Ending recent speculation that a move was in the works, Virginia Tech offensive line coach Bryan Stinespring officially announced that tight end Duane Brown will be making a position change to right tackle. Brown will also change numbers, wearing #76 instead of his previous #89.

Brown’s move puts him in a dogfight with Reggie Butler for the starting job at right tackle. Butler has lacked consistency and intensity in his career on the offensive line, and he often struggles in pass blocking. Brown has long arms and quick feet, and some Tech insiders feel that he has an NFL future at offensive tackle.

Brown’s move prompted one other position change, as well as depth chart changes. The Tech coaching staff feels good enough about the combination of Brown and Butler at right tackle that they have decided to move r-freshman Nick Marshman from right tackle to right guard. He will battle with true freshman Sergio Render for the rights to back up starter Jason Murphy.

At center, Will Montgomery and Danny McGrath are listed as co-starters, while Brandon Gore and Ryan Shuman are listed as co-starters at left guard. While it was expected that Danny McGrath would still have an opportunity to win the starting position at center, moving Montgomery back to guard, it was not expected that r-freshman Ryan Shuman would have his name thrown into the hat as a possible starter at right guard.

Basically, this says one thing. Bryan Stinespring still doesn’t know who his top five offensive linemen are, much less his two-deep. But he's getting closer, and the next two weeks of practice will be critical for the offensive line.

The Hokie men's basketball 2005-06 out-of-conference basketball schedule has finally been completed, and while the schedule does feature the usual cupcakes, it also features some very good teams from other top conferences as well. Tech’s marquee out-of-conference game will pit the Hokies against Stanford in the Las Vegas Showdown on December 17. VT will play the Cardinal on ESPN. Unfortunately for east coast Hokie fans, the game will not start until 9:30 Las Vegas time, which means it will be shown live at 12:30am on the east coast.

The Hokies will also hold their own tournament in Blacksburg from November 10-13. The event will be a round robin tournament, meaning the Hokies will play each team once. The other schools participating are Radford, Bowling Green and Western Carolina.

Other prominent out-of-conference games for the Hokies include St. John’s in Blacksburg, as well as road trips to Ohio State and Old Dominion.

All schedule updates have been posted on TSL's Future Basketball Schedules Page.

Former Virginia Tech point guard Marquie Cooke will pack his bags and head across country. The kid who many once thought would become “the Michael Vick of Virginia Tech basketball” will transfer to Colorado State. Interestingly enough, former Virginia Tech guard Myron Guillory is now an assistant coach at Colorado State.

Cooke, who was dismissed from the Virginia Tech basketball team in April, was the highest regarded recruit the Hokies have signed since Dell Curry. He was Tech’s number one backup at guard this past season and showed flashes of potential by playing good defense and making some tough passes. However, he never found his rhythm shooting the basketball, hitting only 31% of his shots. Cooke was particularly bad from three-point range (19%) and the free throw line (57%).