maxANDcheese suggested the existing Portal topic had gotten unwieldy, and a new thread was warranted.
I tabulated the info from that previous thread. Please post your additions, corrections, and suggestions.
Table should be self-explanatory, and includes our incoming/outgoing roster and potentials.
I don't know if an original topic can be edited, so I'll put table in the first post so I can keep it updated.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Scholarship limit is 85, current tally is 84. Portal entry open Dec 4 thru Jan. 2, & May 1-15 (Graduates can any time).
Recruiting dead period starts Mon 12/18. Early Nat. Signing Day Dec 20, Traditional NSD Feb 7.
Remember nothing is final until enrollment! Rk can be Prospect, Transfer, or PFF.
Thanks for doing this.
I agree with Hokie07ME splitting the tables up would make them more readable. I think separating them into an outgoing one and a portal offers/incoming portallers one would be nice. The HS commits will end up getting their own thread(s) on early signing day, so you might want to hold onto that to copy/paste come the the 20th, but you've already put the work in here, so bless you.
You could probably save yourself some work by deleting the state, level, and date column, but that's up to you. Adding the direct link to the individual TKP posts like last year was a nice feature, but was a lot to keep up with.
I don't mind helping with one of these things, again it's a lot to keep up with.
If there is a way to allow others to aid in the updating, tell me how, and y'all feel free to jump in.
I can hide the date & level columns, but they're worth keeping for sorting (at least in an all-in-one table). I can separate the tables for readability, but thought having an all-in-one-place "potential roster changes" table was a plus. It is currently sorted by Status, then Position, then From (School), but sorting is easy to change. Eliminating columns would shorten overall table length.
I request more feedback on sorting, and separate tables vs all-in-one, and suggest replying to this thread (to make that easy to collapse until it gets too wide to be readable, before starting another "feedback" thread).
I think only mods can edit other's posts, but if you have this in a Google sheets or other shareable spreadsheet I could help plug data in, you would just be the only one that could update the table on TKP.
Spreadsheet currently in Apache Office, but I can transfer to Google Sheets.
I'm an old fart though, so can you educate me on how to share a Google Sheet with TKP users?
When I post tables I plan to update, I typically save them in excel (or open office or google sheets) then do the table conversion again whenever I update it. It is a lot easier just to embed the google sheets file because it auto-updates, but I don't like the way the formatting works with TKP so I don't mind just reconverting it each time. Or, if I'm just filling in new information, I will type that into the TKP code rather than re-convert.
This is the way.
Although I might mess around with the sheets embed feature, I didn't know that would even work on TKP.
https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2019/march/4/ot-commonwealth-clash-20...
there's an example of my doing it a long time ago. Not sure if it still works the same way.
Agreed. That's the way I've been doing it, using https://www.convertcsv.com/csv-to-html.htm
Wait...Nick Gallo is portaling out?
Yea this one needs a little more context, please.
The status of he and Ali Jennings are "Out - Medical Redshirt"; this status is really not connected to the portal in any manner.LOL My bad
It was changed after I commented from "Out - Portal"
Mansoor Delane can't go to the NFL, he's a true sophomore
Anyway you could highlight the changes when you update this?
the table format strips away highlighting, unfortunately.
Maybe you could add a column with an x for new.
Or just bold the new ones
Just wanted to say thanks again. This is a lot to track and has been helpful with all the moving pieces during the last couple weeks.
Posts can be edited. Code for tables is the same.
Might I suggest splitting these into multiple tables to help with readability? Maybe our commits/offers in one table, our losses/portals in another, and then other schools' portals in a third?
Leonard Riley?
He went from sounding like a 12 year old classmate of my son's to the grandfather a 12 year old classmate of my son's.
Khiari Miller is transferring out :( dude had the biggest thighs of any Hokie Football player I've ever seen. Saw the field mostly on special teams but would have been a bruiser as a third down back.
I would ask to please remove the Out - Eligibility from the chart. These are players who have graduated/run out of eligibility. They aren't portaling, etc.
Disagree. I'm not sure who's out of eligibility this provides clarity.
Duke RB Jaquez Moore, ran for 601 yards while averaging 5.9 yards per carry as a junior this past season
This is surprising, although taking on a dude at any position is a good idea generally
edit: didn't see that Tuten was considering going pro. Hope not, not a smart idea for him
Has Thomas graduated? He might transfer to be a main guy somewhere else. Not that I want to lose him, I love the change of pace to go from 1a to 1b.
Or I could read the post below that Tuten is still debating.
Staying sounds good to me
👏 get👏 this👏 man👏 some👏 linemen👏
So glad the staff understands the importance this year as of today 15/27 portal offers are to offensive linemen
You gotta wonder what's more heated: recruiting battles over HS blue chips or recruiting battles over OL transfers?
Its gotta be the OL/DL top portalers. Its literally the key to success in college football - get someone that can recruit OL/DL, get someone that can develop OL/DL. Give me some proven guys in the trenches over a 17y/o 5* skill player every day of the week.
based on NIL dollars, it's definitely QBs in the portal. They are the ones that can get collectives bidding NIL dollars against one another.
Well yeah that's the next best piece and also what probably has the highest "ROI" not very many schools get remembered for the OL/DL they put in the league but everyone knows where every NFL QB went to school.
When the staff sees a bad position group, they go after it. Last year it was the wide receiver group. This year it's the OL. It's impressive.
FTFY
I hope he already has one of those.
Luke shields is in the portal. Not a scholarship player.
Oooooh Woody Baron's little brother just entered the portal, gotta think we've got some interest there. APR on one side and Tyler Baron on the other sounds like a nightmare for the OL
Add this guy in between and the line would be a monster.
Yeah I'd take the APR, Fuga, Gilliam Jr, and Baron as a defensive front vs just about every team in the ACC. Especially if APR can improve his run defense.
Not claiming insider info, but I'm interested to see how hard we push for Baron. I have heard VT is not super super high on him- nothing to do with on field production.
The potential to have a DL that includes APR, Gilliam, and Baron speaks volumes of Fuente's inability to land in state blue chips and Hokie legacies.
I was just thinking I didn't even know Tyler Baron existed. Thanks Fu
Chance Black in the portal. Thank you Hokie Nation🙏🏾 #Hokie4L pic.twitter.com/jAJdKffrl6— chance black (@chanceblack03) December 8, 2023 " target="_blank">
Should I be concerned or feel good that we are not seeing more news about players entering the portal?
there will be more entries. We need to make room for the incoming freshman at least. So expect more attrition
A bunch probably want to make travel squad to get the bowl perks, and then will announce. Especially if there isn't a lot of demand for their services at P5/G5 level, which in some of their cases I don't think their will be. Most that leave will probably be FCS guys.
