Hokies Prepare for Junior Day, Even with National Signing Day Just in the Rearview Mirror

The Virginia Tech football staff may only just be recovering from the faxing frenzy of National Signing Day, but they're already casting their eyes to the next batch of potential future Hokies.

The program is hosting a "Junior Day" event for rising seniors on Saturday, as the staff tries to get an early jump on the class of 2016.

Over the last two weeks, The Key Play reached out to dozens of high school prospects to get an idea of who exactly will be heading down to Blacksburg tomorrow to get a look at Tech's campus.

While plans can always change, especially in the fickle world of college football recruiting, here follows a list of nearly a dozen juniors planning to attend as of last night. All rankings are according to the 247Sports Composite rating.

However, some prominent prospects also confirmed they won't be attending this particular event.

A quick glance at the list of attendees shows that the group is largely comprised of athletes within easy driving distance of Tech's campus, although both Denmark and Pride have committed to making the long journey from South Carolina.

It's also worth nothing that just one of the three players currently committed to the Hokies for the 2016 class will be attending.

Wolfolk is the only one that will be able to make it out, with Byrd and O'Donnell staying at home this time around.

O'Donnell said last week he hadn't heard from his recruiter, Shane Beamer, about the event, explaining he "assumed it must be more for the uncommitted kids" like when he stopped by for a Junior Day last year.

Byrd was hoping to attend, but schoolwork got in the way: "I'm taking the ACT that day," he notes.

The test also prevented two other recruits from joining the staff in Blacksburg. Holloway and Patterson also said they would've attended had the ACT not gotten in the way.

For others, their reasons for giving the event a miss were a little less academically oriented.

"My little brother's birthday is this weekend, and I'm throwing him a surprise birthday party," Wiley said.

With the way the recruiting process is about to ramp up as they enter their senior seasons, it's hard to fault any of the athletes for taking a little personal time.

Jamari Logan, an unranked defensive tackle out of Norfolk's Booker T. Washington, says he'll likely be out of state because "my birthday's this Friday."

The team recently handed out a new round of offers for 2016ers, but as of yet, it doesn't seem as if any will be heading to Blacksburg this weekend.

However, Quillen, who was just offered Wednesday, is already making plans to see campus. He says he's planning on attending Tech's next Junior Day event on February 28. Armstrong is also aiming for that late February date.

DeBiase was offered by the Hokies years ago, but he's in a similar boat. He won't be able to attend this Junior Day, but says he's trying to make it back for another one as soon as he can.

But for others that will be making it down, they're anxiously awaiting the chance to get a good look at the team's facilities and meet with the staff.

"I'm looking forward to it," McCargo said. "It will be my first visit to Blacksburg."

It might seem strange that the staff is already focused on the next class so soon after inking the 2015 bunch, but that's the state of affairs these days in college football. The coaches have to start laying the groundwork now if they hope to see some of these names on letters of intent next signing day.