While much of the attention has been focused on Seth Greenberg's first recruiting class, and especially now on the direction taken in the spring with a hoped-for fourth recruit, it's never too early to look down the road at how next fall's recruiting class might shape up.

Although it is now clear that Carlos Dixon will redshirt this year and return next year for a fifth year, this will have no affect on the number of incoming players in the '05-'06 class. Tech will still have 2 scholarships to use, barring any roster changes, which is always possible. There will be one player (Dixon) in the senior class. The junior class will have 5 players (Calloway, Davis, Harris, McCandies, and Sailes) in that class. The sophomore class will include Collins, Dowdell, Gordan and Holt in that 4-man class. And finally, the incoming freshman class will have Cooke and Washington as its two members, thus giving Tech 12 scholarship players on next year's roster, just one less than the allowable thirteen of the NCAA, thanks to Dixon staying on an additional year.

With just a single graduating senior in Dixon, that will leave Tech with the prospect of bringing in two players in next year's class, thus reaching 13 for the first time in Greenberg's tenure. Unlike last spring, when Greenberg added point guard Zabian Dowdell late, and this season's class of Cooke, Holt and Washington, Greenberg will have a lot more knowledge of his exact needs. At the time Dowdell was signed, Deonte Smith, Luke Minor and Dimari Thompkins were still a part of the program. Would he have eschewed Dowdell for a late big man had he known all of those players would not remain part of the program? Perhaps so. When the bulk of the heavy lifting was done on this incoming three-man class, it was done in the spring, summer and early fall, before Greenberg had even seen his current team play or practice, so he didn't entirely know exactly what he had, only an educated guess.

Next year should see Greenberg be able to more acutely identify the needs of the program, and shore up the perceived weaknesses. What looks most apparent is the need for front court size and toughness. A big man who can naturally play the center position is in dire need. None of the trio of Calloway, Collins and McCandies is a natural center. None of them was recruited here to Virginia Tech to play the center position. A big-bodied, natural center is the first priority. If he is a bit shorter than ideal, so be it, as long as he has intensity and toughness, two highly prized traits in a player for Greenberg. In fact, I would expect both of the scholarships in next fall's class to be awarded to front court players with size. Should a third scholarship open up, it more than likely will be targeted for the very best shooter available, regardless of position. That remains a big need as well, but perhaps one that will be hard to fill with just two scholarships available. Getting Dixon for even a year will add perimeter shooting to your team, then you can target that team weakness the following year, if you don't get an additional scholarship next year to open up.

It will take time to build this program up to an ACC-caliber program, and it can't be done in one recruiting season, or even two for that matter. The program has multiple needs and not quite enough fluid scholarships to target all those needs soon enough. And, because of the NCAA's 5/8 rule, there could be further hardships should any players leave the program after or during this season. They could not be replaced on next year's team at all, so any defections would see those scholarships lie dormant for a year. The only way that any program can replace a departing player when it is up against the 5/8 rule, is when the number of departing players in good academic standing, plus graduating seniors or seniors who have exhausted their eligibility, exceeds that of your incoming class. The NCAA dictates that you must lose more than you have brought in. Tech loses Opie, can count Carlos as a senior and will see Brian Chase graduate in December, after just four years in school. This would be three players departing your program, for purposes of NCAA accounting. However, Virginia Tech brought in five players, or "intial counters" as they refer to it. Those five would be Collins, Dowdell, Gordan and the two sophomores who were walk-ons last year. Tech would have to see three players leave the program, all in good academic standing, to be able to replace any player.

This year's recruiting is hopefully not finished, awaiting an NCAA decision which appears to be later rather than sooner. Tech is continuing to recruit as if they will have a fourth scholarship to give in the spring, and the bulk of the targets are junior college players, with a few high school players being evaluated. One junior college player that certainly fits the profile of what the program needs is 6-9, 260-pound post player Juan "J.P." Batista, who attends Butler County (KS) JC. Tech will evaluate Batista next week in Kansasb and Batista is getting an abundance of attention from some high profile programs, such as Cincinnati, Kansas St, Florida St and Utah, among others.

A name that has just very recently emerged in the high school senior class is that of 6-9 post player Davis Nwankwo, who attends North Bethesda (MD) Georgetown Prep. Getting involved with Nwankwo at this late a date would be nothing short of a coup for Tech, and his recruitment and story surrounding that has become quite entertaining and interesting. Nwankwo is the # 58 rated high school senior by Insiders.com. He is the # 114 rated senior by HoopScoop and the # 66 rated player in his class by PrepStars. Nwankwo had a final five of Arizona, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia. He officially visited all five of those schools, and had offers from all five. Nwankwo wanted to attend Arizona, bit his parents would not sign his scholarship papers. They wanted him to attend Stanford, but Stanford has not accepted Nwankwo and he doesn't intend to take the test again, which is a necessity for his admission there. Virginia has signed three players in this class, after signing five last year, and has the 5/8 rule prohibiting any additional signees this year. Georgia Tech has signed 4 players this fall and still has a remaining scholarship. But the Yellow Jackets are thought to be the leader for 6-11 C Randolph Morris of Georgia, one of the top 10 seniors in the country.

Essentially, there is a stalemate with Nwankwo's parents over Arizona. Stanford has yet to accept Nwankwo, Georgia Tech has its remaining scholarship targeted elsewhere, and Virginia can't now sign any additional players because of the 5/8. This leaves Miami. The parents wouldn't sign the papers with Miami, thinking they were a compromise choice, but have left the door open there after a period of deliberation. Arizona and Miami remain, but each school didn't get it done in the fall, so Nwankwo is starting to look around a bit. His choices appear to be limited though. He has made all 5 official visits, so any visits that he takes in the future will have to be unofficial visits and will have to be paid for out of his own pocket. This would appear to favor schools in close proximity to the D.C. area, which is only a little more than 4 hours away from Tech. In addition, Nwankwo has an affinity for ACC basketball, so the door has been slightly opened for Tech and they will see where it leads.

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