Sounds like you are saying most of the portal entries will be those encouraged to leave; not players we want to stay.
I think a lot of the ones that have been encouraged to leave are leaving after the bowl. They have announced they will stay that long.
Delane is a true sophomore he can't go to the NFL yet
People are trying to send away our best players before they're even eligible, smh
FTFY... Have to keep the VT tradition of star DB brothers playing on the same team.
I support this edit
I remember being disappointed when Ramon Brown decommitted and then chose MD last year. With Tuten still undecided about what he is doing, we should definitely reach out.
Does anyone think he has interest in coming home?
He hasn't done anything at UMD. No signs he's better than Thomas (except he was a better prospect four years ago).
Mike Locksley advised several players to fake commitments to other schools in 2021. Then, they'd Magically flip at the last second. Because wow he really sucks at coaching but would you just look at them recruiting bells and whistles, golly.
While Mike Locksley fooled nobody with this stunt (see news article above), he likely did screw with Ramon and anybody else who might need to transfer's future options from this idiotic stunt.
Not sure we'd hold it against him, but I'm not sure Ramon would want to come here because of this anyway.
What a fucking cesspool this shit has become. a dirty cesspool.
Somehow I had missed that story. That is next level.
Incoming portalers will get their own thread correct? Individually or collective?
Individual
Lots of OL portal offers going elsewhere...
Yeah, this is a little bit concerning since it's our major need. I hope Pry can find a way to get the beef to Bburg.
Its every teams major need its why we offered so many of them. Numbers always work out.
The ol reverse jinx works so well, thanks!
It's also worth mentioning that nothing is final until the player enrolls at the University. At this time last year, Tuten had pledged that he was going to BC until VT flipped him.
Yeah remember Darian Varner?
Nope
TKP Harder then my guy
committed to us as a transfer last offseason, enrolled at tech while the portal was still open but before classes began to get the matriculation rolling for financial stuff, and then flipped his commitment to Wisconsin and transferred there before the semester began
Also, looks like he barely even play for the Badgers this year. A total of three tackles on the year.
Faheem Delane announcement tomorrow
Delane brothers being super cryptic lately
Any examples of cryptic? I do not follow them on any social media sites.
See the recruiting thread: https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1236077#comment-1236077
Since faheem isn't a hokie yet, his recruitment is more a topic for the recruiting thread, but the lines get understandably murky because mansoor is currently on the roster and a lot of folks have speculated that their futures could be connected
Tweet from Mansoor on Wed
Didn't know where else to put this but thought it was a neat tidbit: Tuten transferred to us from NC A&T last year and became our feature back and leading rusher, Kenji Christian transferred from us to NC A&T and became their feature back and leading rusher
.
This got me thinking so I did some research:
'23 outgoing transfer reviews (I didn't look into injury/upperclassman breakdown but overall my takeaway is that roster was not ACC caliber - surprise, surprise.meme)
- Tahj Bullock - Akron (3rd string) 32 of 66, 271 yd 3td/3int
- Keshawn King - western Michigan (4th string?) 14 for 62 yds 1td 16 total touches. (No fumbles)
- Dallan wright- Jacksonville state uh no stats
- Devin Farrell - Rhode Island (2nd string) 2/3 for 59 yds 1 td (appears to be behind fairly productive 6th yr senior)
- Armani Chapman (UNCheat) 17 total tackles (15/2) 4pbu/2int 1 ff (2spots below vt in the final standings)
-Jason Brown (Jackson state, qb1?) 135/214 1,399 yds 8td/3int
-Kaleb smith (just pour one out)
-DJ Harvey (San Jose st) 28 tot (22/6) 5 pbu
-Lakeem Rudolph (Campbell camels) 5 tackles.
A lot of these guys are sophomore level with the chance of stepping up I'd imagine next season but oof not a whole lot of real production from this group
So 1 P5 transfer who got some play
Multiple G5 backups
Multiple FCS backups
One FCS starter
I think we can see why the roster needed turnover
I mean coaches and experts have been trying to tell us this ever since Fuente brought in his last couple classes. The talent just wasn't good enough and whoever came next needed to purge to, at the very least, raise the floor. Well, this is what that looks like.
The only surprise to me is King, he is better than those stats.
Harvey had a nice year at a G5 which if I recall he had a problem with contact. If he fixes that then he would have been serviceable at P5
King was injured this season.
The floor needs to be the ceiling, or something like that.
This post is a synopsis of how terrible Justin Fuente was at recruiting and evaluating talent. Full stop. Awful. Could argue you couldn't do worse at a P5 school with the tradition and brand of VT. He set our program back 10 years. Broke the bowl streak, lost to a mid UVA team, lost to ODU, etc. He was awful. Terrible decision by Whit- despite him being a "hot" commodity, etc. Dabo Swinney was the opposite of hot commodity- but the higher ups recognized the guy could coach. Whit dropped the ball on Fuente. I hope he used a different "process" when evaluating hiring Pry.
I have a different opinion on this, bud. It wasn't a terrible hire, at the time we were ecstatic about it. It just didn't work out. I don't know how we could have known that he would shit the bed so gloriously when it comes to recruiting. I don't know how we could have known that he couldn't create an effective offensive coaching staff. Those were both things that he seemed to be doing fine with at Memphis, or we all wouldn't have been so excited at the hire in the first place.
In other words, I think putting this all on Whit as a "terrible decision" is a bit harsh. Sure, in hindsight it is, but how could he have known that at the time. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice, and hope you don't crap out.
It still blows my mind how Whit spoke about our need to modernize our recruiting game around the time we hired Fuente only to see our recruiting become what it did. I get the feeling that Fuente completely oversold his ability and desire to recruit in the interview stages, and by the time we realized how fucked we were, our options were all shit.
It wouldn't surprise me that anything Fuente said about recruiting sounded modern compared to Beamer's method during the interview. I also don't think Fuente thought it was going to be as hard as it is to recruit to a P5 school now.
Lol. Fuente only won with Beamers players... signed with "outdated" recruiting methods apparently.
You're correct, it's easy for all of us to "Monday Morning Quarterback" but what we know now, it was an atrocious hire. Sure it's easy for us to say it's a horrible hire now, but how we all felt about the hire in 2016 is kind of irrelevant to this conversation IMO. Excitement for a hire/coach is one thing, but no one could say it was a good hire back then, outside of how we felt and without any track record at VT to go off of.
But I essentially agree with you. We were all in the moment and had hopes he could be a potentially good up and coming coach.... We were all dead wrong lol
Yeah, I was one of those that was absolutely elated that we got our guy, or who I thought was our guy.
His first two seasons contained very little to indicate that it was going to get so bad, so fast.
