Tech received its fourth commitment of the week from an unexpected candidate in Nick Marshman, an OL/DL prospect from Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, VA. News had been relatively scarce on the Marshman front until he verbally committed to the Hokies Tuesday night. For Marshman, his commitment brings a sigh of relief to his senior football season.

"I’m glad it’s over," said Marshman. "Two nights ago, me and my parents sat down, and went over the pros and cons of all of the schools. We couldn’t come up with any cons for Virginia Tech."

Tech assistant coach Tony Ball was the primary recruiter of Nick. According to both Marshman and Turner Ashby Head Coach Joe Taylor, the coaching staff have done an excellent job of recruiting.

"We were very impressed with the staff, particularly Coach Ball," said Taylor. "They have done a great job of visiting our school, even when we didn’t have any top college recruits. Coach Ball has really done a great job."

Marshman extended the same sentiment about the VT coaches.

"They are all really great guys," said Marshman. "They treat you like a real person. For every recruit they meet, they make sure they know the name of the recruit and his coach. They know everyone by name. That is impressive to me."

At 6-5, 250, Marshman plays tight end and defensive line for Turner Ashby. The Hokies plan to convert him into an offensive lineman, most likely offensive tackle, once he comes to Blacksburg. Marshman appears more than willing to do whatever the coaching staff wants, even if it means switching to a new position.

"It really doesn’t matter what position I play," said Marshman. "I asked the coaches to give me a shot to play on the defensive line, because I like defense, but it doesn’t matter. I just want to play. Tight end, offensive line, whatever."

At such a young age, Marshman possesses a wonderful attitude that will help him succeed in whatever he does. He demonstrated his football commitment during this summer, when he and his teammates made a tremendous effort to get stronger in off-season workouts in order to improve their team.

"We have something to prove to everyone," said Marshman of his Turner Ashby squad. "People wrote us off after we made the state championship three years ago. During this summer, we put in 13-14 weeks of physical training (instead of the usual 6 weeks). We all got up at 6 in the morning to lift weights before school.

"We want to prove something this season."

Coach Taylor emphasized that Marshman’s excellent attitude is one of the main reasons he earned scholarship offers from Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He also chose the Hokies over UVa, UNC, and Maryland, who were all recruiting Nick hard.

"He is a polite kid, very mature for his age," said Taylor. "He is a fun kid to be around. He is definitely a winner."

Marshman has the attitude and mental toughness to become a regular contributor for the Hokies, so don’t be surprised to hear his name often in the future.

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Basketball Recruiting: Hokies Land Two

The Tech men's basketball team had a big recruiting week as well, earning verbal commitments from two recruits, guard Jamon Gordon from Andrew Jackson High School in Jacksonville, FL, and post player Coleman Collins from Chamblee (GA) High School.

Gordon, a 6-2 point guard, averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds for a team that went 26-5 last year and reached the state semifinals in Florida's 4-A classification, its largest classification. He is hailed by some recruiting analysts as one of the best point guards in the state of Florida, if not the best.

Gordon had been offered a scholarship by South Alabama and had received heavy interest from Georgia Tech (but no offer). Gordon is from the same high school as recent football commitment Tripp Carroll, and Gordon was on Tech's campus last weekend for the VT/LSU football game.

Collins, who stands 6-9, weighs 210, and just turned 16 in July, is a tremendous student, having scored 1,470 on the SAT. He averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds a game last year in his first season as a starter for Chamblee, a 3-A team. He, too, visited VT last weekend and was impressed by the fan support at the football game.

Collins picked Tech over South Carolina, College of Charleston, Furman, Davidson, Rice and SMU, with all but South Carolina having made scholarship offers. He has grown six inches the last two years and is expected to top out around 6-10 or 6-11. He's a player with range out to 16 or 17 feet and great upside potential.

-- Chris Horne -- 

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