Virginia Tech loses recruit to Oregon State

Breanna Brown

The six-player recruiting class Virginia Tech announced last month is now a five-player class.

Breanna Brown, the 6-4 post player from California who signed with the Hokies last November, will instead stay on the West Coast and play at Oregon State.

"She's in summer school (at OSU) right now," said Leroy Hurt, Brown's AAU coach with the Cal Ballaz. "She got her release from Virginia Tech. She just wasn't comfortable going there anymore."

According to Hurt, Brown lost interest in Tech after former assistant Chantelle Anderson left in a "mutual decision" with head coach Dennis Wolff.

"Chantelle was the person who recruited her, the one who showed up at every (AAU) game," Hurt said. "Then when she left, they sent an assistant coach out to tell Breanna, not the head coach. It didn't feel right to Breanna after that."

Brown, a rebounding and defensive stalwart who was gradually improving her offensive game, was ranked the 43rd best prospect in the Class of 2013 by Blue Star Basketball and No. 73 by All Star Girls Report.

The five recruits still ticketed for Tech are: Sarafina Maulupe, a 5-8 guard from Murrieta, Calif.; Vanessa Panousis, a 5-7 guard from Sydney, Australia; Maddison Penn, a 6-0 guard also from Sydney, Australia; Samantha Hill, a 5-10 guard from Toronto; and Tara Nahodil, a 6-4 center from Pine Grove, Pa.

The loss of Brown continued an offseason of significant transition for the Hokies, who bid adieu to two assistants (Anderson and Billi Godsey, now the head coach at Iona) and three players with eligibility remaining. Larryqua Hall was dismissed from the team while Alex Kiss-Rusk and Alexis Lloyd both transferred.