VA Is For Leavers, Not Lovers

When you think of the University of Virginia basketball program, what do you think of? Ralph Sampson? A final four run over 25 years ago? Despite having a brand new, pristine facility in John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers haven't been nationally relevant in over 20 years.

When you think of the Virginia Polytechnical Institute's basketball team, what do you think of? An occasional upset over UNC or Duke? Dell Curry? Not offering Stephen Curry? Virginia Tech hasn't been relevant in...well...ever.

How embarrassing must it be for these programs that VCU and Radford are dancing? Or that not too long ago George Mason made its historic run to the final four. So why are these programs flourishing in their conferences but Virginia Tech and Virginia are getting pounded in the ACC?

It's not as tough a conundrum as their fan bases would like to think. How can you expect to produce a consistent NCAA tournament team without keeping your best prospects from defecting the state? I'm not suggesting a Pete Bell approach to recruiting. But there are plenty of Butch McRae's and Neon Boudreaux's to be had without cheating. With two of the top AAU programs in the country (Boo Williams and D.C. Assault) and the best private school league in the country (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) within a stone's throw, these programs have no excuse for lack of talent.

While it can be expected to miss on the occasional top prospect to a national title contender like UNC, or the occasional snipe job from local rivals Maryland and Georgetown, it's inexcusable to miss out on sophomore Mike Davis from Illinois (11.2 ppg/8.1 rpg) or a 2-time All-ACC stud like Tyrese Rice (17.1 ppg/5.4 apg). Both of whom didn't get a solid offer from either major Virginia program. Virginia Tech wanted to sign Rice but place him at a prep school for a year. Davis slipped through unnoticed and is now the leading scorer and rebounder for a NCAA tournament team. Whether it is weak talent evaluation, lack of persistence, or poor relationship building with local high schools, it is undeniable that UVA and VT have failed at locking the state down in recent years. If they were collecting top talent from outside the state it would be less aggravating. But clearly that hasn't happened either. It is paramount to any successful program be it football or basketball to put a fence around the state. Not only does it help with future top state players, it builds the fan base, appeases donors and current fans, and in some situations can develop chemistry in a "this is where we're from" kind of way (see Texas football, Washington basketball, St. John's basketball).

Here is a list of players who have left the state of Virginia and gone on to play in a major conference after attending a Virginia High School. This list does not include prep school imports to schools such as Fork Union Academy, Hargrave Academy, and Oak Hill Academy.

2008:
Ed Davis (Mechanicsville) Center/North Carolina
Jason Clarke (Arlington) Wing/Georgetown

2007:
Mike Williams (Alexandria) Center/Kentucky
Julian Vaughn (Reston) Power Forward/Georgetown (via FSU)
Mike Davis (Alexandria) Power Forward/Illinois
Denzell Bowles (Virginia Beach) Power Forward/Texas A&M
Mike Scott (Chesapeake) Wing/Virginia
Shane Walker (Alexandria) Guard/Maryland
Darrion Pellum (Hampton) Wing/Virginia Tech
Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach) Guard/Penn State

2006:
Eric Hayes (Dumfries) Guard/Maryland
Scottie Reynolds (Herndon) Point Guard/Villanova
Stefan Welsh (Newport News) Guard/Arkansas
Marcus Sikes (Richmond) Wing/Cincinnati
Duke Crews (Hampton) Power Forward/Tennessee
Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth) Center/Florida (via Georgetown)
Lewis Witcher (Rocky Mount) Power Forward/Virginia Tech
Anthony Wright (Sterling) Power Forward/Michigan
Karolis Petrukonis (Norfolk) Center/Clemson

2005:
Marcus Ginyard (Arlington) Guard/North Carolina
Tyrese Rice (Richmond) Point Guard/Boston College
Terrance Woodberry (Virginia Beach) Wing/Georgia
Leo Criswell (Norlfolk) Wing/Missouri
Chris Johnson (Virginia Beach) Center/LSU
David Neal (Arlington) Power Forward/Maryland
Shawn Taggart (Richmond) Center/Memphis (via Iowa St)
Laurynas Mikalauskas (Blue Ridge) Center/Virginia
Tomas Jasiulionis (Richmond) Center/St. John's

***This list also does not include the 100+ D1 Virginia prospects who play at competitive schools such as Davidson, George Mason, VCU, Radford, George Washington, Tulsa, etc.

Some might find it unfair to not include Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech), A.D. Vassallo (Virginia Tech), Derenzon Hudson (Virginia Tech), just because they went to prep school powerhouses such as Oak Hill Academy and Hargrave Military Academy. There is no question having these superstar factories so close to campus is an unrivaled recruiting advantage for Virginia and Virginia Tech. But this isn't why I haven't included them. I was simply sparing these two schools the embarrassment. Take a look at the list of Rivals TOP 150 prospects that prep schools have pumped out in the past four years:

Tywon Lawson (UNC), Joe Alexander (WVU), Nolan Smith (Duke), Jamonte Gordon (Mississippi State), Eric Devendorf (Syracuse), Sam Young (Pittsburgh), Shane Clark (Villanova via Maryland), KC Rivers (Clemson), Tyler Smith (Tennessee via Iowa), Landon Millbourne (Maryland), Jonathon Mandeldove (UCONN), Alex Legion (Michigan via Kentucky), Jeremy Jacob (Georgia), Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech), Derenzo Hudson (Virginia Tech), Mike Scott (Virginia), Eric Wallace (Ohio State), Brandon Jennings (Pro League in Europe), Ater Majok (UCONN), Demarquise Bost (Mississippi State).

Many on this list are future NBA players, but as you can see only three of these players stayed in-state, and if you include A.D. Vassallo (not a highly sought recruit) that gives Virginia Tech three and UVA none of these prep prospects. None of these are future NBA players.

Settle in for the long haul Hokie and Cav fans, this trend doesn't seem to be reversing anytime soon as Indiana, Duke, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech have already claimed the state's top talent over the next few years. Until these two programs can figure out a way to lock down the state, they will be on the outside looking in.