Virginia Tech, UVa, Maryland all courting Teller

Liberty High junior lineman Wyatt Teller has garnered 10 scholarship offers from NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams, and Liberty coach Tommy Buzzo expects the offers to keep rolling in.

“If we wanted to, I think it could triple,” Buzzo said of the number of offers. “There’s interest coast to coast….But I don’t think we need to be in the business of stacking scholarships. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do for him and I don’t want to” lead on any schools.

Teller has already joined the likes of Brandon Gore (Virginia Tech), Alex Stadler (Alabama; Liberty U) and Corey Lillard (Virginia, Liberty U) as the most heavily recruited players in Liberty High history. South Carolina was the latest program to offer Teller a scholarship, doing so Nov. 21. Previously offering him scholarships were Boston College (the first), Penn State, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Duke, Tennessee and Rutgers.

“I haven’t narrowed it down yet,” Teller said. “It’s pretty cool knowing 10 schools really like me, but I’ve still got to keep my head on straight.”

Programs like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College and N.C. State have shown the most interest in Teller, largely because recruiters from those near-by schools are able to maintain a presence at local high schools like Liberty.

“They can’t have contact with [players], but it’s important for them to be in the school,” Buzzo said. “It harder for teams from Florida and Georgia.”

Buzzo expects distant recruiters to arrive during the spring, though, when they can watch players like Teller work out and participate in preseason practice.

For recruiters, “it’s really a three-pronged process — the film evaluation, the grades evaluation…and then the [in-person] eyeball test,” Buzzo said. “It’s very tough for a Florida or a Georgia to offer a kid a scholarship without that third step in the process.”

Other programs that have shown interest in Teller include Southern California, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma and Washington. Schools on the opposite side of the country, however, could have a harder time convincing Teller to consider them as destinations.

“I wouldn’t count out eight or 10 hours away, but across the nation is a heck of a [distance],” Teller said. “My parents want to come to games and it’s tough when you’re 22 hours away.”

“If he doesn’t have the desire, I don’t want to tell the school to waste their money and fly out here and see him,” Buzzo said. “But if he has interest, I think they’ll all come out here.”

For now, East Coast programs seems to have an edge. “I want to be far enough away [from home] where I’m not tempted to come home -– that mama’s boy thing,” Teller said. “Come home on holidays, but not close enough to go home during the week” when there’s free time in the offseason.

Teller grew up a fan of Virginia Tech football and has attended numerous Virginia games. Along with unofficial visits during the past year to Penn State and Virginia Tech, he’s gone to Charlottesville twice to watch Virginia games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

“Every time I go to a game, there’s a fan that will come down to me and say, ‘You have to come here,’” Teller said of his various visits. “Their fans are trying to persuade me….It’s kind of funny.”

As a 6-foot-5, 253-pound defensive end last season, Teller helped the Liberty Eagles finish as the Group AA Region II Division 3 runner-up with a 10-3 record. He had 149.5 tackles, including 9.5 sacks. He also intercepted three passes (returned one for a touchdown), forced four fumbles and blocked five field goals and punts. He was the Region II Player of the Year, and Evergreen District Defensive Player of the Year.

Teller said academics and potential for playing time are two factors that will influence his eventual college decision.

“I want to start or play soon,” he said. “So I’m not trying to get behind the guy that’s the No. 1 defensive end in the nation, or offensive tackle, and be stuck behind him my whole life.”

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