Time to get to work!!! #GoHokies #Committed 🟠🦃⚪️ pic.twitter.com/vRQEMpYAL4— Jakson LaHue (@JaksonLahue) June 17, 2021
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Time to get to work!!! #GoHokies #Committed 🟠🦃⚪️ pic.twitter.com/vRQEMpYAL4— Jakson LaHue (@JaksonLahue) June 17, 2021
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Jakson LaHue, a three-star offensive tackle from Azle, Texas has committed to Virginia Tech. He is rated as an 0.8527 composite and an 85 overall by 247.
He is listed as 6'5" and 285 pounds and boasts offers from numerous Ivy League schools. We are his only P5 offer, however, scouts raved about LaHue in The Athletic's breakdown of the 12 most underrated prospects in Texas for the 2022 class.
don't know how long the aerospace major will stick, but he's one smart cookie given the other offers he's got.
glad to have him as part of this class -- really exciting to see these kinds of recruits buy in to what Vance Vice is doing on OL. he's definitely earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to who we're taking to develop there.
Offers from five Ivy League school is incredibly impressive. Although being a QB requires more buy-in than an OL, I'm worried if someone as intelligent as QP couldn't balance football and engineering, LaHue can't either. I could see him transferring if he has to switch majors and he's not playing.
The first thing they'll do when he gets to Blacksburg is have him fill out paperwork to change majors. I don't think this staff likes the scheduling conflicts the freshman engineering curriculum causes with football activities. #sauce
I genuinely hope that's not true. That is seriously f***ed up if it is. This is a pretty serious allegation...
His offers are essentially all from Ivy Leagues and us. It sounds like playing school was a big part of that offer. If we pressured him into signing under the guise of letting him do aerospace engineering, then revoke that as soon as he signs his NLI and is on campus - then yes that is pretty shitty.
At least we gave Quincy Patterson time to try to manage football and mechanical engineering.
It's true. It is effed up, and it's not an allegation. #sauces
well, I think regardless of whether you think Fuente should be fired for results on the field I think this bait and switch tactic to dupe athletes should be a fire-able offense. I don't care that other places do it. It's f***ed up and does nothing good for the most vulnerable people involved...the young, impressionable, STUDENT athlete. Makes me sick to think our program has stooped to that level. I don't like cheating of any kind but cheating is even worse when you're not even any good as a result. The fact that we cheat and are still a .500 team is just plain embarrassing.
Can we wait to see if we "force him" to change majors on day one before we overreact like this?
Initially I was skeptical if this was true. When gokart affirmed that this is in fact a practice by the coaches I said what I said based on the assumption that it is true. I don't think it's an overreaction. If our coaches are actively advocating for players to change their majors because the class structure interferes with the football schedule that's a pretty big issue IMO
I guess where I am coming from is it might be good advice. Engineering makes its living by not being flexible. Football requires flexibility. I also think there isn't a damn thing a coach can do if the player prioritizes the major over football. I agree with another poster that we should probably stop or move this off the commitment thread.
This might be a good place for the mods to test out that new sub thread lock feature then
Overreaction. Engineering has a high drop out rate among all of the student body. I would agree that it would be very hard to manage both engineering and football. Not so much because engineering is more difficult but because it requires a rigid schedule and wouldn't be as easy to work around practice and games. It is possible, but any reasonable person in a position to give advice to a struggling freshman taking on so much would be to take on less. Now, if the player says I am doing it anyway and the coach makes some kind of ultimatum, that is a problem. If having less time to focus on football because of your schoolwork causes you to be passed on the depth chart, that is simply the result of a decision.
My understanding of what gokart is saying is exactly that. The coaches aren't advising them. I read it as they're telling them to sign the paperwork to change majors. That's the issue I have with it, if it's true.
Sounds like Fuente is saving the VT community from yet another arrogant engineer. Might be the most admirable thing he's ever done.
Would love if this conversation was moved to a different thread (it's own) to not get mixed up with what should be the excitement of having a new OL commit from the state of Texas
I cannot confirm if this is true for football at VT, but its pretty accurate for other schools/sports. I know of countless players that have had this happen upon arriving on campus. A good friend from high school was planning to be pre-med at a middle of the road D1 school, but they told her she wasn't allowed (STRONGLY suggested). But the joke was on them. After one year she trasnferred to a Power 5 program, graduated with a pre-med degree, competed in the NCAA championships all while getting the grades needed to get into med school.
