Spotlight on our Seniors: National Signing Day at FUMA

[ National Signing Day Photo Gallery ]

At least five FUMA seniors will be sharing the spotlight with our postgraduate football players on National Signing Day, Wednesday, February 2, 2010, accepting scholarships to play football for major programs including Virginia Tech, Ohio State, and North Carolina. National Signing Day, the first Wednesday in February each year, is the date that football players can begin signing their National Letters of Intent, accepting scholarship offers to play football in college.

Each year, Fork Union Military Academy sends two or three dozen football players on to play in the upper levels of Division I-A and Division I-AA colleges, mostly from our postgraduate football program. In 2010, however, much of the spotlight will be our seniors.

Mark Shuman, the son of FUMA's head postgraduate football coach John Shuman, will be playing offensive line for Virginia Tech in the fall. Shuman earned All-State 1st Team Offense and All-Prep honors.

Joining Shuman at Virginia Tech will be defensive lineman Nick Acree of King William, Virginia. A knee injury early in the year limited his play this past season, but Acree's high school career has demonstrated that he will be a formidable part of the defensive line for the Hokies.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will claim senior linebacker Jamel Turner of Youngstown, Ohio where he'll join our postgraduate running back Carlos Hyde who is also going to the Buckeyes this year.

Russell Bodine, the son of assistant football coach Brian Bodine, will play center/offensive line for North Carolina during his college career. Bodine earned All-State 1st Team Offense, All-State 1st Team Defense, and All-Prep honors for his play this past season.

Akeem Garnett, an outstanding safety for the FUMA prep team, will trade his FUMA uniform for that of The Citadel in Charleston, SC this fall. Garnett is a multi-sport athlete, excelling in basketball as well, but he will make football his focus at The Citadel. Garnett earned All-State 1st Team honors both as a wide receiver on offense, and as a safety on defense.

Fresh off his participation in the USA vs. The World football game broadcast on the NFL Network this past Saturday, offensive lineman Jacob Ruby remains a question mark as to whether he will make a commitment on Wednesday. Ruby -- whose hometown is London, Ontario, Canada -- was one of 45 players selected to represent The World in the nationally-broadcast all-star game. A number of schools including Richmond, Cincinnatti, Eastern Michigan, Connecticut, and others have been involved in recruiting Ruby but his decision is likely not to come until next week. Although primarily an offensive lineman, Ruby earned All-State 1st Team Defense honors for his play on the defensive line this past year.

Coach Micky Sullivan, head prep coach, expects a number of other players from his team to play football for college programs at the Division II and III level and expects those decisions to come in the next few weeks.