The 2017 GT game turned out to be an alarming glimpse of the future, of course. But most of the losses up to that point were easy to write off as either bad luck (Battle at Bristol), running into a better team (2017 Miami, 2016 & 17 Clemson), or the normal headscratching, didn't-even-get-off-the-bus kind of games we'd have regularly under Beamer too (2016 Syracuse, 2016 GT).
Hell, even after 2018 I was willing to give Fu a chance to right the ship, if not his OC.
Impossible to know when he got hired that he would go on to catastrophically fail at replacing CFB's last core of players, stubbornly refuse to fire his incompetent buddy, and send the program into a downward spiral.
I mean odds are that he wouldn't be good, replacing a legend is surprisingly hard. Bill O'Brian did surprisingly well for his time at PSU, and Jimbo did very well at FSU, but neither Hoke or RRod could replace Llyod, Tennessee has been a mess for years, Texas was a mess after Brown, USC took a step back after Carroll.
Wasn't that the whole point of the Anatomy of a Coaching hire post and how often hires don't pan out? If there was some formula for successful hires, the blue bloods would use it every time. Saying a hire is bad is a product of hindsight. Moreover, some coaches have success at some schools and not others. I'd be very curious to see in a list of P5 coaches, any who have been fired from one job for poor performance only to succeed highly at another school (again, both in P5 conference schools).
Right, exactly this. My only point was pushing back against the "Whit made a horrible decision" statement, in that he made the best decision he could at the time, and it's only hindsight that makes it horrible.
Well even if we give Whit the benefit of the doubt at the time of hire, he missed the best opportunity I have ever seen to cut his losses with the loss at ODU. I have never seen a worse college coaching performance in my life. Seriously. The team was out of control, and I've never seen such ineptitude in adjustments. Chief being only having one QB ready to compete at any level in that game. It was a disaster on every level that set the program back to where we won 3 games last year. Fire that dude in Norfolk and show the world 1. You are still serious about football and 2. Know what you are doing. Yes its one game, but it was the worst I've seen given all of the circumstances- the embarrassment, the losing to a 4th string QB from a seminary, doing it in front of a 75% hokie crowd on the road, etc, etc, etc. If you are a serious AD, you fire that guy the next day.
You're talking like it's easy to fire a coach relatively early in their tenure. We'd been having mediocre seasons under Beamer, so probably not getting mountains of donations. So firing a coach, having to pay their buyout, then having to pay another coach probably isn't easy financially, especially where we likely were.
In the scenario you're talking about, we'd have to hire a HS coordinator to pay the buyout and that's what we'd have left for pay. And probably have all the position coaches be grad assistants. We were kinda fucked financially. And the tough thing, that I still point out, is that he had taken us to the ACCCG in his first year, and yes, it was with Beamer's players, but Beamer only got 6 wins out of them (I can't remember if it was 7 with a bowl).
Plus, Beamer lost to JMU - should he have been fired at the end of that game? If you use your logic, Beamer should have been out on his ass. Beamer then turned around and won the rest of the regular season games that year. But we would have never known - he should have been fired according to you. And before you start on all the things he accomplished, again, Fuente took us to the the ACCCG in year 1, so that accomplishment should give Fuente all the leeway you are likely to say Beamer deserved.
And people use Duke as another game we shouldn't have lost, but Beamer lost to Duke in 2013. After Fuente lost to Duke, he switched QBs to Hooker and we had a good rest of the season after that game.
You can say you think we should have fired him after the ODU game, but that means you would have been firing a coach that went 10-4, 9-4, then beat a ranked FL State team and William and Mary 62-17 to start the season. At the time that you say to fire him, that is all the evidence you have, and given that, I'm pretty sure firing him would have been considered an incredibly bad decision by just about everyone.
1. it is easy, happens constantly. 2. Name Bud interim coach for the remainder of the season. Done. 3. Beamer had been to 16 straight bowls and was the schools all time winningest coach when he lost by 6 to JMU - where the team wasn't throwing punches on the sideline. Zero relevant comparison. Fire him, move on- Happens all the time.
So you'd fire a coach that went 10-4, 9-4, then won the first two games of that season? You're making your decision with the full weight of hindsight and not that info, which was all you would have had at the time. Whatever, you can say that now, but show me your post calling to fire him after that game.
I said it at the time, so yes. But VT showed me it wasn't serious about football, so it is what it is. And you see what happened. FSU and aTm are serious about football. So is Oregon, so are a few others. Whit showed me he was not. Now we are trying to re-build from being 3-8 and looking very much like Duke circa 2000 until cutcliffe got there. The team was out of control, players were fighting. The head coach only had one QB that knew the playbook, we let a nobody trash QB light us up for 600 yards, we got embarrassed by a 3-9 ODU team on television in our supposed recruiting hotbed. A laughingstock. Not serious about football. You fire that guy. You get rid of him after that trash. Or you mire in mediocrity at best the next 6 years. Your choice, Whit.
By your standards we should have already fired Pry.
I'm sorry, when did Pry allow 600 yards to ODU with players fighting on the sidelines? I missed that game?
Imo it wasn't the ODU game specifically, but the 45-10 Duke loss where pulling the plug would have been most justifiable
Even that one, he put HH in and wound up having an 8-5 season. At that point, he had 2 legitimately good to great seasons, one off season of 6-7, then 8-5. Do you fire him at that point or see if the following year is better, if it's an upward trend with a QB as good as HH? Especially given that, per the coaching hire column that 2 out of every 3 hires fails. That's the thing, it's more likely than not that he hires a new coach that will not succeed.
So do you keep the guy who has shown some success and see if he can right the ship, or roll the dice on a new coach, especially keeping in the back of your mind that Fuente probably had a fairly large buyout still, meaning it would be harder to pick the HC he'd want and might have to settle for a bargain replacement. To me, the smart play is see if he can turn it around. Sadly, I think the COVID year gave Fuente an extra year that he probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but that year was a total shitshow all-around.
Why are we defending Fuente
Does it matter? He doesn't know what defense looks like anyways.
I'm not, I'm saying it would have been a more difficult decision to fire him early after he had some success. Read the thread, it started as Fuente being bad at evaluating talent. I think that's absolutely true. I think he lucked into some good recruits, but by and large, I don't think any of the offensive staff knew what they needed to be successful, they just got players that worked sometimes. Given the success he had in the first two years maybe he was skewed dramatically to the X's and O's and not at all on the Jimmy's and Joe's. I honestly can't explain how we could do so well the first two years and then devolve the program like he did.
5 turnovers and 15 penalties for 106 yards in a loss to ODU equals "serious about football" in your book? Or does it not matter if we lose to ODU in the coach's first game? You criticize Whit for not firing Fuente after losing to ODU, but say nothing about Pry's loss?
