GOING SOUTH

Williamsburg senior Jacob Teague will not have to change much of his décor when takes off for college next fall to play basketball at Emory & Henry University in Emory, Virginia, just outside of Bristol.

He has been a Yellow Jacket for years and now will become one of the Wasps, a NCAA Division III member. The Wasps play in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s, one of the oldest in the south.

“I took a couple of visits there and I really liked the feel it had,” Teague said. “It’s a small school, in a small town. It felt like home, it’s a blue-collar school. I felt like I fit in well there and everyone was really nice.”

“They want me to work on my strength and hit the weight room,” said Teague.

“I don’t know about playing time but I will be on the varsity,” he added. “I am not red-shirting and will be working out with the varsity.”

“I really like the faculty and coaches, they were really nice and real supportive,” said Teague. “They showed a lot of interest in working with us. It just felt like home and had a good feeling about it.”

Teague, 6’7, was the Yellow Jackets second-leading scorer with a 15 ppa last season. He averaged eight rebounds per game in leading Williamsburg to ten wins in 27 games.

“I’ve always held Jacob in real high standards as far as the team goes,” said Williamsburg Coach Patrick Robinson. “He comes from a real good family and is a great kid. He is a good student and good basketball player.”

“I think without Emory and Henry knowing a whole lot about our program got a good one,” said Robinson.

“Any average person will tell you Jacob will have to get stronger. He will have to put on some weight,” Robinson said. “He runs the floor pretty good for a big man.”

“Jacob really improved a lot the last couple of years on his strength and his jumping,” said Robinson. “Just athletically he improved on his mobility. He just needs to continue to grow on that and get bigger and stronger. I think it will all fall in place for him.”

“Jacob is just now reaching his potential,” Robinson said. “He is young enough were we could have him back for another season here age wise. I think if he had another year of high school he would reach his full potential has a high school player.”

“But, that’s the way it goes, a lot of kids graduate at 17 years old, especially at Williamsburg, but he is young and that is something that those coaches down there need to look at as well. They need to realize that he is going to grow and mature a whole lot in the next couple of years.”

Things may have fall right into place for Teague. Emory & Henry graduated six players off this year’s 11-15 team and have several seniors returning next season.

The Wasps are coached by Paul Russo, a former player under the legendary Bob Johnson at Emory & Henry. Assistant coach Mike Abrahamson is a Louisville native, who played at Manual High School and went on to Emory & Henry. He coached at Louisville Doss before going back to his alma mater.

Russo said. "We are extremely excited to add Jacob to our 2008 recruiting class. We feel that Jacob has the potential to be a great player here at Emory & Henry. I think he will be able to provide us with the size and toughness that we are looking for at this position."

"Jacob has proven himself on the floor as well as in the classroom," said Russo. "He is exactly the kind of kid that we are looking for in our program."