Hokies Cash In on ACC Cachet

Greenberg Says Conference Gives Boost to Recruiting

The first letters appeared in Malcolm Delaney's mailbox when he was in 10th grade. Four or five schools wanted him to play basketball for them-- two years later, he can't remember which ones. But one letter, he knows, came from Virginia Tech.

At first, the Hokies didn't interest Delaney, who is from Baltimore. He knew little about the school, a powerhouse in football and perennial underdog in basketball. But the letter began a courtship that landed Delaney at Virginia Tech as part of a recruiting class that is perhaps the best in school history. Experts rank the Hokies' five-player 2007 class No. 12 in the country, a boon helped both by Virginia Tech's switch from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference three seasons ago and Coach Seth Greenberg's aggressive, grass-roots recruiting style.

"It could be a potential windfall year for them," said Dave Telep, a recruiting expert at Scout.com.

Virginia Tech will play its first conference game of the season today against Wake Forest at 5:30 p.m., commencing its third year in the ACC. Since going 8-8 in conference play its first season, the Hokies have seen their recruiting improve each year. Targeting the D.C. metro area -- the 2007 class will give Virginia Tech five players from Maryland -- and North Carolina, Greenberg has used the cachet of the league to lure upper-echelon players the school couldn't touch before.

"I think the ACC is the key," said Greenberg, in his fourth year at Virginia Tech. "The ACC is the calling card. The Big East was a great conference, but it didn't really fit the geographical landscape for Virginia Tech to develop a basketball program. Now that it's in the ACC, it's a perfect geographic footprint."

When Virginia Tech coaches arrive at games to recruit, DeMatha Coach Mike Jones said, their apparel always features the Virginia Tech logo, and also, just as large, the ACC logo, worn like a badge of honor.

"They're not stupid," Jones said.

Despite the school's enhanced profile, Greenberg still must overcome giants in the league, and he does so with tireless, almost maniacal work. As soon as the NCAA allowed coaches to call players once a month, he or one of his assistants -- Stacey Palmore and Ryan Odom -- called Delaney once a month.

When the next period arrived, Delaney woke up to a text message from Virginia Tech every morning. "Good morning," the messages said. "Great day to be a Hokie."

Greenberg's goal is to be the first coach in a player's living room and earn a recruit's trust before more prominent schools swoop in. Jones, who coached Virginia Tech freshman point guard Nigel Munson and Jeff Allen, who may be the jewel of the Hokies' 2007 class, saw Virginia Tech coaches at his games as much if not more than any other coaches.

The Hokies were "way ahead of the curve," recruiting Dorenzo Hudson out of Charlotte, Telep said. "They're not Duke or North Carolina, so they have to have a different strategy. Be the first to offer, strap a saddle on that guy and try to ride him home."

Iowa State, Indiana and Maryland also pursued Delaney, but he liked the connection he made with Greenberg, who began recruiting him directly. Some schools bad-mouthed other programs and told him other coaches were liars. "Meanwhile, they're really doing the same thing," Delaney said.

But Greenberg only talked about Virginia Tech and how Delaney would fit perfectly there. He talked to Delaney's mother and made her more comfortable than other coaches.

"How would a school expect me to come to a school when my mother wasn't comfortable?" Delaney said.

Once summer arrived and the recruiting restrictions lessened, Delaney and Greenberg spoke nearly every day. Maryland, the school most people figured he would choose, called him only intermittently. He began to sway toward Virginia Tech.

He decided on Virginia Tech before this past summer, then he hired a personal trainer and beefed up his lithe frame. During AAU games, opponents stopped pushing him around and he finished drives to the basket with an authority and confidence college coaches hadn't seen before.

His stock rose and he became a commodity all over again. Schools, including Maryland, rushed to recruit him and pry him from his commitment to Virginia Tech.

"Some schools that recruited me said they were going to offer me," Delaney said. "Some of them schools tried to get back on me after, but I wasn't interested. Virginia Tech stuck with me."

After Virginia Tech landed Delaney, other recruits followed. The final player in the 2007 class to commit was Augustus Gilchrist, a 6-9 guard who plays at Friendly. He was the third player from the region to head south, along with Delaney and Allen, a 6-7 forward.

Virginia Tech had tried to become a factor in the Washington area since Greenberg arrived, and landing those players a year after Munson proved it had.

"I think they've done it," Jones said. "I think what I would attribute it to, they were very aggressive when I think they pinpointed the area; they had to have a very visible presence. That went a way long way with our players. It was obvious from Day One they were going to make this area a hotbed."

Said Delaney: "I've been wanting to play in the ACC. In my opinion, that's one of the toughest conferences with guards. For me to try to get to the next level, I got to get tested.

"We're going to be real good. We'll have a young team. But we probably won't be underdogs."