Metro area high school football players turned heads, made headlines and captured the attention of college coaches last season. But who among them project to be the best college players?
Today, the Richmond Times-Dispatch introduces The A-List, a ranking of the top 12 recruits in the Metro area for the Class of 2011 as determined by college coaches. Players were rated on skill and how likely they will excel in college.
College coaches are not allowed to speak publicly about high school recruits until they sign a letter of intent, so The Times-Dispatch will not identify coaches who cooperated with this project. Wednesday is national signing day.
The young man at the top of the premier A-List should be no surprise. Curtis Grant received 27 scholarship offers before his senior season began, which may be the most of any player from the Metro area.
"He's one of the best in the country," one coach said. "Maybe the best. He's the whole package. He looks the part, and he plays like it, too."
The best teams in the country pursued him, including Alabama, Southern California and Oregon. Nearly every school in the ACC offered him a scholarship. His finalists are Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio State and Florida, and Grant is expected to make his announcement Wednesday.
"He's got size and everything," another coach said. "Great range, great change of direction."
Grant ran a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash — an exceptional time for a linebacker. At 6-3, 222 pounds, he's as big as any high school linebacker in the country. But Grant's selection at the top of The A-List wasn't unanimous. Corey Marshall's stellar senior season at Dinwiddie was enough to sway one coach.
Marshall, who will enroll at Virginia Tech, had 27 tackles for loss and 14 sacks this past season. Grant had only nine tackles for loss and six sacks.
Altogether, the 12 recruits form a solid class. The group is thick on athletes and defenders and thin on the skill positions. Three quarterbacks made the list — Anthony Harris, Chris Hall and Kevin Green — but only Hall is expected to have a chance to play quarterback in college.
For the most part, the coaches agreed on who belonged in the top three. After that, opinions varied. The final four, one coach said, were very hard to distinguish. Not one player was a unanimous pick for his slot.
Had The A-List begun while Al Groh was the coach at Virginia, it probably would have featured two U.Va. commitments instead of four (and Grant would make five if he picks the Cavaliers). In the past three years combined, the Cavaliers have signed six players from the Richmond area.
Virginia Tech's three recruits are about par for the course. In 2010 and 2008, the Hokies signed two players from the 804 area code. In 2009, they got three.
Three other players received votes but missed the cut for the top 12: Hermitage quarterback Brendon Riddick, who committed to Norfolk State; Hermitage cornerback Brandon Rogers, who will attend Division II Concord and Meadowbrook offensive tackle Irabor Imobisa, who is headed to Richmond.
ekolenich@timesdispatch.com
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