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The word out of Virginia today was that the Cavaliers had a legitimate interest in Marell Evans, a former Varina High School standout who has left Michigan's program, but the situation could not be worked out academically and Evans will not be enrolling.

Evans was a part-time starter for Michigan last year as a "true" sophomore and was looking for a place where he could enroll for the first semester and would satisfy the one-year residency requirement that would enable him to play at the Division I-A level next year as a redshirt junior.

Evans (6-3, 224) also has been linked with Virginia Tech, but Tech and UVa began classes at roughly the same time and he would miss close to 10 days at either of those schools. I don't know if there's another academic matter that would have hindered his acceptance at this time.

Regarding Kyle Long, the one-time Florida State baseball signee who left Tallahassee after the fall of 2008, he is not enrolled at UVa but don't rule out the possibility of him playing football for the Cavaliers one day (he would not have been eligible to play for UVa this season).

"All parties want this to work out," a very good source told me.

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is ranked No. 1 in the preseason power ratings posted by rivals.com Monday.

Foster's units have led the nation in total defense twice (2005-06) and finished in the top five four other times in his 14 years as a coordinator. The Hokies have finished in the country's top 10 in total defense nine times during that span.

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Former Charlottesville Daily Progress sportswriter Andrew Joyner, a proud chronicler of the Pete Gillen era, has taken exception with Doug Doughty's ranking of the University of Virginia's athletic programs.

Joyner, a formal rivals.com executive now working in the sports management field, has agreed to share his ranking of the UVa programs:

1.      Men’s lacrosse – Given dearth of national championships in others sports, when you have one that has won two since 2003, that’s is your department’s top sport. There is no other sport at UVa that consistently competes for a national title armed with the knowledge it has, indeed, won one in recent memory. Other sports can dream of winning titles; this one has done it and likely will contend again in 2010. Read more »

It’s been so long since I’ve written one of these “UVa Insider” columns that I’d almost forgotten that it has been a regular contribution – not counting time off during the summers – for the past 10 years.

My memory was jogged by an off-handed assessment of one of UVa’s athletic programs, which reminded me that I customarily begin the college sports year by ranking the Cavalier programs.

The criterion is not what the program did last year; rather, it is an effort to assess where the program stands at this very moment.

Here are the Doughty rankings heading into the 2009-2010 school year: Read more »

Kevin Harrington, listed at 6 foot 3 and 315 pounds when he played on the defensive line for Warwick High School in Newport News, has slimmed down to 285 and has joined Virginia's football team as a walk-on.

Harrington and his fellow freshman, 6-1, 260-pound offensive lineman Collin "Lucky" Lundgren from Omaha, Neb., were added once UVa's 105-man roster could be expanded following the start of classes.

More walk-ons could be added in coming days.

BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech's three injured tailbacks were back on the practice field at full speed Tuesday.

Redshirt sophomore Josh Oglesby (strained right hamstring and infected left foot) returned after missing more than a week of practice. Freshman David Wilson (sprained left shoulder) was back in full contact for the first time since being injured in a scrimmage on Aug. 15. Redshirt freshman Ryan Williams, who sustained a minor left ankle sprain in this past Saturday's scrimmage, also was back at work.

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BLACKSBURG -- Here are the final individual statistics from Virginia Tech's second full scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium:

Passing

                                 Comp-Att-Int-Yds

Taylor                      8-11-0-78

Clayton                     6-10-1-61

Thomas                     2-10-1-16

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BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech running backs coach Billy Hite said Saturday that senior tailback Kenny Lewis continues to encounter problems from the Achilles tendon that he tore halfway during the 2008 season.

Lewis, one of the most respected players in the Tech program, hasn't been seen at the Hokies' preseason workouts as he continues to battle effects of the injury that he sustained in the Hokies' sixth game of the 2008 season.

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The Associated Press released its preseason top 25 this morning. Tech's No. 7 ranking matches its highest preseason ranking ever in the poll. The Hokies started the 2005 season seventh, too.

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Virginia Tech football players and coaches spent Friday morning helping students move into their dorm rooms.

The players were paired up with the assistant coaches and worked up and down Washington Street to aid in the move in process of on-campus students.

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