You love making blanket statements and judgements, and then when someone questions you, you just change the definition of whatever you said. So define your terms if you're going to support your previous statement.
You said that if Whit wanted to show he was serious about football, he should have fired Fuente after his loss to ODU, correct? Is that because the team performed poorly and looked unprepared/undisciplined? That's the assumption I would make based on your comments about the number of yards given up and the behavior of the players. Could one not argue that 5 turnovers and the most penalties Tech has had in a game since 2005 also indicates a lack of preparedness on the part of the coaches and lack of discipline on the part of the team? So logically, if Whit is to blame for not firing Fuente after an undisciplined loss to ODU, what is different about Whit not firing Pry for the same thing?
Why are the terms you have defined for judging a coach's success and the acumen of the athletic director not applied equally to all situations? Which is it? Can we lose to ODU every year as long as we don't give up too many yards? How many is too many? If we give up 300 yards in a loss to ODU instead of 600, is that totally fine and the coach should be retained?
This post is such bullshit and what is wrong with message boards. You don't like my fucking opinions. sorry. You simply disagree with my opinions. 1. Whit should have fired fuente after ODU- that was at the time and is today MY FUCKING OPINION. Then Hokie Doug comes at me with Beamer shit and bogus comparisons, etc. and then you fucking put words in my mouth about "well your standard would be to fire Pry"- no FUCK THAT. I never fucking said that. For Fuck sake. And then when I do respond to your bullshit point about Pry- who yes fucking lost to ODU- yep- but apprently you didn't watch either game. Anyway fuck this post- I never ONCE changed my argument or ever said- fucking EVER- that any VT coach that loses to ODU should be fired- YOU fucking said that and simply didn't like my response. So lets fucking re-cap, shall we??? I have said 50 times that Fuente should have been fired after ODU. That is my opinion and it hasn't changed. period. No I dont think hall of fucking fame coach Frank Beamer losing to JMU is the same- I don't - so fucking digest that please. It is also my opinion that by not doing anything while our program circled the drain, it showed my Whit was not serious about football. Digest that. That is my opinion of course and I stand by it. There are facts to back that up however- like our program sucking for years. Finally, no I do not fucking think Brent Pry should have been fired after his first game coaching here- nope- I never said that or hinted at that and that is a stupid fucking comparison on every level.
Next time you write a post with that many f-bombs in it, maybe take a walk around the block and cool off before you hit "post". You could have made your point without all that anger. If you don't want your opinions to be questioned or challenged, then keep them to yourself instead of posting them on an Internet message board and then whining like a toddler whenever anyone disagrees with you.
I don't have a problem with your opinions (though I sometimes disagree), but your tone could use some work.
You are correct. I agree- too many F bombs- you aren't wrong. But while we are pointing out protocol, perhaps when you disagree with my opinion, state why as opposed to trying to paint me a hypocrite or put words in my mouth. Thanks.
Can we all not just get along? We just had a season where we showed progress. We are going to a bowl. Have a semblance of an offense. We are bringing in talent at positions of need on defense. We have a coach that oozes VT culture and desire to bring us back to former glory. At this point who the F bomb cares about the prior regime. To the future. Happy Holdiays Hokie Nation!!!!
Yeah I have no idea why we all keep arguing about who knew Fuente was shit the earliest. That ship has long left port. Who gives a frijole. We're moving in the right direction as a program and we're 4 days from Christmas. Take a breath and focus on something that you can influence in a positive manner. And above all, GO HOKIES!
Amen. Never did I say the program wasn't headed in the right direction. Other's opined on Pry- not me- I only defended him
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big middle ground between "not good" and "the goddamn plane has crashed into the mountain"
When Mook Reynolds departure crashed the whole program you knew the guy wasn't a big coach. If the ODU debacle wasn't enough
Hi my name is George Castanza, I'm unemployed and live with my parents. Would you like to go out with me?
"I'm Victoria,. Hi."
"Be-boppin' and scattin' all over me...."
+1 for getting the school name right
...
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It's actually been called Berea-Midpark High for about a decade now.
Sounds like it was written by a computer trying to pretend to be a human.
Oh I cannot wait for the first ChatGPT written commitment announcement. It'll be hilarious
Off topic, had a junior on our team that came on before me, and everyone had a very iffy opinion of.
I'm not a frontend guy, he supposedly is. I asked him some nodejs question or something and he responded with a chatgpt wall of text. Straight up told me he did. That's when I began to think he wouldn't be around much longer. Soon after, he was "moved" to another team, devops, and I hear he's on his last leg there too.
As long as we are going down this rabbit hole, I am curious on what Copilot is going to do. We've had a few devs play with it over the last month or so, and all of the feedback is that it is legitimately game changing for being able to understand and write code.
Yeah this is a critical question. I wonder if, much like the internet democratized access to (and use of) "information," will AGI (or the next best thing) democratize accessibility and use of technical information. If so, the results are likely to inhabit an equally wide spread from horrific to amazing. If I were a technocrat, I'd be worried I think.
And I am sure they will all say "Virginia Tech University"
ugh
ChatGPT ain't so bad for that kinda stuff. Heck, we live on a road where people speed quite a lot and so we bought 30+ "Please Slow Down" signs to give to all the neighbors and we distributed them with a letter explaining what they were for. We generated the letter using ChatGPT because it was quick and easy and low stakes. We proofread the letter and made a couple of quick tweaks but it took a lot of time and energy out of just writing it ourselves. It was well received and now our street is lined with signs asking folks to slow down. And it's working. We've noticed people driving more slowly since the signs went up this past summer.
Somewhere Devon Hunter guy is pulling out the hair clippers.
Welcome home, Andrew!
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Somewhat OT but didn't know where else to throw this. I mentioned a couple months back but on his ND announcement tweet, Joe Rudolph said that this staff was doing major things to rebuild the team "from the ground up". It seems to me we've been witnessing exactly what Rudolph was referring to over the past few weeks.
I don't remember seeing that at the time, but that's a very gracious statement for somebody leaving the program. He didn't have to do that. But he did.
