Pellum staying in-state

All Darrion Pellum needed was a qualifying score and he was ready to suit up for an ACC school, says his coach at Massanutten Military Academy (Va.).

With a passing SAT score in hand, the Hampton, Va., native jumped at the offer waiting for him from Virginia Tech. According to Massanutten head coach Richard Moore, the decision to pick the in-state Hokies was an easy one.

"All he needed was the SAT score and they said they would be there once he got it," Moore said. "He got the score and they were there like they said they would be. Of all of the schools recruiting him, Virginia Tech was there from the beginning. They recruited him last year."

Moore said Miami, NC State, UNC Wilmington, Cincinnati and Providence all jumped in late but the Hokies stayed strong throughout and landed the three-star player.

The Hokies will ink one of the better remaining players in the class of 2007 in April and Moore said the ACC school will be happy to have a versatile player like Pellum.

"He can play the one, two and three," Moore said. "People didn't know he could handle the ball as well as he could. We played him all over the place and asked him to do more things because he is so versatile. When he was with Boo Williams, he just stood out there and shot it. He can shoot it but he can do a lot more than that."