Brookville's Kirven enjoyed recruiting process

Recruiting season is a major hassle for some blue chip college football prospects. That’s something Brookville defensive tackle Korren Kirven will never understand.

The highly touted interior lineman savored the experience. He enjoyed his official visits. He relished the red carpet treatment he received from some of the top college football programs in the country. He stretched it for as long as he possibly could.

But alas, it all must come to an end. It is time for Kirven, the No. 7 recruit in Virginia according to Rivals, to make his college decision.

He recently narrowed his list of possible college destinations to Virginia Tech, Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland. He will choose one at an 8 a.m. press conference today, National Signing Day, at his high school.

“Most definitely it’s been fun. It gets kind of hectic at times, but you’ve got to look past all that, because this only happens once in a lifetime,” said the 6-foot-4, 272-pound Kirven, who is the No. 16-ranked defensive tackle in the country by Rivals.

“You’ve just got to have fun with the whole thing and everything will balance itself out.”

Kirven took advantage of every opportunity he had during his recruitment. He made official visits to all four schools this month, taking the final two to Alabama and Virginia Tech the last two weekends.

He decided to wait until National Signing Day to make his announcement, unlike former Brookville blue chippers Logan Thomas and Zack McCray. Thomas, Tech’s starting quarterback, and McCray, one of the Hokies’ reserve defensive ends, decided to commit early in the recruiting process.

“Korren is a flamboyant guy, and I think it’s not necessarily that he likes the attention, but he wants to be sure about his decision,” Bees coach Jeff Woody said. “He’s got some pretty big-time schools coming in here, and he wants to be organized and level-headed about the decision that he makes.

“I’m not tired by it. I’m not annoyed by it. I just want to make sure he makes the right decision.”

Kirven and Woody recently put together a pros and cons list for the player’s final four schools. They found a lot of good, and not much bad, about all of them.

“All of the schools that I’ve mentioned are great schools academically and in football,” Kirven said. “A lot of kids feel pressured and stuff like that, but I’m not feeling pressured at all.”

As late as Monday, Kirven said he still wasn’t 100 percent certain which school he would choose.

Few people in his inner circle could confidently say which way he was leaning.

“I feel like he knows what he’s going to do. At this point in time, he knows where he’s going to go, but nobody else does. I don’t know where he’s going to go. Nobody knows except Korren and his mom and dad,” Woody said.

Kirven is one of three Tech targets, all ranked in the top 10 in Virginia, who will make their announcements today.

Four-star athlete Joel Caleb (Clover Hill High in Richmond), the No. 3 player in the state, has narrowed his list down to Tech, West Virginia and Ohio State.

Outside linebacker Ken Ekanem (Centreville High in Clifton), ranked No. 8 in the state, seems a lock to sign with the Hokies. He was down to Tech and Notre Dame early last week, but ESPN reported last Thursday that the Fighting Irish were no longer in the running.

Should Tech get all three to sign, it could possibly boost its class, ranked 22^nd by Rivals before today, into the top 15.

“I would say [the Hokies are national] title contenders, but these next couple of years with Logan and stuff, they’re definitely going to have a chance to do something. They’ve just got to win out. They’re saying I can help out with that a lot,” Kirven said.

“They’re basically saying I’m a need. Coach [Bryan] Stinespring said that at some of the other places I’m a big recruit to get, but to them I’m a critical recruit to get, so that was a big thing to say.”

Follow Nathan Warters on Twitter @nwartersLNA for live updates from Kirven’s press conference. Also read his blog at www.VTEffect.com.