The A-10 Hoop Report released their Atlantic 10 basketball recruiting rankings, and this year, the Hokies land at (gasp) #11 in the 12-team league.

This doesn't mean the Hokies had a disastrous recruiting year, of course.  6-9 Dennis Mims, the next great savior of the program, was the catch that the Hokies wanted, and got, so we certainly can't complain about that one.  Likewise, point guard Jermaine Kimbrough (known forevermore to Hokie fans as "Jenis's replacement") seems to be a decent catch, although nothing spectacular.

I think the Hoop Report's low ranking of the Hokies is based partly on quantity, and certainly, when it comes to quantity, the Hokies have very little of that, with only two new players coming in.

But when you start considering that Duquesne and Fordham are in this league, you start thinking, "Hmmm...Tech is next to last?"

Indeed.  The rankings are actually quite interesting.  Here they are:

1. Xavier
2. Rhode Island
3. Temple
4. La Salle
5. St. Joseph's
6. George Washington
7. Fordham
8. St. Bonaventure
9. Massachusetts
10. Dayton
11. Virginia Tech
12. Duquesne

Certainly, slots 1-3 are no surprise, but #4 is an eye-popper.  La Salle, having a better recruiting year than UMass, GW, and St. Joe's, among others?

Well, sort of.  Already, one of La Salle's top recruits has failed to qualify, and Rasual Butler, their "crown jewel," as the Hoop Report calls him, is on the verge of not qualifying, as well.  Yet another recruit is a likely Prop-48, so this class won't have an immediate impact for La Salle, which is rapidly improving and knocked off the Hokies both times last year.

Other surprises?  Fordham at #7 is impressive.  The Rams' class only includes three players, but one of them is 6-8, 200 pound Duke McKamey, who the Fordham coaches feel can contribute right away.  Good, because Fordham only had one decent player last year, guard Devon Robin, from what I saw.

Another surprise is UMass way down at #9, and to a lesser degree, Dayton at #10.   UMass only recruited two players who qualified, and one of them is a 6-10, 270 pound, all-defense, no offense project.  Dayton also only recruited two players, one of whom is 5-10 point guard David Morris, who is the next great small guard in the A-10, according to the Hoop Report.

If you're a Hokie basketball fan, you should subscribe to the A-10 Hoop Report.   It's a great publication that'll keep you up to date way better than any newspaper I can think of.  Click on the link at the top of the article to access their page and get info on how to subscribe.

It wasn't just VT pole vaulter Brian Hunter who did well at the United States Junior National Track and Field Championships (see Wednesday's News and Notes).  I believe that Brian is the only Hokie who gets to advance to the World Junior Meet in France, but a couple of other Hokies did well at the U.S. meet.  Andre Davis (yes, the receiver on Frank Beamer's football team) finished 7th in the 100 meter dash and 6th in the 200 meters, while Chris Stokes finished 6th in the high hurdles.  Congratulations to all.

Since I've been covering The Real World on MTV, several readers have emailed me to point out that some VT gear has been spotted on a VH-1 show, as well.

VH-1 runs a serious of documentary specials called "Behind the Music" that profile rock stars and rock groups, and one of these specials, on the rock group Def Leppard, shows a VT shirt rather prominently.  The VT gear is a tank top that is clearly visible in some concert footage that is shown in the show.  This was covered on the message board, but since I've been receiving emails on the subject, I thought I would pass it on to News and Notes.

By the way, I have caught a number of the "Behind the Music" shows, and I can tell you that they're excellent.  Very informative and interesting, so I recommend them, even if they don't have VT clothes in them.

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