Virginia Tech sophomore Donaldven Manning, who had been in the running for a starting cornerback job until the past few days, has decided to transfer.
Manning (5-feet-9, 181 pounds) went into fall camp in the running to replace Antone Exum in the starting lineup. Exum suffered a severe knee injury playing pickup basketball in January and is expected to be out until at least the end of September. But Manning had been passed on the depth chart by true freshmen Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson and decided to leave.
Fuller (5-11, 193), from Baltimore, was a consensus national top-20 recruit and the centerpiece of the Hokies' recruiting class. He arrived on campus during the summer and quickly impressed coaches during fall camp; at the least, he is expected to be the Hokies' main nickelback this fall. Facyson (6-2, 188), from the Atlanta area, enrolled early and went through spring drills. He continued his rapid ascent up the depth chart during fall camp and bypassed Manning, a former high school star in Miami.
Manning played in eight games last fall, and had four tackles and an interception. His departure leaves the Hokies thin at cornerback; sophomore Donovan Riley now becomes an important reserve after being slated mostly for special-teams duties.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.