Comparing this cycle with Fuente's tenure. (Note - Some of these are Walk-ons) 247 Data:
2019 (first year of the portal):
Incoming: John Parker Romo (K), Brock Hoffman (OG), Braxton Burmeister (QB)
Outgoing: Bryce Watts (CB), Jordan Stout (K), DJ Crossen (CB), Josh Jackson (QB), Eric Kumah (WR), Chris Cunningham (TE), Darius Fullwood (DT), Samuel Denmark (WR), Devante Smith (S), Sean Savoy (WR), Aundre Kearney (ILB), D'Andre Plantin (OT), Trevon Hill (DE), Cam Goode (DT), Daniel Bailey (DL), Jordan Jefferson (WR)
2020:
Incoming: Devin Taylor (CB), Changa Hodge (WR), Justus Reed (DE), Evain Fiars (WR), Zach Hoban (K), Raheem Blackshear (RB), Dillon Spalding (WR), Khalil Herbert (RB)
Outgoing: Jaevon Becton (DE), Jeremy Webb (CB), Phil Patterson (WR), Khalil Ladler (S), Caleb Steward (RB), Jacoby Pinckney (WR), Hezekiah Grimsley (WR), Damon Hazelton (WR), Houshun Gaines (DL), Edrick Ward (WR), John Harris (OG), Louis Mihota (OL), Joe Kane (OL), Robert Porcher IV (DL), Nathan Proctor (DE), DeJuan Ellis (WR)
2021:
Incoming: Jared Cole (RB), Jordan Williams (DT), Connor Blumrick (QB/TE), Johnny Jordan (C), Will Ross (K), Tae Daley (S)
Outgoing: Alec Bryant (DE), Robert Wooten (DE), Justin Beadles (DE), Dashawn Crawford (DT), John Ransom III (WR), Tyree Saunders (WR), Terius Wheatley (RB), Carl Smith (WR), Tyree Rodgers (S), Zion DeBose (DE), Evan Fairs (WR), Peyton Kemmerlin (QB), Hendon Hooker (QB), TJ Jackson (OT), Doug Nester (OG), Bryan Hudson (C), Quincy Patterson (QB), Darryle Simmons (WR), Elijah Bowick (WR)
2022: (Fuente)
Incoming: Jadan Blue (WR)
Outgoing: Devin Taylor (CB)
2022: (Price)
Incoming: Jason Brown (QB), Stephen Gosnell (WR), Grant Wells (QB), Pheldarius Payne (DE)
Outgoing: Derrell Bailey Jr (OL), Knox Kadum (QB), Tayvion Robinson (WR), Hunter Green (S), Braxton Burmeister (QB), Tahj Gary (RB)
2022: (Pry)
Outgoing: Jared Gibble (TE), Jordan Brunson (RB), Da'Shawn Elder (S), Marco Lee (RB), DJ Sims (WR), Jabari Parker (S), Jalen Hampton (RB), Bryce Goodner (OL), Nadir Thompson (CB), Reid Pulliam (LB)
2023:
Incoming: Clayton Frady (OL), Antwaun Powell-Ryland (DE), Jaylin Lane (WR), Bhayshul Tuten (RB), Derrick Canteen (CB), Kyron Drones (QB), Ali Jennings (WR), Stone Snyder (LB), Da'Quan Felton (WR)
Outgoing: Lakeem Rudolph (DE), DJ Harvey (CB), Kaleb Smith (WR), Keshon Artis (LB), Jaewan Boyd (WR), Desmond Mamudi (DL), Matthewus Carroll (DE), Jason Brown (QB), Armani Chatman (CB), Tyler Matheny (S), Eli Adams (DE), Keshawn King (RB), Nikolai Bujnowski (OL), Kenji Christian (RB), Elijah Howard (CB), Tahj Bullock (QB), Devin Farrell (QB), Dallan Wright (WR), Jalen Hoyle (S), Kyree Moyston (DE), Cam Johnson (CB)
2023:
Incoming: Montavious Cunningham (OT)
Outgoing: JR Walker (LB), Daequan Wright (TE), Nyquee Hawkins (S), Bryce Duke (RB), Christian Moss (WR), Luke Shields (S), Da'Wain Lofton (WR), Johnny Dickson (OL), Derrick Canteen (CB), Chance Black (RB), Hunter McLain (OL)
Big man has landed in the Burg
Hot damn the hit rate on the 2023 portal class.
Also, K Gilliam is at the top of my list with Peebles for must get. Gilliam pleez
Peebles, Copeland, Gilliam
With APR
From the looks of things, VT will pretty much have their portal recruiting results this week. Top targets seem to be Brumfield (ILB), Peebles (All-ACC DT), Gilliam (DL, Highland Springs alum), Brown (RB), and Mills (OT).
Brumfield was Jaylin Lane's teammate. Peebles was originally recruited by Coach Cheetah at Duke and his brother (class of 2026 DB) was also recently offered. Peebles has UL and CU offers too, so will need a recruiting win here. UL is killing it in the portal again this year. VT seems like a good fit for Gilliam, much closer to home with a few former HS teammates on the team. Brown was former VT commit, but was flipped and coached by Brooks. Brown could slot in nicely next year. I know nothing about Mills, but he is the only OT still on the board that also visited this past weekend, so here's hoping that went really well.
Fingers crossed that we have some exciting news this week.
According to this, Brown and Mills don't have offers
And according to that, neither does Peebles. I think thats merely a function of whether the player announced he received an offer on their social media or confirmed it to 247. There is no way a player is visiting without an offer though due the lack of time and resources. So, pretty safe to assume they have offers.
Recruiting dead period starts tomorrow so they had to make a huge push this weekend. Hopefully they convinced the visitors this weekend to commit but I would have expected to see some signals if that was true.
Well, those same players won't be visiting anywhere else and have not provided signals in another direction either...
On cue, looks like good news is coming in today:
That's 2 commits This one may be on offense though...
But then there's this...
This is good
👍🏼
Peebles and another OL maybe??
What about Gilliam?
Gilliam + Peebles (with Fuga and Pene) would make me believe in things... Principally, that the D-Line will be stout.
Edit: Copeland works too...
Mills to UofL... Of course. No idea what Brohm is doing, but he keeps getting players out of the portal. Weirdly, they haven't snagged an elite QB via the portal, but they are getting starters and depth at a lot of positions.
https://x.com/ae9eas/status/1736461559554019767?s=46
Feels pretty positive
you can embed from the website version:
Aeneas Peebles has a CB to the good guys on 247 per SMU beat writer. Sure hope this one comes through.
There seems to be a lot of swirl about a bevvy of good news incoming
This staff consistently producing good news in the offseason is a breath of fresh air.
Pry signal up. Any idea who it is?
Peebles committed
sitting here refreshing TKP waiting on the recruiting news....
PEEBLES IS OFFICIAL!
Oh Gilliam, Oh Gilliam, where for art thou Gilliam????
Need to get Gilliam, another OL, and Ramon Brown. Then keep the recruiting class together and look at where cuts need to be made to get the roster right and help some kids get more playing time elsewhere. Things are really looking good =)
Are we sure about Ramon Brown though?
For beyond 2024....
What has he shown at UMD that shows he is ready to be a feature back?
