[bigsmooth]

coach rocco is doing a great job in the commonwealth, especially in areas where we have not traditionally recruited well.

Rockbridge County's Bannon commits to Flames
Robert Anderson | 981-3123

Patrick Bannon played his final high school football game at Liberty University.

The Rockbridge County linebacker has decided the Lynchburg school is where he wants to play his first college game.

Bannon, the Valley District defensive player of the year who helped lead Rockbridge to the VHSL Group AA Division 3 championship game, has made an oral commitment to Liberty.

Bannon will join Bath County tight end/linebacker Tommy Shaver, who committed to the Flames last week. Also headed to Liberty are two other Valley District players -- defensive end Roane Babington and running back Shay Nicholson of R.E. Lee-Staunton.
Liberty finished 6-5 under first-year coach Danny Rocco after a 1-10 season in 2005.

Bannon set single-season and career records for total tackles at Rockbridge County, which lost 29-28 to Richlands in the state final. The 6-foot-5, 248-pound senior also had an offer from VMI.

Shaver helped lead Bath to the Region C Division 1 final, catching 35 passes for eight touchdowns

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/highschool/wb/96497

[flameshaw]

Agreed Smoothie, looks like we are getting some good local players. Things seem to be going very positively with the program.

[thesportscritic]

i am glad to see us go after the local kids.

[TDDance234]

Now come steal away some of that 757 talent from Virginia Tech.

[jcmanson]

Yes, its very good to see we are getting some guys from the state. No need to let these guys slip away to other local schools. There is plenty of talent here to build a solid D 1 program

[Sly Fox]

There is also a ton of talent in Florida, Texas & Cali. Hopefully we continue to work the Sunshine State hard and reap the benefits again this February.

[bigsmooth]

we know that sly you need to recruit your home state well as im sure you know, ane we have never done that. If we get these players, JMU, W&M, richmond, are not. we should be the I-AA team of choice in virginia.

[flameshaw]

Can we just start playing football again when we come back from Christmas break? I can't wait till next September.

[SuperJon]

It's not long until spring ball.

[Sly Fox]

From another fishwrap today (the link includes better head shots):

Four grid stars to join Flames
Staff Report

Liberty University tapped into the local high school football talent well, and came up with four verbal commitments.

The Division I-AA Flames landed a pair of recruits from Robert E Lee, one from Rockbridge County and one from Bath County.

Lee teammates Shay Nicholson and Roane Babington will take their talents to Lynchburg. Nicholson rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns, while Babington was an Associated Press All-Group AA first-team pick at defensive end. Babington made the all-Region II first team at tight end and defensive end.

The Wildcats' Patrick Bannon also committed to the Flames. Bannon was a central figure in the school's march to the Group AA, Division 3 championship game. Bannon, a linebacker, holds both the season and career tackles records at Rockbridge County. He was also chosen to the AP all-state first team.

Bath tight end Tommy Shaver rounds out the local foursome.

The four can signed their official national letters of intent in early February.

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 006/SPORTS

[jmdickens]

SLY, I am going to Austin to try and steal some talent from Westlake HS.....you need to help with the TX kids

[newlufan]

cali, tex, fla, there aint nothing in texas cept queers and steers, and nothing in fla and cali cept fruits and nuts, bout time the boys from virginia got some credit, god bless viriginia!!!

[Sly Fox]

there aint nothing in texas cept queers and steers

Gee, never heard that one before.

If you watch Friday Night Lights (and it seems nobody does based ont he ratings) then you would recognize Westlake and Westbury in the first coupel of episodes. I covered them when they had Drew Brees as QB back in the day.

[newlufan]

hey sly, no offense but these 4 boys worked their butts off to get offers from Liberty. Coach Rocco didn't just pull them from his magic tophat, he has studied these guys for a couple of years. these aren't 757 guys whose coaches can blow smoke aboout how good they are because they play in tidewater. Bannon is an animal at lb, no one is safe, Shaver is a legit 6'6" and is the TE that Liberty has dreamed about, have you seen Babington, the guy is like at tree stump, good luck gettng past him, and Shay is the quiet type who is lightniing quick and who'll put up 150 yards on you before you realize it. These guys are mountain boys and will put a "slobberknocker" on you in a heartbeat. You know, the kind of hit where the opposition just lays on the turf and blows " snot bubbles". Come on man, join in the fun that is Liberty Football, and in the words of Coach Rocco, Why Not Liberty?.

[SuperJon]

No offense, but those are Katie Feenstra's words.

[bigsmooth]

she coined it, but everyone is using it now.

[jcmanson]

she coined it, but everyone is using it now.

Including myself!

[Sly Fox]

I never intended any slight to the kids who verballed to us with my post. I was just expressing my long known opinion that while its great to land quality Virginia kids, I'd prefer for us to have a more national emphasis. Last year we used our staff's Florida connections very successfully and there is every indication we've been working that area again this fall and winter.

There are quality kids in Virginia, but there are also a ton of Division I schools there vying for their services (UVa, VT, JMU, W&M, UR, LU and soon ODU). Florida, Texas & Cali have fewer schools per capita based on the massive amount of talent. If you need further evidence, look at the home states of the players currently in the NFL. Its been my opinion that we have a unique ability to attract players from across the nation that wouldn't normally consider a Div I-CS school because of our distinct standing in the Evangelical community. Most schools we compete with our limited to regional recruiting for the most part.

[bigsmooth]

i agree sly we should have a national focus, and it will come to that in the near future, but we have never traditionally recruited virginia very well. i hate to say it but look at VT. they recruit virginia like a champ, and then look in charlottesville, though they get their fair share of talent from the commonwealth, they are still option #2. VT puts heavy emphasis on virginia. look at JMU as well, they are a solid program and the majority of their players hail from virginia, and they have shown what they can do on the field.

[PAmedic]

don't forget my beloved Northeast. I hear a pretty good playa came outta Pennrige High a couple years ago

[newlufan]

It seems that the LU football staff has indeed done well in Virginia. The Roanoke Times put their top 100 senior football players in todays paper.

41-Patrick Bannon
55-Mike Brown
62-Tommy Shaver
71-Shay Nicholson
78-Larandale Lee
82-Roane Babington

All verbal commitments to Liberty.

Others with interest from LU:

53-Marcus Mayo
59-Toney White (VaPreps shows verbal)
61-Justin McCracken
65-Ben Ballard
86-Eric Church

Alot of Va Tech, UVA in top 50. One JMU commit with a few other mentioning them as potential. Info is not all available online yet, only top 25.

[LU'sbestmanager]

that's exciting news. i can't wait to see the spring game with all of our redshirts and people who will be transfering in.

shouldn't we know the guys that have transfered already?

[jcmanson]

That's very impressive. I've always hoped we would begin to make an impact in the state recruiting. There is plenty of talent here to build a succesful 1-AA program. Sprinkle in a few athletes from around the country, and we will be set.

[Libertine]

shouldn't we know the guys that have transfered already?

That announcement probably won't come until the spring semester officially starts in mid-January.

[LU'sbestmanager]

ok thanks