University is my main choice right now, they’re talking to me quite a bit,” McCracken said. “I really like it up there so hopefully that works out up there.

“Hopefully they’ll get to see me play up there at Liberty in a couple of weeks.”

http://www.bdtonline.com/localsports/lo ... 33630.html

[jcmanson]

My wife's family is from Richlands. They have a historically strong program. They seem to always be in the hunt for a state title. I'm not sure how good this kid is, but I love seeing Rocco hitting Virginia hard.

[PAmedic]

be great to get a kid like that in here, RS for a year, and then be the backup for Brock's SR yr- he'd be good to go after that.

Start consistently re-loading every 2-3 years and we'll be rolling.

[jcmanson]

Yeah, Medic, and don't forget we have Landis already with a year under his belt that will still be here one year after Brock.

[PAmedic]

good point- for some reason I forgot about him

sorry, Spence

[Brokeback Flamer]

I would like to pat myself on the back for not making any snide comment about this recruit.

[BJWilliams]

WE got a lot of QBs so hopefully we can spread the snaps around in practice and otherwise

[Ed Dantes]

My stars, that running back looks like he's 10 years old next to the QB

[prototype]

Yeah - two things. Both these Richland players have great stats, but they look smaller than Nate Robinson. How good is the competition that their playing? Are they really upper 1AA talent? How good is Landis?

I'm from Florida and I'll tell you - any lower level team would kill any Virginia School, other than maybe your upper teams in Tidewater.

I do know a short QB I like. His first name starts with a V and ends with a C, last name rhymes with Fall.

[Chris Lang]

Vic Hall isn't coming to Liberty. Bank on that.

[bigsmooth]

proto, why are you comapring these richlands players to florida players?? just a crazy comparison. richlands is a perinneal playoff team, and are clearly the best AA team from the coal country in southwest virginia. it is rare theat they get pat the state semifinals as they have to run into a team from the rke/lynchburg area. i would say the competition is ok, not great, but certainly not bad. im glad coach rocco is looking at in state players. i am hoping to go watch this kid this afternoon in the state semifinals in roanoke.

[bigsmooth]

this kid went 10-20 for 138 and 2 td's as richlands won 44-14 to advance to the state finals at LU next saturday.

[TDDance234]

Any updates?

[bigsmooth]

updates on if he signed???

[Sly Fox]

Signing Day is still two months away. Even he really likes us right now he might have many more options by signing day as schools go to their fallback guys after their primary targets choose elsewhere. But I would interested in hearing what he thinks.

Come on, Chris. Can't you get assigned this Richlands game so you can get us the direct word from the kid?

[Chris Lang]

I'd love to, but I'm going to be playing in a sandlot game myself Saturday afternoon. We're not covering the Richlands game since neither team is local. My bet is he won't firmly make up his mind until closer to signing day anyway.

[Libertine]

No, he hasn't signed. Then again, neither has anyone else in the entire country. In fact, no one is allowed to sign at all until 8 AM on February 7th, aka Signing Day.

[Sly Fox]

Other than the no contact period during the bowls, the next two months are our primary recruiting times. We can evaluate talent and send out offers but as a Div I-CS (how's that medic?) school we'll start getting second looks from kids who finally realize they aren't going to Ohio State, USC or Michigan.

And I disagree with you to an extent, Lib. Verbals do mean something. It means there is a strong enough interest in your school that your odds are GREATLY increased that a LOI will be coming your way. Its obviouisly not a lock by any stretch of the imagination, but its does indicate our chances for a player are much higher.

And as we saw last year with a legacy kid who was Landis & Cheek's teammate down in Georgia, even a LOI doesn't mean he's coming to your school.

[PAmedic]

... We can evaluate talent and send out offers but as a Div I-CS (how's that medic?) school we'll start getting second looks from kids who finally realize they aren't going to Ohio State, USC or Michigan...

thank you

[Libertine]

And I disagree with you to an extent, Lib. Verbals do mean something. It means there is a strong enough interest in your school that your odds are GREATLY increased that a LOI will be coming your way. Its obviouisly not a lock by any stretch of the imagination, but its does indicate our chances for a player are much higher.

And as we saw last year with a legacy kid who was Landis & Cheek's teammate down in Georgia, even a LOI doesn't mean he's coming to your school.

As I've seen, the verbal can also mean that the kid is trying to leverage some kind of promise out of another school. Also, since the verbal doesn't mean anything, some kids use it to take some of the pressure off of their decision-making process or just to weed out the not-so-serious suitors. There's also the kids who can't say no to anybody and they'll verbally commit to whichever coach last talked to them. Verbals don't mean a thing to coaches, players or the NCAA. I'm glad to see our fans excited about the future, as well they should be. But any possible signees that are out there right now are just that -- possible signees. The official Pee-Your-Pants Day is the 1st Wednesday in February.

BTW, Machovic -- I assume that's the Landis/Cheek teammate you're referring to -- never signed an LOI w/ us.

[BJWilliams]

I was at the Richlands-Rockbridge County game today (a friend of mine has a brother that plays LB for Richlands), and I must say that McCracken did pretty well for himself. He made some very good throws, had some excellent decisions, and also showed some real elusiveness on the QB draws. He did have a fumble that almost cost them late but they recovered it and were able at least to get the game winning touchdown out of that drive. Richlands wins 29-28

[bigsmooth]

this mayo kid from rockbridge was more impressive. i hope rocco was taking notes. this kid is an athlete, and that is what rocco wants.

[PAmedic]

how nice is it to be able to host this kinda event- where the talent comes to YOU.

like a multi-school recruiting trip without ever leaving your own back yard.

On another note: Any NCAA rules against running some sort of "combine" where you bring in HS kids to work out on a large scale, like the NFL does? If not, we should start one for all the Central/South VA kids. Heck, make it a regional deal. Pick a good time of year and you can even house them on-campus.

[nickrichard]

Medic, I do not think you can do this type of "try out" but what you do see is coaches having camps where they may invite certain players to come to their summer camps. Still a very good recruiting tool, and a little extra money in the pocket.

[BJWilliams]

I know Hargrave does a combine of sorts for its PG football team (and certain members of the varsity team) but my guess is youre asking more about whether LU can do that and honestly I do not know...