What has anyone on VT shown behind Thomas? Someone will be splitting reps with Thomas in 2025 and it could be Coney, Mitchell, or Mason. Or, Brown could mix in there.
And, it is clear that the VT staff and current RB coach see something in Brown to warrant recruiting him. And if you're not aware, the current VT RB coach was the coach that flipped him from VT to UMD and coached him his freshman year.
Why would anyone be opposed to depth for 2025? And not just depth, a Richmond 4-star recruit.
Hard pass on Brown, rather go after a quality back in the portal next year if needed.
It's not a good strategy to rely on the next year's portal for future needs. No idea who will be there, and if they are there, whether they'll pick the Hokies.
Honestly, they need to recruit out of HS better. Thomas is good, but VT hasn't gotten an elite RB out of HS in a minute. When was the last that panned out? Wilson?
Honestly I'm about 90% on board with HS recruiting should prioritize lineman and other positions hard to find while using the portal to get skill positions because the portal seems loaded with skill positions.
Probably just ptsd from the Fuente era where we had 9 scholarship rbs and 1-2 were d1 caliber rbs; while we had many other holes to fill scholarships with
Well, they would be replacing two backups with a single younger backup that was higher rated out of HS. Add in the HS recruit Mason, it's same numbers.
Hey, don't sell Fuente short. He had 12-13 running backs at one time.
Someone who seemed to be in the know hopped in a Twitter space (that had some current recruits dads, recruits about to sign, and fans) and dropped a few more yet to be mentioned names we may be pushing for:
Jada Byers potentially entering portal in January
Maliq Carr
And Donovan westmoreland
Hokies need to go after this kid
Any news on Kelvin Gilliam? I know some folks weren't big on him, but I am just curious, I haven't seen that he committed to any other school yet.
So currently I have us 6 scholarships over the limit.
Transferring: 8
(Wells, McClain, Dickson, Black, Lofton, Duke, Canteen, Wright)
Graduating: 5
(Payne, Pollard, Kendricks, Tisdale, Peoples)
Incoming: 19
Difference: -6
I see 7 guys that I would cut immediately based on ability to contribute, and could be stretched to 10-11 if we really need to free up spots. Suffice to say, if we can bring in talent upgrades (especially at DE, DT, LB, DB and OL) we shouldn't hesitate because we can afford to bring in 4-5 more guys.
The top teams deal with this effectively and efficiently all the time. Drop the romance and cut guys like UGA does. Keep the very best 85. If you want to win.
The question becomes where.
Looking at just the numbers, I see we can probably move on from a few DL, possibly an LB or two, some Secondary, and maybe a WR.
The coaching staff makes offers and drives thousands of miles, etc to keep commitments for a reason. I am certain they have a detailed map of whom was recruited over whom. It's those guys that get politely asked to leave. You can also always let the guys using a RS senior year go too- by definition.
I only included one DL in my original 7. And multiple OL
Why do I keep seeing that Wells is transferring when he's not in the portal and the Pry quote is he is "moving on"? Is there another source that has said Wells is transferring?
Not saying he won't transfer, but as far as I can tell, there is no indication that is his plan.
Post Covid, what player just retires in a reasonable time frame? Just calls it quits? Nobody does. It's so easy to transfer and use a covid year to get more on film somewhere for the NFL.
Mario Kendricks
Norell Pollard
Pheldarius Payne
Alan Tisdale
Nasir Peoples
Lets see:
Mario Kendricks - Played 5 years
Norell Pollard- Played 5 years
Pheldarius Payne- Played 4 years post high school and missed a year due to injury
Alan Tisdale- Redshirted AND played 5 years
Nasir Peoples- Played 5 years AND sat out his covid year
So unless a standard CFB career is 6 years now actually playing, I don't know what point you are making here?
You said:
Are any of the players I listed transferring to another school to get more film for the NFL?
No, none of them are transferring- you are correct. My point was " just retires in a reasonable time frame". I guess actually playing 5 years- not 4 to play 5, but 5 to play 5 is not a reasonable timeframe to you?
You said "Nobody does". I listed players who are.
Those players played 5 years. I think the "reasonable timeframe" referenced here is the pre-COVID 4 years.
I get his point, but you can't just ignore the COVID year. 2020 does not count for anyone re: eligibility. So the 5 years to play 4 is still true, but 2020 doesn't count. The only other exception to this, as far as I know, is if the NCAA grants you a waiver because of injury or hardship.
We are not living in some wild west scenario where there's no such thing as running out of eligibility and players can just keep transferring as many times as they want. They get 5 years to play 4 unless:
1. They were on a team in 2020, in which case that year doesn't count as one of their 4.
2. They miss all/most of a season due to injury, in which case they can appeal to the NCAA for a waiver. This is not new, this has been true for as long as I can remember.
Transfer rules have changed thanks to the portal, but transferring does not grant extra eligibility, they just don't make you sit out a year if it's your first time in the portal, if I recall correctly.
Technically correct, but when you see Jalen Cone in Maui live 5 years ago, and he is still playing it seems crazy. There are several players playing 7, 8 years now- not just a few. It's dumb.
The only player on that list that has the option is Payne, I believe. Admittedly, I have basically given up on tracking this stuff until all the COVID kids graduate.I do think Wells is probably considering "hanging up the cleats" though. His options are be a back up for a graduate degree and NIL dollars, move on, or try to transfer for a graduate degree and possibly more/less NIL dollars. If he has a job lined up that is near his NIL valuation it may make since for him to start a family if that is what he wants.
It also feels to me like he probably did not have the option to stay at VT on scholarship, so then if he did want to play one more year he would indeed need to transfer. My guess is he realizes that the NFL is likely not going to be an option for him, so time to go ahead and get life started.
Payne is out of eligibility.
I thought I saw in the thread for him that he had graduated and gotten married. Unless he wanted to get at least part of a grad degree paid for, he may just be going to get a job and start his post college/football life. That's also "moving on" and the type of thing most players do at some point.
Yea, this is what I interpret "moving on" to mean. I think Pry would've used different terminology if his intent was to transfer. It could also mean that VT is moving on from Wells and he is still figuring out his next move. But, there is yet any public information that the next move is to transfer.
Thanks for this, answers the question I was just going to ask.
I think 10 of the 15 HS recruits are enrolling early which means that 5 roster cuts don't have to be until after spring practice. A few may work themselves out of the program over the spring too.
Not sure if Covid rules changed things, but I don't think the 85 limit kicks in until fall camp.
Correct, that way seniors can be on a spring scholarship while early enrolls can be too, as long as you have the money.
they can pay for anyone's scholarship after they are off the roster. Doesn't matter when or if a senior.
