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Projecting Numbers for the 2009 Recruiting Class
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Virginia Tech signed 31 players last week on National Signing Day. Their class was completely full, and not all of those players are going to be able to enroll in August. Some will have to prep because of qualification issues, and some will simply grayshirt (enroll in January 2009). Because the Hokies signed such a full class this year, the numbers in the 2009 class will be pretty small.

Tech will have just nine scholarship seniors on the 2008 roster. Here is a look at the players who must be replaced following this season with members of the 2009 recruiting class.

With those numbers, Virginia Tech will only be able to sign ten players in the 2009 recruiting class. With that being said, that number will go up as the days go by. There are still candidates on the team that aren't rising seniors that are candidates to leave the team early. We won't mention any names here since it would just be speculation at this point, but it wouldn't be surprising to see four or five guys decide to leave the program at the conclusion of spring practice, or over the summer.

When you factor that in, it's more likely that Virginia Tech will sign about 15 players next year, maybe as high as 17 if there is any more attrition. Next year's class will be low on numbers compared to this year, but it will still have some depth.

Expect Virginia Tech to be very selective in offering 2009 prospects, with so few scholarships to offer. They have already offered some players, and once again, the camps in Blacksburg over the summer will be critical for those players on the fringe of being offered a scholarship.

At this point, what positions are the Hokies emphasizing for the 2009 class? The best guess is a quarterback or two, a tailback, a couple of offensive linemen, four or five defensive linemen and a few defensive backs. Those are likely the positions of emphasis, though players at other positions will be recruited as well, such as linebacker.

Just in case you've forgotten, Virginia Tech already has a player committed for the 2009 recruiting class. Stone Bridge (Ashburn, VA) DT/OL David Wang (Ed Wang's brother) verballed to the Hokies back on September 1st.

The table above shows that Virginia Tech will be a young team in 2008, but they should be very hard to handle in 2009. Eight of the players in the table are starters, and when you consider that Tyrod Taylor is a part-time starter, the Hokies would have 15 returning starters returning for the 2009 season. 15 out of 22 is a lot. They could be one of the most experienced teams in the ACC in 2009.

While the 2008 season looks promising, and the Hokies have a solid chance to win the ACC again, the 2009 season looks like it could be even better. The schedule works out well in 2009 as well, with the two biggest names on the schedule, Nebraska and Miami, coming to Lane Stadium. For those of you who like to focus on the best times for the Hokies to make a run at a National Championship berth, mark 2009 on your calendars as the next legit possibility.

Still, we've got to play the 2008 season before we can move on to 2009. Many things will change between now and then. However, there's nothing wrong with gazing into the future, and what we see now looks pretty good.

In men's basketball, the Hokies are mired in the mud right now. With a 5-5 ACC record, they are sixth in the ACC standings. They are two games either way from being near the top, or being near the bottom. Two ACC teams have four losses, three have five losses, and another three have six losses.

Duke and UNC sit at the top, with zero and two losses respectively. At the bottom is Florida State with seven losses and Virginia with nine losses. The other eight teams who have between four and six losses are still in the running to get a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament.