Top 2016 Prospects Visit Blacksburg for a Hokies Cookout, Pair Set for Imminent Decisions

The Hokies are suddenly red hot on the recruiting trail, nabbing three verbal commits for the 2016 class in the immediate aftermath of the team's cookout this weekend (Patrick Kearns, Tavante Beckett, Divine Deablo), and the staff is laboring to keep that streak rolling.

Tech's big BBQ last Saturday made a clear impression on a number of top rising seniors, and the Hokies are especially hoping it persuades a pair of prospects with imminent decision dates set to join the program.

2016 DE Brock Miller of John Carroll HS in Vero Beach, Fla. has the quickest turnaround after his Tech visit, as he plans make his college choice later tonight.

He calls the visit to Tech a key part of his decision-making process, as he'd only previously seen Blacksburg as a basketball recruit two years ago.

"This was my second time, but really my first from a football standpoint," Miller said. "I got to see really everything from the weight room, locker room, the new indoor, the stadium. I got to meet with the coaches and definitely they're experienced with all that stuff. The facilities are really nice there, all the coaches are great. It was definitely a good experience."

Miller says he got to spend plenty of time with his lead recruiter, defensive line coach Charley Wiles, as well the other key parts of Tech's staff.

"Coach Wiles was the one who was showing us around everywhere, he was talking with my family and I basically the whole time," Miller said. "We got to talk to Coach (Bud) Foster for a while, he talked to my family as well, and we got to talk to Coach (Frank) Beamer for a little bit. It was pretty good talking with all them and hearing what they had to say."

Miller says Wiles and Foster also took plenty of time breaking down Tech's complex defensive scheme, but he didn't just spend time with the coaches. Some current Hokies were also on hand throughout the day to help the coaches sell the program.

"There were a ton of them around, they were showing us the facilities and stuff, and they were with us when we ate," Miller said. "Then they did like a Q and A with them while we were in the TV room, so we got to hear from them what the school's like from a player's perspective. That was pretty cool to hear."

The cookout and events throughout the day also gave Miller plenty of chances to talk with some his fellow recruits considering Tech.

"At the BBQ thing, we definitely got to sit down with a lot of them and we did a bunch of other games and stuff, like a wiffle ball game and a basketball shootout thing, so we got to talk to each other a lot," Miller said. "It was good hearing everybody else's story I guess, what their thoughts about it were as well."

That basketball shootout gave Miller the chance to spend some time on the Cassell Coliseum court Saturday, taking advantage of the down time to show off his hardwood skills.

Little dunk sesh while at VT pic.twitter.com/L0hAPZTvQz— Brock Miller (@brockmiller5) July 26, 2015

"We were doing like a three point contest or something, and after that they let us shoot around so I had a little fun," Miller said.

Tech wasn't the only school that got the chance to show Miller a good time this weekend. While he'd originally planned to visit some of his other top schools like Kentucky and Mississippi State, he only ended up swinging past N.C. State on Thursday and UVA on Friday before heading to Blacksburg.

With his visits now completed, Miller's getting down to business to make his decision.

"Now that I've gotten to see a lot of the schools that I wanted to, it's going to be asking a lot of people, asking a lot of coaches, a lot of former coaches, obviously my family and friends, just seeing what they all think, just getting as many opinions as I can to help me make my decision," Miller said. "So it's gonna be good, just hearing from a lot of different people, seeing what they have to say about it as well."

Although Miller named several other schools in his top group at the start of the month, he says he's whittled things down to the Wolfpack, Cavaliers and Hokies ahead of making things official.

"I definitely think those are it," Miller said. "We went there to see them because two out of the three, Virginia and Virginia Tech, I'd never seen from a football standpoint, so I definitely wanted to see them and what it's going to boil down to is those three."

2016 WR Phillip Patterson of Virginia Beach's Bayside HS isn't far behind Miller when it comes to announcing his decision.

After visiting Tech on Saturday, Patterson says he remains on track to announce his decision on August 1, especially now that he's gotten to take his first trip to Blacksburg.

"It's been amazing," Patterson said on Saturday. "It's been everything I expected and even a little bit more."

Patterson says WR coach Zohn Burden helped roll out the red carpet when he arrived on campus with a tour, which only helped build on a relationship that Patterson says they've been cultivating since Burden was still at ODU.

"We got here real early in the morning, probably like 9 or so, and they took us around to see everything," Patterson said "I liked it, I loved everything."

Patterson also got to spend some quality time with the quarterback who could be the one under center when he'd be playing at Tech: Dwayne Lawson.

"He's pretty cool, he's real mature and he's a pretty cool guy," Patterson said.

Now that Patterson has seen Tech's campus, he says he feels comfortable with his college choice. While he plans on letting college coaches know his decision ahead of his announcement, the rest of the world will find out this coming Saturday.

"I've been thinking about for a long time, sleeping on it, checking out all my options and everything, I feel like I'm very solid in my decision right now," Patterson said.

WR Dredrick Snelson of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'s Charles Flanagan HS was planning to make his decision similarly quickly, but now he's reversing course.

Snelson said last week that an announcement could come in the immediate aftermath of his Tech visit, but now he's thinking he'll wait a little longer to decide.

"I was gonna do it, but now I'm gonna hold off it for a while," Snelson said. "I'm going to think things through and look at every opportunity. I'm just going to take my time with it because the decision I make is gonna be final, so I want to be careful with what I do."

The rising senior says the visit to Tech is helping him move closer to a decision, however, now that he's made his first trip to campus.

"Everything was great," Snelson said. 'I expected everything to be just like that, so it was a great trip for me."

Burden also spent of time with Snelson, as did Wiles and OLB coach Cornell Brown, touting the virtues of Blacksburg's small-town feel.

"They said the opportunity was here and they were just being real with me about everything I'd be doing and on the field playing time," Snelson said. "They were talking about themselves and how good Blacksburg is for the players. It's not really a big time town, it's more family-oriented, they said it's more like family, and they bond over there."

Snelson's fellow Florida products WR Isaiah Ford and Lawson also teamed up with RB DeShawn McClease to explain how Snelson might fit in at Tech.

"They all feel like I can come in and play early if I put in work, and it's a great school, great academically," Snelson said. "They're strict about work and classwork, you have to go to class and everything, but it sounded pretty amazing."

With a decision not coming for a while yet, Snelson says he does plan on taking official visits, and Tech has earned one of his trips, even if he's "still working" on picking a game.

Snelson's enthusiasm for the school seems to be rubbing off on another player from the Sunshine State visiting Blacksburg.

"Me and him have a good relationship and we were talking about how we could sign with Virginia Tech," said JaQuan Bailey, a 2016 DE out of Raines HS in Jacksonville who's currently committed to Florida.

But it's not just Snelson's persuasiveness that has Bailey considering the Hokies. He also seems blown away by his first trip to Tech.

"I really enjoyed myself, the coaches made us feel at home," Bailey said. "It was like the coaches made it feel like that was my campus."

Wiles and Brown devoted plenty of time to Bailey this weekend as well, as did the head Hokie.

"The coaches were telling me how coming in as a freshman I could help their program, how they really need me and how they really want me," Bailey said. "And Coach Beamer, me and him have a tight relationship, as well as Coach Wiles and Coach Brown."

Despite his growing ties with the staff, Bailey says he's still completely committed to Florida. In fact, he was even in Gainesville Friday night immediately before starting his long drive to Southwestern Virginia.

"I was there for (the) Friday Night Lights (camp), it was a good chance to compete in front of the coaching staff," Bailey said. "Just show my value, and I actually showed out to where my position coach told me my night was done early because I was dominating."

Yet even with his Florida commitment still in place, Bailey admits that he still wants to return to Blacksburg and watch the Hokies in action.

