According to RealFootball365.com, Virginia Tech received a pair of verbal commitments for its 2009 recruiting class. James Hopper (Fayettville, N.C.) and Jerrodd Williams of (Central, S.C.), both cornerbacks, verbally committed to Hokies coach Frank Beamer after the first two summer camps on Saturday. These two commitments give the Hokies a total of three for the ‘09 class.

For more info, visit RealFootball365.com.

The ACC today announced kickoff times for the 2008 football season. The Hokies’ Aug. 30 opener against ECU will kickoff at noon on ESPN. Virginia Tech’s home opener against Furman on Sept. 6, will get underway at 1:30 p.m. and will not be televised. Tech will host Georgia Tech at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 13. That game will be on ESPN or ABC.

The Hokies have a pair of Thursday night ESPN games this season against Maryland on Nov. 6, and at Miami on Nov. 13. Both games already had 7:30 kickoffs.

Read more about the rest of the ACC’s TV and game time schedule for 2008.

Former Hokie do-everything-player Justin Hamilton is back in the NFL after the Washington Redskins signed him over the weekend. Hamilton, who played three different positions while at Tech, had a solid rookie season with the Browns in 2006, but injuries plagued him prior to the 2007 season and he was cut before the season opener.

The former Clintwood High School standout running back was selected in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft. The quintessential team player, Hamilton played whatever position the coaches ask him to play. That team-first mentality and his natural athletic ability are what endeared him to NFL teams and we’re very happy to see him back on an NFL roster.

 

The Virginia Tech Hokies Softball Team needed two wins today against home-standing Michigan to advance to their first ever Women’s College World Series … mission accomplished! Virginia Tech took advantage of several Wolverine errors in today’s first game (game two of the best-of-three series) to get one unearned run and Hokies’ All World pitcher Angela Tincher struck out 15 Michigan batters to give Tech a 1-0 run, forcing a third and deciding game.

In game three, the Hokies’ offense exploded for six runs and Tincher continued to dominate the Wolverines as the Hokies shocked the home team, 6-1, to advance the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City next week.

Click here to read more about today’s exciting wins!

Normally, we only cover Virginia Tech football here at VTHokieFans.com, but given the historic circumstances of the Hokies’ softball team, we felt it was more than worthy of a mention on the site. For those that haven’t heard, Virginia Tech’s softball team has advanced to the Super Regionals for the first time in the program’s history.

The Hokies travel to Michigan to take on the Wolverines in a best-of-three series beginning Saturday at noon. ESPN will televise the entire series between Virginia Tech and Michigan. Game two of the series will be played at 1 p.m., on Sunday. If a third game is necessary, it will be played immediately following game two.

Viewers in most of the nation will get “whiparound� coverage Saturday of both the Tech game and the noon California-Florida game, but viewers in this state will get to see the entire Tech game. The entire nation will get to see all of Tech’s games Sunday.

Congratulations and best of luck to the Hokies!

In a statement issues by the Virginia Tech Athletics Department on Monday, the Hokies withdrew their scholarship offer to Amherst County start QB Peter Rose following his arrest on felony drug charges.

The statement reads as follows:

Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer announced Monday morning that the Hokies have withdrawn their scholarship offer to recruit Peter Rose.

In making the announcement, Beamer said that there would be no further comment on the matter.

Read more at:

The Roanoke Times

WDBJ, the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va., broke a story this morning reporting that several Amherst County High School students had been arrested on marijuana distribution and other drug charges. Among those arrested was star quarterback Peter Rose, who in February signed a letter of intent to play football at Virginia Tech in the fall.

According to an official press release issued by the Amherst County Sheriff’s office, Peter O’Brian Rose, 18, was arrested on two charges of distribution of marijuana and two charges of distribution of drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer, nor the Athletics Department, has commented on Rose’s status with the team.

The arrests came as part of an undercover investigation in which an Amherst County Sheriff’s Deputy was enrolled at the high school for the last 10 months. Stay tuned to VTHokieFans.com for the latest news surrounding this situation.

The Houston Texans took some heat from their fans after drafting Virginia Tech offensive tackle Duane Brown with their first-round pick, because most draft experts felt Brown was a third-round pick at best. But that didn’t stop the Texans from putting Brown on the first team during their recent minicamp.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Brown took the majority of the snaps at left tackle with the first team. For most of those snaps, Brown had to take on Mario Williams, the 2006 No. 1 overall pick, who had a breakout season in 2007, finishing with 14 sacks.

Brown and Williams, who played at N.C. State, played against each other in college, but Brown quickly discovered that Williams is definitely not the player he was three years ago. Williams dominated the rookie in the drills, but it did not discourage the former Hokie.

“It’s a way different Mario than I lined up against four years ago,” Brown told the Dallas Morning News. “He’s a beast out there. It’s good going against him. It can really help you out on Sundays.”

Click here to read more about the Texans training camp.

Former Virginia Tech quarterback and 2004 ACC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Randall is close to signing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the “deal” at this point includes nothing more than a plane ticket, a hotel room and an invitation to training camp.

“There’s just a couple of things to work out but, hopefully, it can get done as soon as (Thursday),” Randall told the Free Press on Wednesday. “For me, the sooner the better. All I want to do is get back on the field and play. I love playing football and I’m really at a point in time right now where I just can’t wait to get back out there and play again.”

Randall expects to be at the Bombers’ rookie camp which opens on May 28 and will be competing with incumbent starter Kevin Glenn, backup Ryan Dinwiddie and South Carolina State rookie Cleve McCoy. Rookies report May 28 and will have five days before regular camp opens on June 1. If he makes the team, he’ll join former Hokies Ike Charlton, who has played in parts of the last three seasons with the Bombers.

For more on Randall’s possible future with Winnipeg, read the Free Press article.

Brian Galliford of BuffaloRumblings.com, a popular fan blog covering the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, interviewed Gary Cope, Managing Editor of VTHokieFans.com, about the Bill’s third-round pick Chris Ellis. Ellis was a standout defensive end for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Known for his pass rushing prowess, Ellis will be expected to step in immediately and help out one of the NFL’s worst pass-rushing teams.

Read the complete interview at BuffaloRumblings.com.