Big Recruiting Weekend for Basketball Program

This will be a big recruiting weekend for the Virginia Tech men’s
basketball program, and it starts Friday night with Late Night with the Hokies. If
you’re in town for the football game you should stop by Cassell Coliseum. A big
crowd can only help the Hokies in their recruitment of one of the nation’s top
prospects, who will be making his official visit over the weekend.

ESPN.com rates Virginia Tech’s 2011 recruiting class as the #11 class in the
country. They’ve picked up commitments from North Carolina point guard Marquis
Rankin, Florida wing Robert
Brown, Virginia wing Dorian
Finney-Smith and Virginia power forward C.J.
Barksdale. Getting a commitment from a big-time center prospect could vault
the Hokies even further up the recruiting rankings.

This weekend, top 50 center Adjehi
Baru will be making his official visit to Blacksburg. Baru is ranked #47 by
ESPN, #44 by Scout, #26 by Rivals and #23 by PrepStars. When Dorian Finney-Smith
committed to Tech recently, he was considered the highest ranked player to
verbal to the Hokies since Dell Curry and Michael Porter in the 1980’s. If Tech
can manage to land Baru, he would be the latest recruit to earn that
distinction.

Baru is 6-9, 225 and he’s down to Virginia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina and
College of Charleston. Baru is a native of the Ivory Coast, but he now plays for
The Steward School in Richmond.

Baru also has scholarship offers from Miami, Ohio State and Oklahoma State,
amongst a whole host of others. He is amongst the top five center prospects in
the country. He plays with a lot of energy, and he runs the court very well for
his size. He would be a perfect fit for Seth Greenberg’s system.

Here’s a quick recap of the players who have already committed …

Marquis Rankin, PG – #74 by PrepStar, #84 by Scout. Offers from Clemson,
Ohio State, South Carolina and Wake Forest.

Robert Brown, SG – Virginia Tech was the first school to offer Brown, who
accepted on the spot, thus his recruitment never got a chance to heat up. #105
by Rivals, and a Top 150 play by PrepStar.

Dorian Finney-Smith, SF – Chose Tech over Florida, ODU, Wake Forest,
Maryland and UVA. #81 by PrepStar, #37 by Rivals, #28 by Scout, #15 by ESPN.
Highest rated recruit to verbal to Virginia Tech since Dell Curry and Michael
Porter.

C.J. Barksdale, PF – #95 by Rivals, #65 by Scout, #60 by PrepStars. Chose
the Hokies over offers from Alabama, Maryland, Florida and Wake Forest.

Rankin, Brown and Barksdale are all playing together at Hargrave Military
Academy this season, and they will all be visiting Virginia Tech this weekend
for Late Night with the Hokies. It’s very important to get Baru on campus with
three players who have already committed to Tech.

Having a great crowd on hand for the event also can’t hurt, so if you’re in
town for the football game make sure you come by Cassell Coliseum on Friday
night. It’s your chance to help the program in a big way. If the Hokies can get
Baru, they’ll sign a Top 10 class, and perhaps even a Top 5 class depending on
who does the ratings.

The volleyball game begins at 7pm, and Late Night with the Hokies will start
immediately after. The first 3,000 fans will receive a free t-shirt