Not everyone can handle a D1 athletic program and a demanding major, but I don't think its fair to discourage players from going after their dreams before they even get started. Even though times are changing, the players are still considered STUDENT Athletes by the NCAA.
Taylor Heinicke was an engineering major at ODU when he set the NCAA passing record and won the Walter Payton award.
He was actually back there finishing up some classes when he got called up to Washington last year. He had to postpone some exams for the playoffs. I guess technically since he still has like 2 classes left, he's still playing football as an engineering major.
Exactly! With the correct support system in place it can be done and I wish athletes would be encouraged to pick majors they want rather than the ones that will allow for the easiest completion due to sports schedule.
He could take a second major and a part time job, if he's taking engineering at ODU. JK. 😄
Basketball, not football, but Christian Beyer was a key contributor in Buzz's first season at VT and went on to medical school after graduating from VT and subsequently earned his MD, orthopedic medicine IIRC (he did a series of YouTube videos explaining various sports injuries).
this isn't a VT thing, it's a college sports thing. that said, i don't like it
Yeah. I really wish VT was above it, but they aren't.
but if we didn't, then the mob would be out complaining that we aren't committed enough to winning, etc.
being a college football fan is a bit of a "deal with the devil" proposition. i'm surprised the "guiding toward majors" is considered news or a surprise to people
College sports fan* has nothing to do with football, my sister's roommate was told to change majors and she was D2.
My sister being a walk on scoffed that that and had 4 majors her freshman year, manly because she was dumb.
I was about to write something along these lines. It's definitely strongly suggested to not study engineering per a recently graduated player that was never contributor, but still changed his major from engineering. #sauces
Other sports at VT, when I was there, definitely did not push students away from engineering as far as I knew. There were still many student athletes in engineering.
You could see him transferring if he has to switch majors and HE'S NOT PLAYING? Bold prediction there.
Yeah, I hope he's not reading his own commitment thread on here. Jeez...
We were Darrisaw's only P5 offer as well and we saw how that turned out. I am very much OK taking chance on a guy like this on O-line since it is such a crap shoot any way. Especially this year. With no camps over the last year, there are going to be quite a few guys who go too low and too high.
I trust Vice's evaluations, can't say the same for any other positional coach.
Halfback/TE.
Eh. Dalton was a Wiles find. James Mitchel was a high-level recruit so not a shock that he panned out (I guess you can give Shibest credit for recruiting him).
The RB room has been a significant miss in the Fuente era outside of Herbert. Lecht is too green to give the same credit as Vice.
Other programs also know about Vice. Despite his current offer list there will be several schools that try to flip this kid
IMHO, they can try but they're only a few schools in the country that are going to match our mix of academics + OL play. The only school I'm worried about coming out of the woodworks is Stanford.
EDIT: Actually if Texas A&M or UT offer, he's probably gone. EDIT #2: Wisconsin and ND too...Alright there are a good amount of schools that I should be worried about.
Notre Dame was the #1 OL last year per PFF.
I feel like this vastly overrates our academics and I am a Hokie through and through.
By academics, I was referring to the prestige of the engineering program rather than the overall brand name of the school (since he's going to be AOE).
If he flips, it's going to be a school with a similar engineering reputation (e.g. A&M, Wisconsin) or an Ivy-league level school.
Fair
The LaHue of the outlook of the VT OL in the future is decidedly rosy...couldn't resist
Can't beat a smart, big-bodied OL-welcome aboard, Jakson!
Big guy who can move with a frame to grow? Fits the Vice archetype.
I had a feeling that we were going to get a committ one of these days with all the Visits we are having. Welcome Home
I'm excited for this guy to get to campus. Hope he tears up defenses and the classroom.
I trust Vance Vice.
Worth noting that with LaHue and Lemar Law getting a score: the team ranking has jumped to 29th in the country/4th in the ACC, with an average ranking of 0.8609.
If we get one or two big players we'd actually be in really good shape, and by big I'm talking composites over 0.8800 like Bryson Jennings, Gunnar Givens, Cam Johnson, Cam Miller, and/or a couple of players right under that.
That's a big bull dot gif
TX2VT
The best OL are the smart OL. Big get here
That makes 3 Texas boys this cycle right?? Are we finally seeing the TX2VT hard work materializing? I know a lot of ppl here who come from VA lament the loss of VA kids to out of state schools but being able to pull a few guys out of TX each cycle would be a huge boon
yeah we are definitely seeing the fruits of the labor there.
would have loved to hang onto the rest of the 2021 cycle guys too, but it's nice to see the TX2VT effort actually bringing in players