Hokies Offer Three Prospects from Justin Fuente's First Blacksburg Camp, Impress Attendees

Out of the myriad of players that the Hokies hosted for Justin Fuente's first summer prospect camp in Blacksburg, the coaching staff only saw fit to extend a handful of offers. But when they did, they did so with some flair.

Fuente cast a wide net when inviting recruits to campus last weekend, with nearly 100 making the trek to Southwestern Virginia, but he only agreed to hand out three new scholarships based on what he saw. 2018ers RB Nadir Thompson and ATH K'Vaughan Pope walked away with offers after the camp, as did 2017 OG Aiden Brown, and Brown remembers the moment he got the good news from Fuente particularly well.

"When I was back in the coaches' offices, I was with my dad, and we were talking about how much the grocery bill was, because I have three younger brothers," Brown told The Key Play. "(Fuente) was like 'I'd like to help make things a little easier the next four years and offer you a scholarship.'"

That was certainly music to Brown's ears, considering the Hokies are the first Power 5 school to offer him so far. Bill banter aside, he said he's seen plenty from the program so far to make Fuente's offer awfully attractive.

"I think they're headed in the right direction," Brown said. "Simply because the program wasn't broken when Coach Beamer left, it wasn't like Coach Fuente has to rebuild or anything, he walked into a lot of talent. It's a really talented team. So if he can continue on with the successful coaching style he's had in the past, there's no reason why he can't be a big competitor in the NCAA."

Indeed, Brown's confidence in Fuente and the rest of the new staff stems from some of what he saw in those few moments he got to spend behind the scenes, hanging out in the football offices once camp concluded.

"I sat down with him at the end, and from what I can tell, he's very organized, he's a good motivator and speaker," Brown said. "He's not a big 'rah rah' guy, but I believe the staff around him really compensates for that. They all fit well together. When i was in there back in the coaches' offices and stuff, they were all joking around, it was like a family, like a unit there. Because they've been together for a really long time."

Grateful to have received my 15th offer from Virginia Tech!!! #HookieNation #api pic.twitter.com/nXRX2QnDd2— Aiden Brown (@acb_53) June 12, 2016

Beyond that confidence in the coaches' camaraderie, he's also excited about the potential to learn from his potential future position coach based on what he saw at camp. OL coach Vance Vice has earned an early reputation among recruits and coaches alike as a noticeable presence on the field, and Brown said he'd didn't disappoint last weekend.

"He's very high energy, and he's very motivated, he's the type of coach you'd want to play for," Brown said. "I definitely like his coaching style. He takes a more one-on-one approach, he'll really take the time and really explain it to you, and he's looking for competitors, so I like the way he coaches."

Brown must've responded to that coaching well, since he convinced Vice to offer him on the spot, even though he's still unranked by the 247Sports Composite rating.

"Coach Vice emphasized that he's looking for linemen that can move, and I feel like I did a good job with the movement drills and the shuttle and all that stuff, I think I did pretty well," Brown said. "They like that I can move, in the shuttle, I ran a 4.5 in the shuttle. I was very smooth in all the agility drills and I was a great competitor, but most of all, they loved my film."

Others at the camp weren't quite so lucky.

2018 QB Dylan Hopkins of Maryville (Tenn.) HS is still looking for his first offer, and surely wanted to get the chance to join the team that his dad played for back when Beamer still ran things in Blacksburg.

But though he feels like he impressed offensive coordinator/QBs coach Brad Cornelsen, the Hokies didn't pull the trigger quite yet.

"I loved working with Coach Fuente and Coach Cornelsen...at first we just ran through a bunch of stuff they do there, their footwork with their passing plays, then just one-on-ones, ran 40s, stuff like that," Hopkins said. "From what Coach Cornelsen told me, he told me I killed it, so I felt like I did great and I'm looking forward to coming back up."

Indeed, though Hopkins has taken plenty of visits with his family, he thinks one more trip might be in the offing in July after Fuente extended a special invitation to him.

"He said after the camp that he wants me to come up in about a month or so and just hang out with him for a day, so I'm really looking forward to that," Hopkins said. "Just me and him, just hanging out, no football, just talking,"

Hopkins admits he didn't press Fuente directly on whether the Hokies might take that opportunity to offer him, he thinks it seems awful likely.

"That's what I think that trip will be, that's when I think they will," Hopkins said.

