I was able to sign 4 decent kids and will probably end up with a walk-on. I landed two kids from within the state and two kids from the Carolinas.

James "Up In Flames" Ames comes to Bridgewater from Chatham, VA. He's a 6'-2" PG with superior ball handling skills who averaged 22.8 ppg and shot over 56% last year.

Leroy "Shootin" Newton is also an in-state kid from Madison, VA. He's also a PG and checks in at 6'-1". Newton also averaged over 22 ppg and added 5.5 assists.

James "Scary" Gary is a defensive stopper who hails from Piedmont, SC. James averaged 12.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game last season. He could really benefit from a redshirt season and is a likely candidate to get tagged with one.

Darrell "Double D" Dietrich rounds out this year's class. He is a 5'-9" SG from Marshall, NC. A nice all around player with a 3.0 GPA who I expect will really make an impact by his sophomore season.

All in all it turned out to be a decent class (sans the walk-on who will be a turd and will never see the floor). You will be able to get an early look at this talent as Bridgewater U is participating in Midnight Madness this year. This will be the first of many attempts to generate student/fan interest and raise the D+ homecourt advantage. Also slated to take place this season - Free Taco Night, and Wet T-Shirt Night.

Harold Wilson SG (Uvalde, TX) - Wilson will bring much needed speed to the perimeter of Roanoke's new fastbreak offense. He's got a good shooting touch, nice handle, and acceptable passing skills. He doesn't put in much effort on defense, but we're hoping he can get by on speed alone. Wilson will likely redshirt his freshman season.

Stanley Newby SG (Baltimore, MD) - Newby is another speedy guard who should help the Roanoke perimeter. He's a better defender than Wilson, but doesn't have the natural offensive abilities that Harold Wilson has. He'll spend this season backing up Robert Johnson at the 2-spot.

Daniel Andersen SF (Evans, GA) - Like Wilson and Newby, Andersen has good speed and should put it to use in the run-and-gun style that Roanoke plans on using this season. He's a good all-around player, with acceptable athleticism, rebounding, low-post, perimeter, and passing skills. He has excellent ball-handling skills.

James Tuten C (Thomasville, NC) - While not as speedy as his backcourt teammates, Tuten brings nice athleticism to the Roanoke frontcourt. His rebounding and low-post skills need development, but he does have an above average jumper for a big man. Hopefully he'll be able to put that to use in a year or two.

Irvin "The Preacher" Frierson PG (Summerville, Ga) 467 - Recruiting pundits were shocked when Coach whunt1 announced that the Generals had signed 5'10", 165lb PG from Chattaoga HS. After bringing in two PG's last season, no one, not even those closest to the W&L program expected to see another PG brought in so soon. Frierson is raw in several areas; his athleticism (27) and speed (44) will be a challenge for him in the Generals scrambling FCP defense and may make things difficult in the transition from the triangle offense to W&L's complicated & evenly distributed motion offense. On the flip side, General coaches are ecstatic about him being a tenacious defender and are confident that his footwork and fundamental defensive skills will evetually wreak havoc on opposing backcourts.

"In the end, we saw an opportunity to bring in a lockdown defender (72) who has solid ballhandling (65) & passing (53) skills and decided as a staff we couldn't let that chance pass us by." Frierson, like the other two PG's on the roster, sophomores Harold Webster and Paul Henley, needs to have an outstanding pre-season to solidify the back-up PG spot to Sr. guard Joseph Lee who will start the season at the point for W&L.

"California Dreamin' " Melvin Morant SF (Chino, CA) 454 - It has been two years since Washington & Lee has recruited a SF. In fact, the only two SF's over the last 6 seasons to see playing time are junior swing man Robert Stucker and Richard Hooper, the starter on W&L's Season 22 National Title team. Traditionally, the SF spot is a tough one to fill at this level and no one knows that more than Coach whunt1.

"I love a great SF. Their versatility is phenomenal. But, here at Washington & Lee, we refuse to recruit a SF just for the sake of having a SF. If a guy cant come in & make significants contributions by the midway point of his sophomore season, we will not recruit him at that position. I'd rather have a reliable big man or a quality guard than a project SF," Coach Hunt advised ODAC media gathered at the annual pre-season coaches conference.

In Morant, the Generals look to have a guy that will make signfican contributions. Already penciled in to be Stucker's backup, Morant makes the cross-country trip with outstanding potential but already solid credentials. His rebounding (48) & defense (45) are qualities that should make him an all star before his General career is up and when his perimeter (41) skills comes around, Morant should make other defenses very nervous.

Russell Rast "Afarian" C (Independence, Mo) 454 - Washington & Lee has long been known for their agressive and punishing big men who like to rebound the basketball and create havoc for opposing offensive players. Rast, effectionately being called the Rastafarian Man around the Lexington, Va campus, fits that mold perfectly. For the better part of the recruiting season, Rast was the best rebounder (68) on the board and his ability to block shots (62) made him a hotly contested recruit.

But, the Generals, worried about his seemingly low athleticism (16) and speed (24), were hesitant to pull the trigger and signing Rast. After his one and only official visit, Coach Hunt decided to take a chance on his rough around the edges low post game (51) and offered rast the last of his four scholarships. "Rast will eventually be a good player for us," Coach Hunt said. " I see him finishing his career as a 90+ rebounder and a high 70's, low 80's low post player. You give me a guy with those numbers in D3 and I'll give you a national tourney team...every time."

Danny Lindemann "A Hand" C (Evansville, Ill.) Lindemann, the Generals redshirt candidate for Season 26, brings a working knowledge of the motion offense and raw skills to the Lexington campus. "Danny is relatively athletic (26) for his size and brings a solid work ethic (61) to the floor. We anticipate him getting bigger and stronger under our strength and conditioning program and see him making solid contributions to our club sometime late in season 27 and especially in season 28," Coach Hunt said. "With five years in our program, Danny will end up a 90-90 guy guaranteed. I'll be very surprised if this guy isn't at least a second-team all-conference player by the time he leaves here."

The Marlins only had 2 openings this season and filled them with multi-talented players with a certain aversion to practice.

Joseph Ruth is a 6'3" SF from Ketchikan, Alaska. Ruth boasts excellent raw skills, although his offensive game needs some refinement. Unfortunately, Ruth has a weak worth ethic and coaches anticipate butting heads with him repeatedly. Hopefully getting immediate minutes as a backup SF will help that.

Jeffery Pellegrini is a well rounded 6'5" PF from Rutherfordton, NC. VWC coaches are trying to convince him that a redshirt season would really help his game. It is expected that he will develop into a player capable of skillfully manning either forward spot.

Halfway through conference play of season 26....