"I'm looking forward to going to that Ohio State game," Bailey said. "I'm just looking forward to seeing the Sandman Nation and the Hokie Nation turn up."

Wiles didn't just turn his attention to Florida recruits over the weekend. He also spent time with 2016 DE Patrick Jones of Chesapeake's Grassfield HS, who traveled up with his teammate, 2016 WR Grant Holloway.

"It was a pretty good trip, I liked it a lot," Jones said.

Jones says Wiles had nothing but kind words for "how explosive and fast I am off the ball." Jones and Holloway also got to talk a bit with fellow "757" prospect and new Tech commit Tavante Beckett of Indian River HS on the visit.

Jones says he doesn't yet another visit set to Tech, but he is sure about his plans to make his college choice "sometime in October or November."

Some 2016ers didn't just come to Blacksburg for the cookout, but to work out for the staff on Sunday at camp as well.

CB Keyvone Bruton of Lake Taylor HS already has a Tech offer, but he was particularly keen on returning to campus so he could work out for DBs coach Torrian Gray for the first time since around this time last summer.

"I feel like I did pretty well," Bruton said. "I did well on the drills and when we did one-on-ones, I went 15 for 15, I didn't lose any reps to anybody, so I feel like I did well."

Bruton has plenty of experience at safety, but with his plans to shake things up and move to corner this coming year, he was mainly hoping to show Gray how he's adapting to the new position.

"Today he just wanted me to work out, just re-show him what I can do, and I have no problem with that," Bruton said. "It was just showing him that I can be more versatile and play anything."

Bruton also got a look at campus on the trip, but he said he didn't need to go too in-depth, since "I've been around here like a hundred times."

Even with all those visits, Bruton says he's never been to a Tech game, something he's looking to change this season.

"That's something I really will look forward to doing, because I heard the games were really nice, so I'd love to come to Lane Stadium to just watch a game," Bruton said.

Other rising seniors hit the field on Sunday to prove themselves worthy of a VT offer.

DE/LB Tre Hubbard of Virginia Beach's Ocean Lakes HS has been hoping for an offer for years now, and he put in some quality time with Wiles to make that a reality.

"He definitely wants things done and wants them done the right way," Hubbard said. "Now I know why Virginia Tech has the best defense."

Hubbard especially enjoyed getting the chance to camp inside Tech's new indoor facility.

"It's beautiful, it's big, probably the biggest one I've seen, and I've been to some big colleges," Hubbard said. "I was at Ohio State a couple days ago, but it's nowhere compared to Virginia Tech."

But it wasn't just the indoor facility in Columbus felt was lacking.

"It's a good program, but they just didn't make us feel at home," Hubbard said. "When I go to Virginia Tech, I feel at home, I feel welcome, it's just a warm place."

Hubbard says plans to "keep doing what I do and stay humble" in order to earn an offer and make Blacksburg his home some day. If the Hokies do decide to extend a scholarship, he notes that "they'd be at the top" of his options.

OT Silas Dzansi of Woodbridge's C.D. Hylton HS is in a similar boat.

His only offer right now is from Delaware State, but after his most recent conversations with OL coach Stacy Searels, he thinks that could be about to change.

"At the end of camp as we were saying goodbye, he said he liked the way I played a lot," Dzansi said. "He said he has two spots at left tackle left, and I'm high on his list. He'll be watching me over the course of the season."

Dzansi said he enjoyed his time with Searels on the field, saying he was "pretty funny as he was coaching the linemen," but he was also glad to get to see Tech's vaunted new indoor facility.

"It was just like being in the outdoors, just with a roof on it," Dzansi said.

Dzansi says he enjoyed the rest of campus as well, noting "everything is up to date," and he's planning on returning for a game during the season, even though he's not sure which one yet.

In the meantime, he's working on improving the trait that he thinks sets him apart from the other linemen Searels is looking at.

"I think it's the aggression I bring to the field, I don't take 'no' for answer," Dzansi said.