I seem to remember Bitter saying it is 85 at any given time. But, I am no authority on the matter. I also don't think VT has ever been close to over 85 in the Spring due to most freshman enrolling in summer. So, probably was never an issue until closer to fall camp.
there are separate roster limits and scholarship limits. the offseason roster limit (125?) is much higher than the fall roster limit (100?)
scholarships are semester by semester or something like that - 85 cap.
but some players receiving a scholarship don't count against the 85. medically retired is one example. Not sure if outgoing transfers are excluded since they wouldn't be participating in team activities in the spring for example
OL overhaul inbound?
Man, had high hopes for him after the career Dax had but thought it was a bad sign that he basically had no PT this year
New threads for individual portal entries pls
I wouldn't count on it. In the postgame press conference, Pry was fairly laudatory of how the Oline improved over the year. The current board (run by Kolby at 247) shows no other OL that VT is going after. And the portal in general is fairly dried up on OL that would be surefire contributors next year.
If they do bring in another OL, it'll be in the backdoor style of Jaylin Lane's recruitment. Lane was a late portal entry, didn't really search around much, committed to VT in 2 days.
If so that's not good. We need at least 2 upgrades at starter.
Schick and Clements need to be gone, they can't play the position. In Clements case it appears to be a strength and effort issue, in Schick's case it's definitely a skill issue. Also we need a real center and Kaden Moore needs to go back to guard, probably as the 6th man rotating in. If Georgia State guy can slide in at right tackle, then we just need upgrades at center and right guard
VT already has one transfer that can play G or T and is very likely to start. So, 1 "upgrade" has been obtained.
Pry may want to focus on development of OL and balance that development with portal recruitment. VT has about 10 undergraduates slotted for the OL and maybe Pry sees more potential in them than in what's available via the portal. I think that's definitely true of what's left in the portal now.
I can also see them backdoor recruit in one more OL. Portal closes Jan. 2 so time is running out for the backdoor approach.
I'm saying they need 2 additional after the Georgia State guy.
If Pry is high on the young guys I'm interested in who. Only Ghannam and Johnny Garrett were playing with the twos yesterday, the rest were walk ons. I'm very high on Arena and Williams as future prospects, but it's unfair to expect them to be ready by next season.
Developing guys vs filling spots from the portal is a false binary. You can't import an entire line but you can absolutely upgrade over current guys. We cannot win an ACC championship with the current O Line roster. The other position groups with the exception of linebacker and maybe Free Safety are ACC contending caliber
I think the hope is that Ghannam takes a step forward and one of the incoming freshman can provide quality depth this year and grow into a starting role by their sophomore year. I'm not sure anyone is expecting or were realistically expecting an ACC championship in 2024. I think the timeline is be highly competitive this year to the tune of 8+ wins (I'm hoping for 9 given our schedule) and compete for the ACC championship in 2025.
I think with the incoming competition and another offseason in the program to learn, refine and get stronger; I do believe our current OL will be much improved next season. I also believe with whatever Pry and co. is selling and how the end of this season went plus the positive recruiting; these guys are hungry and they're hungry for more than a military bowl win. All these guys aren't coming back for nothing. There's real optimism in this program's direction and there's real optimism in this program's potential.
Skill positions, cornerbacks and DL are good enough to go win one 🤷♂️. OL is the limiting factor. We've filled (or attempted to fill) every other roster need in the last two portal classes.
Also Pry said the words ACC Championship about 200 times on signing day, and I don't think he means 2025
They'll be better equipped to compete in 2024 than 2025.
Final year of eligibility in 2024:
DL: APR, Peebles, Fuga, Pene, Nelson
LB: Brumfield, Jenkins
DB: Strong, Stroman, Jones
OL: K. Moore, Clements, Schick
RB: Tuten
WR: Jennings, Lane, Gosnell, Felton
TE: Gallo
ST: Moore, Lowe
Based on that amount of loss in the 2-deep, I would expect 2024 to be a better year than 2025. There is a lot of young talent behind those guys, but I would expect 2026 to be the target year to really get VT going.
But giving 2024 as a developmental year means our current underclassmen may be starter-level by 25. I think we've gotten so used to the lack of development under Fuente it's easy to forget about a normal progression and actual development of the younger players. Combine that with what seemed like an inordinately high miss rate on scouting of incoming Freshmen by Fuente's staff (it seemed like most of his recruits transferred to G5 or FCS schools rather than other P5 schools). We're getting to the point where we'll start seeing how well the staff can develop the players they recruited.
Balance does not equal binary decisions. Not sure if you're alleging that I was making a binary argument. Roster management does require balancing the interests of what is available in the portal, what is viable via backdoor recruiting, what resources are available to lure portal transfers, what is already on the roster, what in-house development looks like, and how additions and losses affects team culture.
Which OL still available in the portal would be an upgrade over the current starters? Over the guys they're developing?
Edit: So I looked, there are a few interesting OL that recently entered the portal:
OL Derrell Bailey Jr. is also in the portal. Transferred from VT to USF when Fuente was fired. Looks like he played but maybe not starter?
Pickings are rather slim, but perhaps Pry can get one or backdoor recruit an OL into the program.
Starting RG from Florida who's now in the portal, has liked/retweeted both drones highlights from the bowl game and Triumph NIL....was also at Baylor with Drones before he transferred to Florida
Go get him.
He does appear to have some Brock Hoffman in him as French alluded to somewhere.
Not sure if there's anything better than a talented, mean, and nasty offensive lineman.
Hear me out on this.... A talented, mean, nasty, defensive lineman
I see the argument, it's valid. How about a compromise
A talented, mean, nasty lineman.
LFG. Would be an absolutely huge pick up
Bet you really like the double zz's in his name.
This would be ideal
There is an unpaid 247 article discussing this guy. Would be a huge get. A multi year starter, good size, high PFF grades, and coaches marvel at how quickly he picks up new concepts.
Hopefully we get a commit from this guy when the dead period is up on 1/12/24. Arguably one of our last missing pieces.
dammit.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE GOT HIM
https://twitter.com/Kelvin_Gilliam2/status/1740420240323047654
Anyone know the back story on why Davi Belfort was delayed until summer for enrollment?
he's missing a required English class to graduate from H.S. TSL just posted a subscriber update on his status. He plans to get up at 0500 daily to work out and prep for when he enrolls @ VT in May for summer session
I constantly get surprised by HS kids graduating early. My HS required four years of English, Gym, and Health, everything else was so many language, science, math, etc. The English, Gym, and Health. Four years period. Now Health and Gym was a split class, but even so it was so boring...
My wife's high school had 7 semesters of classes if you took an early class for the last 3. I guess it's to allow for failing a class or taking a ton of dual enrollment at the end? She just worked full time her last spring before walking in June.
