It's not even football season and Michael Vick is still garnering the attention.

Albeit for a different reason.

In a move that raised eyebrows, coerced smiles and even provoked some laughter among the Virginia Tech athletics department, the Colorado Rockies selected Vick in the 30th round with the 887th pick of Major League Baseball's amateur draft.

Vick's reaction?

"I was shocked," he said. "I haven't even played baseball in four years."

Vick toiled as a pitcher and a centerfielder while at Warwick High School. But he eventually gave up the sport to keep pursuit of football.

Now the Rockies have presented him with another option. And if he chose to play both sports, he wouldn't be alone. Numerous college football players - most notably Michigan quarterback Drew Henson - play professional baseball.

"I'd kinda like to do both," he said. "I wouldn't mind it. But there's no way it can interfere with football."

Meanwhile, there seemed to be some confusion on Vick's draft eligibility. Major league teams can draft guys out of high school; junior college players or players at four-year colleges who have completed their third year in college. Vick just finished his second year at Tech. However, according to The Roanoke Times, that rule doesn't apply to Vick because he isn't and hasn't been on Tech's baseball team.

If Vick was not eligible for the draft, then expect the Rockies to get fined for selecting him.

More draft news: Tech first baseman/pitcher Larry Bowles was the only other Hokie selected in the draft. He was chosen three picks later by the Anaheim Angels.

Bowles missed the entire season with a torn ACL. But the Angels must have liked what Bowles did as a junior when he led the Hokies with a .390 batting average, hit 14 homers and drove in 58 runs. On the mound, the left-hander went 10-3 with a 4.27 ERA. He struck out 106 batters in 105 1/3 innings. And the Angels drafted him as a pitcher.

"I'm just going to wait until I get a contract offer," Bowles said. "I know more after that. But at least I have some options."

Bowles does face a dilemma. He desperately wants to play professional baseball, but he's not going to be cleared to go full speed for another six weeks. And if he comes back to Tech and has a great season - and there's no reason to think he wouldn't - he'd really improve his draft standing for next season.

Meanwhile, Tech left fielder Addison Bowman - who said before the draft that he was staying at Tech - right fielder Chris Hutchison and most notably pitcher Pat Pinkman were the draft eligibles had not yet been drafted through 50 rounds.

Pinkman presented the most interesting story of the three. He missed all of this past season serving an academic suspension. But the year before, he went 9-5 with a 3.72 ERA and the left-hander struck out 94 in 118 2/3 innings. And then he was the co-pitcher of the year in the prestigious Cape Cod League after several outstanding outings last summer. But apparently, none of the major league teams wanted to take a risk on him.

"I knew there would be a possibility that I wouldn't get drafted and I had prepared myself for that," Pinkman said. "I understand their point of view. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it."

Thus, Pinkman will play in the Cape again this summer and come back for another year at Tech, which should give an already good Hokie team an added boost. And give this young man a lot of credit. He pulled a 3.25 in the classroom this semester.

"I put my nose to the grindstone," he said. "I wanted to put myself in a situation where I'd have options. Yeah, I'm a little disappointed I didn't get drafted. But not as disappointed as I would be if I couldn't come back to school next fall. I'm going to go up and hopefully have a good year in the Cape and then come back and have a good year at Tech."

Hokies ink pitcher: Coming off an A-10 title and an NCAA regional appearance, Tech baseball coach Chuck Hartman and his staff got their first recruit when Jimmy Gulden from Lewisburg, Pa., signed a letter-of-intent. Gulden is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound right-handed pitcher who is 8-2 this season with a 3.08 ERA. He's also an outfielder, hitting .387 with two homers and 15 RBI. But the Hokies recruited him as a pitcher.

"He's a worker and he's got the tools," Lewisburg High coach T.J. Wingard said. "He's only going to get better and better. He's got four pitches and he can throw them for strikes. His fastball gets people out, and if he gets his offspeed stuff over, that makes his fastball look even faster."

Gulden, who chose the Hokies over West Virginia, St. John's and Cleveland State, throws in the mid to upper 80s. He has struck out 78 batters in 66 innings this season. As a junior, Gulden went 8-1 and led his team to the state semifinals.

This season, he has thrown a no-hitter. But his best game came just the other day in the district championship game. He threw a three-hitter and struck out 10 to lift Lewisburg (15-7) to the district title.

Lewisburg, ranked No. 1 in Class AA in the preseason has seven players who have received scholarships, with one going to Auburn and another going to Wake Forest. But Gulden may be the best of them.

"He needs to grow physically," Wingard said. "He needs to get stronger. But with his work ethic, that will happen. He'll be fine."

Look for Hartman and his staff to add a couple of more players in the coming weeks.

Pro football comings and goings: With the arrival of June came a lot of NFL news as teams cut numerous players to get under the league's salary cap. Such was the case with New Orleans and cornerback Tyronne Drakeford. The Saints asked the former Tech star to take a salary cut and Drakeford refused. So the Saints cut him and saved $583,000 against the cap.

One player who may get cut is former Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller. The Miami quarterback carries a hefty salary for a backup and the Dolphins recently signed Mike Quinn, who worked with new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey in Dallas. That doesn't bode well for Druck.

Also, Antonio Banks is impressing Minnesota officials. Banks, the former Tech safety, is playing in NFL Europe and ranks among the leaders in sacks. He may have played himself into a backup role with the Vikings.

Another former Tech safety, Torrian Gray, isn't faring as well. Gray, who plays for Minnesota, suffered a terrible knee injury in November of 1998 and missed all of last season. He continues to work hard to come back from that, but he still walks with a limp.

Finally, here's one for the good guys. Former Tech tight end John Burke has signed with Oakland. Burke has bounced around quite a bit and hopefully this hard worker will stick in Oakland.

Rankings and such: Many college football preseason publications will be coming out around mid-July and already a couple of them have the Hokies ranked pretty high. Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook ranks Tech 11th in its preseason poll and rumor has it Athlon will rank the Hokies 16th.