Discuss and share any recruiting topics for June 2024 that don't warrant their own threads. Commits and decommits warrant their own threads.
This recruiting thread is used to share information regarding VT-specific targets, PWO offers, scholarship offers, visits, camps, and general news, in addition to larger trends. In the interests of limiting load times, favor linking to tweets rather than embedding. And if you want to embed, please check the thread to see if a tweet was already embedded prior to adding it yourself.
[0] Please do some digging to share original content (e.g. embed the original tweet, not a link to another post/website with said tweet), add context / relevant information and respect the Community Guidelines.
[1] New commitments, decommitments, portal entries, etc... deserve their own thread. Please read the brief best-practice tips at the top of the recruiting forum
[2] Scared money don't make money.
[3] Pry Marve 2024
[4] We must ride on the wings of the Pry-beast
[5] Scholarships to all the VA Top 10
[6] There is NNOOOOO number six
Comments
Sidney Rouleau
CLASS of 2027
OT 6-5 , 300 lbs
The Pennington School, Pennington, NJ
HUDL Profile
247Sports Profile
Brody Jennings
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 CB, 6'2, 174 lbs
Mandarin HS, Jacksonville FL
HUDL Profile
247Sports Profile
I know it's outside of the 6 hour radius, but always seems like a good move to try to get some florida guys
I'd wager there is some sort of program connection there, not sure I've seen us leave the radius by that much under Pry other than for QB unless there's some connection to a coach or program.
And the answer is: He came to us for a camp and was offered at camp
https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/article/virginia-tech-hokies...
There used to be a poster on here who lived in Florida and would drive croots up to bburg as well... I cant remember the username but i loved reading his trip summaries
Vt904 something or other, aka coachsmithey
Charles Scott
Class of 28
QB, 6'4 215lbs
Huguenot, Richmond VA
HUDL Profile
247Sports
As an 8th-grader, a 6'4", 215lb QB is probably bigger than half of the linemen, lol. Interested to see how he grows and what position he ends up playing in college.
Probably basketball if he's already 6'4 in 8th grade lol
Depends on if he actually likes basketball.
Tight End
Definitely has the look of a big-time QB. Size and stature remind me of Byron Leftwich a bit.
And apologies for the double-post here of the original tweet. I can't figure out how to post just the top tweet without the quote tweet below.
ya can't so no worries
Trashawn Ruffin
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 DT, 6'3 1/2, 305 lbs
North Duplin, Calypso, NC
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Do we really need another kicker?
Brandon Mann
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 QB, 6'2, 205 lbs
St Ignatius College Prep, San Francisco, CA
HUDL Profile
Jackson Presley
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 QB, 6'2, 195 lbs
Glacier HS, Kalispell, MT
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Has VT ever had a scholarship football player from Montana? Definitely going outside of the normal distance limits for this one and the CA person listed above.
Let's big dog Boise State and Utah on this guy!
Akedran Ak Crumel
Class of 27
DB/WR, 6'1, 170 lbs
Clayton HS, Clayton, NC
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Oscar Rios
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 QB, 6'3, 175 lbs
Downey HS, Downey CA
247Sports
HUDL Profile
Cash Hererra
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 QB, 6'3, 190 lbs
The Bishops School, LaJolla CA
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Looks like someone was on a west coast swing? Montana and California have to be outside our 6-hour radius...
QB is not a position this staff cares about for the 6 hour radius. There hasn't been a good Virginia QB at the D1 level in ages it feels like anyway. Pretty sure Bowen is tapped into some good networks there
It's been a decade. The only 4* recruit since 2014 from VA was Jalon Jones that went to UF but never played there and now is the Charlotte 49ers QB. The 3* QBs didnt even make any waves unlike in 2014 where you had Trace McSorley who played big time football as a 3*. Wilton Speight was also 2014 and played well enough to be 3rd team Big Ten QB in 2016. McSorely was 2nd team.
Christian Hackenberg was in 2013, but he was no were close to his rating, but some how he threw for 8500 yards in college and was a 2nd round pick with a 56% completion percentage and a 4:3 TD:Int ratio.
In 2010 there was Phil Sims who didn't do anything.
