WSET.com - ABC13Carter's Call for February 4, 2011

Another National Signing Day for high school football stars has come and gone, but the debate over which schools did well in landing top recruits and which fell short will likely continue through the spring and into the next fall season.

Most agree the Virginia Cavaliers had a big signing day, 17 of the 26 players they picked up Wednesday are from the state of Virginia, the most in a long time for the Cavs. Some of the big catches included Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia, defensive back Demetrious Nicholson out of Virginia Beach, also receivers Darius Jennings out of Baltimore and Dominique Terrell out of Manassas.

Some will argue UVa outshined Virginia Tech this signing day. That answer, though, really won't be known until we see how these players pan out in college. The Hokies signed 20, but missed out on five-star linebacker Stephone Anthony, who chose Clemson over the Hokies, and Lafonte Thourogood, who had committed to Tech but changed his mind and signed with Vanderbilt. Tech's class is ranked just 35th nationally, but the Hokies have had a knack of turning good players into great players once they arrive in Blacksburg. Tech's local signees included defensive back Michael Cole out of Cave Spring, running back Michael Holmes of Harrisonburg and receiver Demitri Knowles out of L.C.A.

The Liberty Flames signed 10, including area stars Kirby Anderson out of Amherst County (defensive back), offensive lineman Grant Jones of L.C.A. and quarterback Josh Woodrum of Cave Spring.

VMI signed 17, including Northside's Wardell Penn-Timity and Hargrave's Johnny Wimbish, who played on Altavista's 2009 state championship team.

Another local standout, Brookville's Deshon Foxx, honored his earlier commitment to Connecticut , signing with the Huskies.

Congratulations to all our area players on a great accomplishment and a job well done. Keep up the good work as you move on and represent our area, we'll be rooting for you!

As I write this, Virginia Tech and UVa are coming off big ACC wins. The Hokies picked up a rare road win at N.C. State. In that game, Malcolm Delaney topped 2,000 career points, just the fourth Hokie to do it. And teammate Jeff Allen topped 1500 career point, congrats to both.

UVa held on to top Clemson, the Cavs needed a boost. That gets 'em up to 3-and-5 in the league, with road games at Miami and Florida State before they host Duke on February 16th and the Hokies on the 19th.

Be sure and join us each Friday night at 11 for Full Court Press, a show devoted to high school basketball, boys and girls. The show runs through Friday night, March 11.

Thanks for logging on. Enjoy all the sports!