Beamer names Searels new offensive line coach
Tech football coach Frank Beamer named Stacy Searels as the team’s new offensive line coach shortly after previous offensive line coach Jeff Grimes departed for the same position at LSU.
Searels comes to Tech from the University of Texas, where he served as the offensive line coach for the past three seasons under coach Mack Brown. Brown retired after the season, and new Texas coach Charlie Strong tabbed Joe Wickline from Oklahoma State as his offensive line coach.
Searels brings plenty of experience to Blacksburg, having coached at football powerhouses Texas, Georgia and LSU. Prior to his stint at Texas, he coached the offensive line at Georgia for four seasons. Before going to Georgia, he worked as the offensive line coach at LSU from 2003-06 and helped the Tigers win a national championship (2003). Searels’ other coaching stops include Cincinnati and Appalachian State.
Searels played collegiately at Auburn and blocked for Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson in 1985. He graduated from Auburn with a degree in marketing and transportation in 1990 and got his master’s in higher education administration from Auburn in 1995. He and his wife, Patricia, have two daughters, Taylor and Savannah.
Stevens, Mason Melat named ACC Basketball Legends
Former Virginia Tech guards Bobby Stevens and Carrie Mason Melat were named the school’s ACC Legends as announced by ACC Commissioner John Swofford.
Stevens helped the Hokies to the 1973 National Invitation Tournament championship. In the championship game against Notre Dame, he hit the game-winning shot in overtime to lift Tech to an upset win over the Irish.
Melat’s name sits atop the Tech all-time list for 3-pointers made, tallying 200 across her four seasons in Blacksburg from 2002-06, and she also logged the most minutes played in program history. During her career, Melat helped guide the Hokies to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
The ACC women’s Legends will be honored at the annual ACC Women's Basketball Legends' Luncheon on Saturday, March 8, at 1 p.m., and then will be introduced to the Greensboro Coliseum crowd at halftime of the first semifinal game that evening.
The men’s Legends will be honored at the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Greensboro at the annual ACC Basketball Legends Brunch, which will be held on Saturday, March 15, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Guilford Ballroom of the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel.
Reeves selected in National Women’s Soccer League Draft
Jazmine Reeves, who guided the Virginia Tech women’s soccer team to the College Cup in December, became the first Tech player ever to be drafted in the National Women’s Soccer League Draft when the Boston Breakers took her with the third pick of the third round on Jan. 17.
Reeves is coming off a stellar senior season in which she tallied 11 goals and five assists. The Dover, Del., native was also named a first-team NSCAA All-American, a first-team All-ACC performer and a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, becoming the first Tech player to achieve any of the three honors.
“On behalf of the team, coaches and support staff, we offer our congratulations to Jazmine,” Tech coach Chugger Adair said in a statement released by the athletics communications office after the draft. “We’re extremely proud of everything she accomplished this year, both on and off the field, and we’re looking forward to seeing her successes at the next level.”
The NWSL, founded in 2012, will kick off play in early April. The Breakers, coached by Tom Durkin, finished fifth in the eight-team league last year. They had an 8-6-8 record on the year and missed the playoffs by six points.
Dubose chose in MLS Superdraft
Devante Dubose, a senior defender on this past season’s Tech men’s soccer squad, was drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes in the fourth round with the 66th overall pick of the 2014 MLS Superdraft.
Dubose started 52 games in his career as a defender at Tech, and he played in 60. He contributed to defensive efforts this season that notched shutouts against No. 1 North Carolina, No. 16 Clemson, Binghamton and VMI and was a key part of a defense that only allowed 23 goals all season, the lowest total since 2005.
The San Jose Earthquakes, coached by Mark Watson, finished sixth in the Western Conference last season and just missed out on the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. The squad went 14-11-9 last year and is set to kick off the 2014 campaign in early March.