Then in 2009 and before there were a number of good D1 QBs, Tahj Boyd, Bryn Renner, EJ Manual, Mike Glennon, Tyrod, Russell Wilson
So yeah, VA sucks for QBs for a long time. Three D1 QBs since 2009
Not only did Brynn Renner shun VT for the tar holes, he also screwed up his marriage to major hottie Amanda Balonis . Loser.
He got big dawg'ed by Rory 😬
Had no idea who you were talking about, so I had to google. She's qualified.
He also destroyed my high school when we played him
We've invented a worm hole!!!!!
6-hour plane flight babyyyy
Virginia Tech
Invent the Past, Present, and Future
With Cal and Stanford coming onto the schedule now, I wonder if that has any impact on our willingness to recruit more heavily out there. I wouldn't think so. It's not as if we are playing one of them out west every year and will get regular exposure. But who knows?
I completely forgot about this. Can't wait to host my Cal alumni family for our ACC game next year lol.
Considering our last "QB" from LaJolla, CA, I am okay if he decides to go to SDSU.
I'm not sure why you felt like this comment was necessary. Aside from geographical location, there is no connection here. If the staff wants him, that should be enough. Don't need negative noise around someone the staff wants.
Simply joking.
It appears several members of the staff were at a high profile QB camp which explains the home locales versus our typical footprint. If you are going to stretch the footprint for any position QB should be the one.
Delane to anOSU
Imo getting him was always a pipe dream, and it'll be a win just to have mansoor stick around here instead of leaving to go join as a package deal
Only small surprise on that was they fired the DB coach this offseason that was his primary recruiter
I figured it was a pipe dream but he'd have looked good in O&M 😫
Least surprising news on here in a while.
Lonnie Andrews
Class of 27
QB, 6', 180 lbs
Oscar Smith, Chesapeake, VA
Top 40 QB in Class per QBHitList
HUDL Profile
247Sports
I know it's been said before, but good lord Tyler Bowen is a very large man.
I graduated from Deep Creek High School in 2007 and I remember Lonnie Andrews II from Oscar Smith, he was murdered right after he graduated high school. A really sad story.
Read some of this looking at his son's background
Manny Lewis
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 DL/LB/TE, 6'2, 245 lbs
Marvin Ridge HS, Waxhaw NC
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Father is Damione Lewis, who played in NFL
Based on twitter, there appears to be a commit. But, nothing from the coaches yet.
Hope it's Micah Matthews. He was the top guy visiting during Alumni Weekend.
Looks like everyone is excited. Micah Matthews would be huge.
Haven't seen the Pry bat signal but Evan Watkins posted his version
There was also a post from Jared Frayer that looks like his usual recruit post. I'd love to imagine they're not at all connected.
Jared Goodson a top wrestling target in 2026 commented on Frayer's post. As you said let's hope Watkins and Frayers posts are not connected.
Class of 25 commit incoming
Faheem Delane committed to an OSU
Drink
No worries, pry will flip him after year 1
Deuce Edwards,
🌟 🌟 🌟 CB
Will announce on Saturday between Hokies and Mountaineers. Cancelled his OV to Michigan State
HUDL Profile
Would be HIGHLY surprised if he wasn't a Hokie
Edit: Jinxed it, got a few crystal balls for WVU. I'll return to not commenting on recruiting.
Feel like that would maybe be one of the worse recruiting losses of the Pry era, unless there is something behind the scenes going on there (grades, NIL, etc)
To me the only thing going on behind the scenes is that we already have a decent number of DBs, both in this class and on the roster.
He silently committed but kept talking to other schools behind our backs. We found out, he reconfirmed his commitment to us bet kept talking to other schools. Pry pulled his spot.
The sport is such a fucking cesspool right now, it couldn't be worse. cesspool.
This is so dumb. Don't commit if you're not ready to sign a piece of paper. Back out of your commitment? Face the same consequences as anyone else who violates a contract.
I've beat this horse to death but major college football really has no comparison to a real life business or company. None. Commitment and integrity means something in all busineses- except college football. There is a long list of these things too.
I can think of a few where they don't mean something: debt collection, criminal defense, ticket resales....
And I'll be this dead horse, you're take is bad, the offer was verbal, the commitment was verbal and in all businesses that means nothing. Unless it's written down it's worthless, it's fundamental in business. Anyone only offering verbal commitments in business has no integrity.