We needed 24 credits, 4 English, 3 history, 3 math, 3 science, 1 gym, 1 health.
We had block scheduling so 4 classes a semester. English was the only class you couldn't double up on, so you could get done with 24 credits by junior year and then take English first semester senior year.
Back in the dark ages when I went to high school, you only needed 18 credits to graduate and no block scheduling so you could take 6-7 classes a year. AP classes
(where with certain grades you didn't have to actually take the actual AP tests) didn't exist- just honors classes; no dual-ed classes. I COULD have graduated early but instead took 2 semesters of college chemistry classes between 9th and 10th grade and two semesters of college physics between 10thand 11th (and did governor's school between 11th and 12th grade-it was 6 weeks in the summer back then. Senior year I worked30 hours a week during the school year.
Our county did have a special math group for a group of us who participated in a Johns Hopkins study of mathematically precocious youth (SMPY) where they had us take the SAT in 7th grade and those who scored well did Algebra1, Algebra2, and Geometry in two years ( 8th and 9th grade) which allowed us to take Trig/Math Analysis in 10th grade, Calculus in 11th and Advanced Calculus in 12th grade.(I had 490 math/590 verbal then; re-took in 9th grade with 620 math and 580 verbal , and final time in 11th grade 760 math and 660 verbal-didn't take again cause that was enough to get me into any school I might want to). Took the AP calculus exam and placed out of the first year (15 credit hours ) of engineering calculus at VT.
Flash forward to my daughter who had access to dual-ed. She graduated and went to Rappahannock Community College for one semester(to save money) and was a college junior after that one semester and transferred to VCU to complete her degree. Point being nowadays it is NOT difficult to graduate early if you take summer school classes- especially dual ed classes.
That really was the dark ages, I had a little better than that (770/710) and rejections from about half the schools I applied to.
Funny story, I dont remember my SAT because I submitted my ACT, because when apply to engineer a 36 in math is all that matters. So turns out VT used SAT for math placement and I had a 0 because I never sent it. I got a letter that I needed remedial math (this was after I was accepted to VT and engineering). Stupid programmers can't input check as 0 isn't valid. So it took a bit to figure out what had happened since I'd never gotten anything but As in math and never got less than 99percentile in math on all standardized tests. It took more than one person to notice the 0 in the equation.
This WAS back in the day of 1600 max SAT score and I also was 2nd in HS class.
I only applied to USAF Academy, William and Mary, Duke and Virginia Tech- got into all four- had the appointment to the Academy from my Congressman and passed both fitness test and flight physical BUT ended up balking at the 9 year commitment(4 years college /year of flight school/4 year min service commitment). Duke and William and Mary were for the ROTC programs (and dad was a Duke grad), VT- was instate, and had two sisters attending already; wasn't going to do Corp of Cadets cause if I wanted full military experience I'd have stuck with AF Academy.
Even with the 1010 from taking the SAT in 7th grade (and more so with the 1200 in 9th grade) I had dozens of colleges sending expressions of interest including CalTech and MIT. Still don't know what I want to do when I grow up lol.
My favorite was that I was accepted at my instate land grant school with never having applied.
I got an acceptance letter from Liberty along with a promise of a 3/4 scholarship...and I didn't even know where Liberty was despite going to HS less than an hour away.
Back in the 1980s, the common knowledge was VT was easy to GET INTO but hard to STAY in (due to lots of folks being "less than diligent" in their studies due to a slightly off kilter work/fun balance) along with "asking"/requiring many with poor grades to "sit out"/be suspended academically for 1,2 or 3 quarters ....(anything less than a 1.0 gpa after 1st year or 2.0 after 2nd year and you were suspended. And other things like getting caught cheating can also lead to suspension for a bit as punishment.
while UVA was harder to GET IN but easy to STAY IN because of their "only one punishment (expulsion- effectively meaning almost no one gets "convicted" cause people don't wanma give the "death penalty" for "jaywalking". Plus at that time, the "average graduating gpa" at UVA was a 3.4 (better than B average ; which basically meant "grade inflation" as by graduation no one should have less than a 2.0 so for average to be that high (then -can't speak to now).
I've never denigrated UVA as a bad education- their law school/medical schools are top notch and business and engineering are at least ok(though Pamplin school of business is arguably just as good and VT engineering definitely better). UVA on the other hand constantly puts down VT academics (cow college etc).
I just NEVER had ANY desire to go there.
I came to Tech for engineering. Syracuse, Cornell, and URI (accepted without applying) were my other schools. Frankly, in the early 90's with even a partial scholarship Tech was less than 50% of the other two schools. Money was the reason why I ended up a Hokie.
Sames. I got into, but couldn't afford, Bucknell and got scholarships to, but didn't like, Carnegie Melon. Last of five kids all of whom had to go in state for financial reasons. Wouldn't change a thing about going to Tech, but it was definitely a business decision.
That's the reason i didn't go to tech for undergrad as an out of stater. Hard to argue with full tuition covered to stay in-state and just needing to handle living expenses for four years
My wife's maid of honor paid out of state to come to tech from Pittsburgh. Cheaper than she was looking at paying to go to Penn State. What's the point of state schools if you can't afford to go to them as a resident of the state?
URI would have been $800 a year for books and fees as they had a tuition waiver for professor's kids. I was grateful my parents even let me look at out of state schools. But I was interested in Civil Engineering, URI's program was meh, and VT's was rock solid. My sisters got stuck at URI.
am i the only one that sees "URI" and immediately thinks "urinary ract infection" ?
Every friggin time
University of Rhode Island. We were in a conference with them before the Big East took us for other sports. One of the 106 Land Grant University's.
Heathens. :)
...not anymore. Now, thanks to you, it's all I think when I see URI
Yeah I am 6th of 7 kids(with my oldest brother being a quadriplegic from age 16-divingaccident) and my dad was USAF til i was 8 (back when thy didn't pay much) and then a VA state employee for 20 years(same as above)). No way they were paying for college (and I'm glad- teaches personal responsibility and when I changed majors it was MY money I was spending). I did have a full scholarship that (had I kept my grades up high enough(3.4 or better) would've been for four years; ended up at s 3.0 freshman year so it was gone after that( and I later changed from engineering to business anyway). And yes being in-state was the big draw too (along with sisters being there for my first year or two).
And I was lucky enough to be in the last HS class grandfathered in to the drinking age being 18 still!
I low key think this could be a benefit for our roster. I'd much rather Watson/Wittke be able to battle it out for 2nd string without having to share too many reps elsewhere. Also probably increases the chance both of them stick around through the fall and don't try and transfer elsewhere. Only but so many QB reps to go around so one less guy to throw helps for a spring where the backups to our starter are still super green imho