Emotions Everywhere On Draft Weekend

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has been through a lot of NFL drafts, but this year is a bit different. The Hokies (11) and Southern California (12) had more players invited to the pre-draft NFL Combine than any other college program, and Tech could break its single-year record of nine selections this weekend.

"I'm excited for our guys, and I know they're excited, too," Beamer said. "This is a dream come true for a lot of them. It's also (the product of) an awful lot of dedication and hard work. Whenever I have time this weekend, I'm going to look at the TV and see what's happening with our guys. This is the next step. It's an exciting time."

UNC defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer, Wake Forest center Steve Justice and N.C. State defensive tackle DeMario Pressley are three ACC players from the league's North Carolina-based schools whose emotions have run the gamut in the days leading up to this year's draft. Balmer is expected to be picked today, during the draft's first two rounds. Justice and Pressley are projected to go early on Sunday (rounds three through seven).

So, what emotion has been most common for the players in recent weeks?

"Excitement," Balmer said. "This is the kind of thing you'll always remember, being with your family and friends for a special moment like this."

"Boredom," Justice said. "I've been working hard, but this has been a lot of waiting. I'm ready to play football again."

"Nerves," Pressley said. "I'm excited, because I've been dreaming about this since pee wee (football), but I'm also very nervous."

Balmer, from Weldon, N.C., played three years at UNC under John Bunting and one under Butch Davis. Thanks to a strong senior season, and the tutelage of Davis and defensive line coach John Blake, Balmer may have turned himself into a first-round pick.

"Coach Bunting helped me become a better person, someone who understood things like responsibility and accountability and becoming a man," Balmer said. "Coach Davis and Coach Blake taught me a lot of football things — your mental approach, technique, everything — that brought out the best in me. I'm very thankful to my coaches. I wouldn't be here without them."

Justice, from Port Orange, Fla., graduated from Wake Forest in December, then trained in Tennessee to prepare for the NFL Combine. For the last month, he's been back in Winston-Salem, working out and trying to find other things to do while living with three of his former Wake teammates. He recently got engaged (to former Wake soccer player Lindsay Jaco) and expects to spend some of his NFL signing bonus money (possibly $500,000) on a wedding and honeymoon in early 2009. Justice is rated one of the top two centers in this year's draft.

"The rest of the money is going right into the bank and some investments," Justice said. "I'm not going to go crazy with it."

Pressley, from Greensboro, N.C., said his experience leading up to the draft has been mostly nerve-wracking and sometimes funny, with lots of excitement along the way. He said he was nervous during interviews with famous NFL coaches and general managers at the East-West Shrine Game and the NFL Combine. He laughed when one of the questions he received from an NFL team was this: If you were going to dive into a swimming pool, would you take an Olympic-style approach and try to be technically perfect, or would you just do a cannonball?

"I'm gonna do a cannonball, of course," Pressley said. "I'm not sure what they were trying to get at with that question, but I'm 300 pounds. I know I can do a cannonball, no problem. If I tried a real dive off a high diving board, someone might get hurt, and I don't want it to be me."

The influence of the "Big Four" on this year's NFL draft likely will pale in comparison to that of Virginia Tech, which set a school record with nine selections in 2006. Among the Hokies who are expected to be selected are cornerback Brandon Flowers, offensive tackle Duane Brown, linebacker Xavier Adibi, wide receiver Eddie Royal, defensive end Chris Ellis, linebacker Vince Hall and defensive tackle Carlton Powell. Wide receiver Josh Morgan, wide receiver Justin Harper and defensive tackle Barry Booker also could hear their names called.

"Those things take a while," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said, noting that UNC's Davis, Duke's David Cutcliffe and N.C. State's Tom O'Brien all are in either their first or second years at their schools. "I remember when we first got to Wake Forest, we didn't have too many NFL people sniffing around. Now they're everywhere. That's usually a good sign."

"Big Four" 2008 NFL Draft Possibilities

Duke: linebacker Patrick Bailey (college DE), safety Chris Davis.

North Carolina: Balmer (early rounds), kicker Connor Barth, linebacker Durrell Mapp, linebacker Hilee Taylor (college DE).

N.C. State: Pressley (early rounds), safety DaJuan Morgan (early rounds), wide receiver Darrell Blackman, defensive end Martrel Brown, wide receiver John Dunlap, kicker Steven Hauschka, linebacker LeRue Rumph, cornerback Jimmie Sutton.

Wake Forest: Justice (early rounds), running back Micah Andrews, long snapper Nick Jarvis, wide receiver Kenneth Moore, tight end John Tereshinski, defensive end Jeremy Thompson.