So to be clear, because of the NCAA, VT and all other universities lack integrity when recruiting. The fact that we pulled his offer because he did something we didn't like is shitty (not saying Pry shouldn't have done this in this case due to the environment he is forced into). But the fact that a coach can pull any scholarship at any time for any reason means the process lack basic integrity. VT isn't honoring their offer. Even once a player signs it's most likely to a single year scholarship which can be pulled for any reason. While we think of this as a player committing to a school the school has minimal commitment to the player and in reality is only offering aug-dec at the school with a chance to earn more time at the school.
If some one offered me a job without any obligation to give you the job and it was a 4 month contract with potentially earning another contract after that, well I'd be continuing to look around too.
Are you saying DCs take is bad? because it seems like you're agreeing with him
Not everything has to be in writing as verbal agreements are typically valid contracts.
WADR you are missing my point. Where in the real world can you not be offered a job if a company is "recruiting" you? Everywhere. Ever not gotten an offer after an interview? of course you have. These conversations are binding? fucking nowhere are they binding- except between Pry and some high school hot shot. Where in the real world can you not be fired or replaced? Very few states and jobs- very few. In what other business do million dollar companies recruit the top talent, actively go after their competitors talent, do a dog a pony show where a person "committs" to them, only to go work for a top competitor? None. In the real world 1. Successful businesses do not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and man hours chasing "potential and hype"- zero companies do that. They hold a job fair and accept resumes. They don't kiss ass- even medical schools. 2. Normal businesses accept applications, screen resumes, conduct interviews and make offers. Period. For a high school kid interviewing at deloite- if he plays hard ball or games, the offer is pulled immediately. Why? because real life. You sign your offer letter - 2 things happen- you show up for work or you re-neg. If you do the latter, you could be sued or most likely its- peace out and you will never work for that company again. But of course no real world rules apply to college football, as we have discussed. In the real world good people are fired for daring to ask for a counter offer- much less re-neg on a verbal commitment that costs thousands of dollars to secure. But american males have such a lust for fucking college football, no rules apply. Thus millions of hours and dollars are wasted chasing kids that could or could not be any good at football. Nowhere else does that happen.
It also sounds like he was given a second chance to fix the behavior of shopping the offer around and again made the choice to break expectations.
not sure if auto correct but I think you mean renege instead of re-neg. I read re-neg as short hand for re-negotiate and I was kinda confused. Then I figured out what I think you mean
My first job out college, on the interview they wined and dined us, took us on a bar tour through Atlanta.
When I was in B-school, Deloitte did something similar for a couple candidate who all had offers from MBB.
If you're watching the AI space right now, there's a half dozen companies fighting over less than two dozen individuals.
I know it's not a perfect one to one, but there are definitely instances of this happening in the real world.
I've seen companies give verbal offers, then either never follow up with a written offer, or send one that's different. I've been 'strung along' by a company before. I've seen companies hire people then lay them off after a week. I've seen people leave jobs after a month.
This stuff happens in the real world, there's just not media companies covering it.
I've seen a handful a people come crawling back because they got a verbal offer that didn't materialize.
I've been wined and dined by a few companies that nothing really turned up from, and my wife once worked a company that would hold events for top graduates of local businesses to keep relationships going so they could hire them after done other company trained them, if they had openings. which seems ridiculous for a 70k job (which very few took)
I acknowledged there was recruiting in the real world. I also acknowledged that companies had job fairs, etc- some "recruiting budget". The point is that no company has 6-7 figure recruiting budgets for top (maybe) high school talent. Because Joe High school grad is nowhere on earth entitled as much as joe football high school grad. In your example you had in fact graduated from college when the company took you bar hopping. Guessing that foray cost less than 1. Multiple visits to your home/school with other coaches 2. Flying you and your parents in to "visit" the company and take pictures with sports cars that are rented. 3. All expenses paid on said visit 4. Paying company staff to entertain your family for the weekend. You had a college degree and they took you to a few bars. Guessing at most a grand spent? there is no comparison in the world where unproven 18 year olds are accounted for in a 6-7 figure recruiting budget with no guaranteed prospect of hiring them. Not in AI, not on an oil rig, not in a hospital, not at a bank, not at a law firm.
