Ricky DeBerry was a "must get" at OLB/DE for VT and specifically Shane to get back into Richmond recruiting with some success. Foster visited his home, Shane recruited him hard, he was one of the the top 5 players in Va and had VT in his "top 3" for a while. DeBerry ultimately signed with Big Shiny Object Oklahoma on signing day- and of course there was much hand wringing by VT fans, "another Va kid lost" "Shane can't recruit" "Beamer cant close on top players" "VT is stale in Va." etc etc. Well DeBerry never started for Oklahoma at OLB or DE. He barely played on defense and was eventually moved to H Back- where he barely played. He got his degree and is now pursing a grad transfer somewhere- likely G5 or FCS. Interesting story and recruiting in a nut shell really. None of these guys are can't miss, and one Richmond recruit won't make or break the program.
From the where are they now file..Ricky DeBerry
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who are you and what have you done...
/s
Eh... As I recall, the word on DeBerry was that he wasn't really a great fit for Bud's D. Not a must have at all.
You must be thinking about Josh Sweat and Deshawn Hand...
EJ Levenberry, Curtis Grant and Derrick Green were other must-gets. Levenberry transferred from FSU to UConn, Green transferred from Michigan to TCU after gaining less than 900 yards in his three years there, and although Grant is bouncing around NFL practice squads, he only had one season at OSU with more than 10 tackles.
I actually think Grant would have thrived more at VT. He was never as exceptional as his recruiting projected, but he was a victim of the depth chart at tOSU.
Felt like everyone in the state knew Levenberry was gonna be a bust early on.
Shane Beamer was a disappointment at VT in recruiting Richmond and in coaching the RBs. I can take off my VT glasses and admit he underwhelmed at VT.
I would say Richmond recruiting is disappointing General atleast for us. The best players never pan out for us and many others which leads me to often to question the competition an thus their evaluation. I tend to think NOVA and 757 players as a talent pool and player for player both areas in VA tend to be better. Anecdotal but just my observation over the years.
Seriously though, I was convinced Joel Caleb and Holland Fisher were going to be all timers at VT.
Also thought Raymon Minor was a future starter
i thought Nick Acree would be an all-timer at VT.
Is Minor still on the team?
Last I heard he was back as a walk-on but haven't heard anything out of how he's practiced
Not 100% true. Macho, Duane Brown and John Graves were great for us. But I get where you're coming from.