Other campers, like 2017 WR Blake Proehl of Providence HS in Charlotte, are less certain about when an offer might come, but still hopeful.

Proehl is no stranger to Tech — he first visited Blacksburg last year with his teammate (and Tech commit) TE Drake DeIuliis for the UNC game, since his brother Austin plays for the Tarheels.

But this past weekend was his first chance to get to know the new staff in earnest, and he thinks he had "a great camp, probably one of my best so far."

Proehl got to spend plenty of time with WRs coach Holmon Wiggins, and felt like he learned plenty from him even in their limited time together.

"He was awesome, he knows what he's talking about, he's great with the kids, so he was awesome at the camp," Proehl said. "He usually works on your hands against DBs in man coverage, then proper routes, getting out of your breaks, catching the ball, just small things that add up. A lot of smaller drills, but then when you get with the quarterbacks, a lot of the small drills help with the bigger picture."

He also got a chance to see Fuente once the camp wrapped up, getting some quality time in the head Hokie's office.

"He invited me up to his office after camp to talk to me, and that was awesome, getting to talk to him," Proehl said. "He's really good with the players and everything, and he doesn't just focus on football, he looks at you as a person and how you're doing with your family, so he's awesome too."

But the experience was a bit bittersweet, since Proehl didn't get the news he was hoping for.

"They were going to offer me, but they don't have a scholarship at that position right now, so it just depends on whatever happens with the offers they've handed out so far," Proehl said. "They just need to work with their numbers right now, and give them time, it all depends on what happens."

That's similar to what 2017 WR Jacorey Sullivan of Muskegon (Mich.) HS heard from Wiggins once camp wrapped up.

Though Sullivan also felt like he made an impression at camp — with his teammate and Tech commit WR Kalil Pimpleton there to cheer him on, no less — but the Hokies weren't quite ready to extend him a scholarship.

Coach Wiggins said he wants to go back and watch film and they'll see about an offer, but I should keep working on my footwork and getting in and out of my cuts," Sullivan said.

But should the Hokies reverse course and offer him after all, Sullivan would be over the moon — his coach at Muskegon previously told The Key Play that Sullivan "really wants to be a Hokie," and he doesn't dispute that characterization.

"I like Virginia Tech more than any of the other schools I've talked to," Sullivan said. "Their coaches are honest. Coach Wiggins, he can really coach the position and move around and show you what he wants."

2017 DE Deon Pate of Orange Park, Fla.'s Fleming Island HS isn't quite that effusive in his praise for Tech, but he was also impressed by his first visit to Blacksburg.

"I loved the trip, I loved the facilities, I loved how it felt like home," Pate said. "I just liked how the facilities were all set up."

Pate didn't get a chance to camp since he arrived a bit late for the event, since he was coming with some of his fellow seven-on-seven teammates.

That included prominent 2018 recruits like LB Eriq Gilyard, and 2017ers like CB Nick Roberts, ATH TJ Robinson, ATH Derrick Smith and DB Quran Hafiz — Hafiz himself is a notable inclusion on that list, since shortly after visiting for the camp, he declared that he'd be announcing his college choice Monday before reversing course. He didn't respond to The Key Play's requests for an interview about how the camp went, but before the trip he said was "excited" to receive an offer earlier this month from DL coach Charley Wiles and that he thought he could fit at "nickel or safety" with the Hokies.

Loved Virginia Tech Visit Today #GoHokies #Statement17 pic.twitter.com/YixAmVGFSP— Quran Hafiz (@__Quran4) June 11, 2016

From Pate's perspective, he thinks his teammates enjoyed themselves on the trip, and said they got a full campus tour, even though camp was going on.

"It's good going with them, since you get a feel with how they react to it versus how you react to it," Pate said.

Pate is hoping to camp at Tech and earn an offer in the coming months, though he said he's still waiting on confirmation from Wiles about whether that will end up happening.

Even though Brown already has an offer in hand, he's hoping to make a return much sooner than that. He was already planning on heading down to camp at Wake Forest Wednesday with his teammate at Maryland's Bullis School, 2017 OL/DL Derrick Tangelo. Since Tangelo is "very high" on the Hokies' board, he thought it would make sense for the pair to get a look at campus again as soon as Thursday.

Based on what Brown saw from Blacksburg last weekend, that's not a moment too soon.

"The stadium is beautiful, the indoor facility is beautiful, it's just beautiful," Brown said. "The mountains, the scenery, the school, everything."