Latest Virginia Tech move sparks new controversy

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Aug 26, 2009

MEN'S NEWS ... The story of Coach Oliver Weiss' hasty departure from Virginia Tech in June took a new twist with a Roanoke Times story that Virginia Tech reported 11 recruiting violations to the NCAA and has banned foreign recruits for three seasons.

In documents obtained by the Roanoke Times, Virginia Tech informed the NCAA of the violations 13 days after Weiss resigned.

The violations by a person who "no longer serves ... at Virginia Tech" (according to the redacted documents obtained under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act) concerned entrance fees paid on behalf of recruits and later repaid by the players themselves.

According to Roanoke Times, Virginia Tech will take  "corrective actions" and stop recruiting foreign men's players for three years -- through the 2011-12 school year.

Weiss' recruiting of foreign players produced a Men's College Cup semifinal team in 2007 but sparked controversy, though the decision to ban foreign recruits itself has met with opposition.

The editorial board of the Collegiate Times, the Virginia Tech student paper, criticized the ban, saying "there is absolutely no reason to rub proverbial salt in the wounds with the three-year suspension."

* Transfers will play a big role in the 2009 men's campaign. No. 1 North Carolina's lone selection on the 2009 Soccer America Preseason All-American team is transfer Stephen McCarthy, who will spent his senior year in Chapel Hill after playing his first three seasons at Santa Clara. Three other transfers are also on the second team: Creighton defender Chris Schuler (Indiana), St. John's midfielder Nelson Becerra (Centenary, N.J.) and UC Irvine forward Irving Garcia (Yavapai).

* Six Soccer America Preseason Top 25 teams -- No. 2 Akron, No. 4 Indiana, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 12 UIC, No. 21 Michigan and No. 23 Louisville -- will take part in the 2009 National Soccer Festival, which kicks off Friday in Ft. Wayne, Ind.  All seven Big Ten teams will play in 2010 thanks in part to a $10,000 sports business development grant from the city of Ft. Wayne for the Big Ten Challenge, the working title for the preseason event.

* Thomas Campbell's comeback bid got off to a fantastic start. The fifth-year senior who missed all of last season after tearing knee ligaments needed only 36 minutes to score a hat trick Saturday in UNC Greensboro's 5-3 win over Division II Lees-McRae on Saturday night.