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College Football

Recruiting: Grove picks East Carolina, Wake adds another

By Sammy Batten

May 26, 2009

Jeremy Grove didn’t know a lot about the East Carolina football program when he mailed the coaching staff there a highlight video last winter.

“I had watched the West Virginia and Virginia Tech games,’’ Grove said of ECU’s upset wins against the nationally ranked Mountaineers and Hokies last September. “So I just figured I’d go ahead and send them a tape. I had no idea their program was that good.’’

The Pirates saw enough of Grove, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker at Thomas Johnson High in Ijamsville, Md., to invite him to visit campus during spring practice. A scholarship offer was extended during that trip, but Grove decided to wait and see what other options came up.

Louisville and Navy eventually came through with offers, too. Grove, however, was convinced ECU was the place for him after going back to Greenville for the Pirates spring game in April.

He consequently became the fourth player to make an oral commitment to ECU last week.

“I never thought I’d be wearing purple in college, but everything about the program there impressed me,’’ Grove said. “I’ve been to just about every ACC and Big East school, and East Carolina just felt like the perfect place for me. I couldn’t find anything negative about it.’’

Grove will be playing his second year at Thomas Johnson in 2009. He spent his first two seasons at nearby Urbana High before transferring to Thomas Johnson prior to his junior year.

Playing middle linebacker, Grove produced 95 tackles despite missing most of three games with an ankle injury.

The commitment from Grove is the third from a defensive player for the Pirates, who already have landed a pair of defensive backs in Westover’s Tyrone Johnson and Damon Magazu from Charlotte’s Providence High.

Deacs work family ties

Wake Forest was helped by family ties in landing its latest oral commitment.

Nick Knott, a dynamic running back from Wylie, Texas, made his pledge to the Demon Deacons on Sunday. Knott will join his brother, redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Givens, in Winston-Salem for the 2010 season.

A 5-foot-10, 165-pounder with 4.47-second speed in the 40-yard dash, Knott was one of the area’s top rushers in 2008 when he ran for 1,362 yards and 22 touchdowns on 170 carries. He also caught 16 passes for 250 yards and two more scores.

Wake Forest was the first school to offer, but Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma State, and TCU were also showing interest.

Knott is the second player to make a commitment for the Deacons for the Class of 2010.

Names and notions ...

In case you missed it, UNC signee Hunter Furr blew it up at the state track and field championships last Saturday in Greensboro. Furr, from Mount Tabor High, won the 100- and 200-meter sprints and anchored the 4x100 relay team that won the state title. Not bad for a football player. ... East Carolina is heavily in the mix for one of the state’s top defensive linemen, 6-4, 305-pound Darius Kilgo from Weddington High in Matthews. Kilgo is listing the Pirates in his top three along with South Carolina and Tennessee.

Sammy Batten can be reached at battens@fayobserver.com or 486-3534.