Bethels Weaver Headed To Liberty

Bethel 6-foot-4 forward Bill Weaver has accepted a full athletic scholarship to Liberty University out of the Big South Conference. Weaver had verbally committed to Brown in December, but backed out of that commitment when Craig Robinson became the new Head Coach at Oregon State earlier this spring.

"It's a relief to get the process over," Weaver told VirginiaPreps.com on Friday afternoon. "It's a great academic school and Coach Ritchie McKay is one of the best around. My AAU Coach, Lamont Strothers, said a lot of good things about him, and I really like him as a person as well. He has a great attitude."

Weaver was the leading scorer at nearly 13 points per game for a Bethel team that won the Eastern Region Championship and Peninsula District title. The Bruins, who finished 30-2 overall, lost to T.C. Williams 70-57 in the Group AAA State Championship game. As a junior, Weaver averaged 13.5 points per game. He also held offers or received strong interest from such schools as William & Mary, VMI, Radford, Lehigh, Albany, Gardner-Webb and Winston Salem State.

Liberty snagged a prospect from the Hampton Roads area two years ago in guard B.J. Jenkins out of Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, VA. In fact, Weaver becomes the sixth basketball player from the Eastern Region over the last three years to head to a college from the Big South Conference. Others include Chris McEachin (Radford) from Norview, Austin Kenon (VMI) out of First Colonial, Corey Law (High Point) from Deep Creek and Nansemond River's Andre Jones (Winthrop).

Matthew Hatfield has covered Eastern Region Basketball & Football since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com – the #1 High School Sports Site on the Rivals Network. Check out Hatfield's website – www.matthewhatfield.com – for more on the pro and college sports scene. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com.