Virginia lineman to visit App State

It's not a common occurrence in college sports for a program to win back-to-back national championships like Appalachian State did in 2005 and 2006. So, when a school does accomplish such a feat, recruits and high school coaches start to take notice. And that is exactly what has happened with Matoaca (Chesterfield, Va.) offensive tackle Steven Landen.

"I don't know much about them yet, but I do know they won two national championships," the 6-foot-6, 270-pound Landen said. "I've never been there, but my coach sent a tape and my information to the coaches so they could take a look."

Although the ASU coaches have not sent any information back to Landen as of yet, the senior has already scheduled an unofficial visit to Boone during his spring break.

"I will be going to visit Appalachian State next Wednesday, April 11," he said. "I don't know much about them so that's why I'm going. I'll know more about them and have a better feel for the school when I get back for sure."

In addition to his visit to ASU, Landen will be making stops at North Carolina (April 10), East Carolina (April 10) and James Madison (April 12). To this point, he has only seen the campuses of Richmond and East Carolina.

"I just went to U-of-R's spring practice on Saturday (March 31) and I went to ECU last season and saw some football games and talked to the coaches," Landen added. "ECU is very nice and the facilities are great. They've got a great coaching staff and I think everything I saw there was good."

Despite the strong impression East Carolina left on Landen, the Pirates haven't been able to crack his current top two. That honor belongs to Richmond and North Carolina.

"UNC and U-of-R are recruiting me the hardest right now," he said. "I hear from both of those about twice a week. Coaches from both have said they will be coming to see me this fall. So, I guess based on their interest, UNC and U-of-R are my top two choices.

"That's just for right now, though. That could change after my visits next week."

When evaluating each school, Landen stated that he would be paying close attention to several aspects of the program.

"The first thing for me is academics," he said. "That is very important to me, so I'll be looking at that closely. I will also be looking at the facilities and how much experience the staff has and how they get along with the players.

"I like coaches to push me, so I'll be looking to find out if the coaches are like that at each school. My offensive line coach in high school is tough and during the season I hate him because of it, but afterwards I'm glad he pushed us so hard because I realize I gained a lot. During the summer we lift weights together and have a good friendship, so that's what I'll look for with coaches."

Landen runs the 40-yard dash in 5.2 seconds, benches 275 and cleans 235. He will start his off-season workout program this coming week with Velocity Sports Performance in Chesapeake, Va.