It's not an exactly analogous, but I think the point is clear: firms that rely on talent will spend money recruiting talent and making that talent feel special.
Given our repeated back and forth on this, I imagine you disagree that college football programs are 'firms that rely on talent' (at least, to the same degree that a consulting company or Law Firm does).
Round trip flight, limo picked up a group of us from the airport, meals/drinks for $100/head, limos taking us around the city, and a day given up by employees to interview/give us tours/etc. So probably on average $1k-2k/person, they invited 50-100 people for interviews each year. Not every one of these individuals would receive or accept an offer.
Of course college football teams are multi million dollar businesses that rely on talent. So is Amazon, so is Tesla. Neither spend millions on high school recruiting with a 25% hit rate. Not close.
I feel like you're getting hung up on the high school part. These people might be 18 year olds, but (a) schools are limited to 18-23 year olds (eligibility jokes aside) and (b) FBS schools are fighting over the most talented 1% of eligible players.
Not hung up on anything. I will die on the "no other cess pool " compares hill right now. No other business, non profit, anything operates like 2024 "major" college football. No other business rules apply. That is a fact.
Agreed - but that's because no other industry is structured like college football. As the former AD of UC Davis said:
"College sports is the only industry in the United States where non-profit organizations engage in fierce zero-sum competition."
"From a behavioral economics perspective, financial decision-making in college sports has been perfectly rational within the structures of the current system," he writes. They have chased their own competitive self-interest, the natural result of what he calls an "eat-everything-you-can-possibly-kill system."
I mean, I'm with DC on this. Yeah, we can say college football is equivocally different than any other business but it's the only atmosphere where 17-21 year olds are overvalued versus 'reality'. As long as people, fans, entities keep fronting that money, it'll probably never change and this is the reality we're living in. I don't like it, and DC obviously doesn't like it but we're going to have to adapt.
The thing is that these two statements contradict each other. If people are willing to pay for the product, they're not overvalued. However, without some changes, that pool of money has to start drying up. Young people are already consuming less sports. Then, once you alienate everyone that's not in the big 2, college football is going to start having problems. Of course all anyone sees right now are the short term gains.
Right as long as programs panhandle at every turn, beg for money- another thing you don't see anywhere else in million dollar businesses- and fans pay their seat licenses, arms race and portal taxes- yes the players are "worth" it in theory. A miami hoops booster had a half million laying around he didn't need so he answered the Lynn Kidd panhandle call. Cess pool you see nowhere else in the world.
If you don't think million dollar businesses beg for money, must have never heard of lobbyists!
Right- rich millionaire share holders/compamies pay millions to other private lobby businesses to lobby politicians. It's called business costs, not begging. When Apple solicits donations from joe kid that has an iphone under the guise of "we can't compete with Samsung" unless you give us money- then the comparison is valid.
Jesus dude, it's a fucking joke.
Came here to say the same exact thing.
Do they?
We offer Sam Rogers 500k to be a FB/HB hybrid but then after graduation he takes a high school coaching gig for 60k is that contradictory??????????????
I call it overvalued
This goes back to what I said below about how schools are artificially forced to cycle through talent. Supply is artificially limited, thus it's irrelevant what someone is making when they are no longer eligible to play college football. My FIL is forced to retire from being a pilot in a few years - that doesn't mean that he's overpaid now because he won't be able to make the same amount of money in 2028 - he's being paid based on his value now.
Additionally, in this fictional scenario, you're assuming that Sam Rogers's value is defined by his performance on the field. The reality is, his value is defined by what people are willing to pay him. If a VT Booster says 'wow, it would make me so happy to give Sam Rogers $500k, regardless of how he performs' then said booster is paying for happiness, not for production. Is college football recruiting a dick measuring contest for boosters? Yes. But participating in said dick measuring contest clearly brings them some utility. The value that boosters pay a player is how much they value that utility.
My comment is similar enough to yours that I'll drink :)
You also said it more eloquently.
A retiree is not gonna make what they were making before retirement in 99% of scenarios; argument is irrelevant. Retiree's are at the end of their careers obviously and college students/graduates are at the beginning therefore they should be valued at a base not a ceiling.
Even if a booster is willing to pay X amount of money for a player based on the value they bring to the field or even potential it's still bullshit.
I'm not saying I'm totally against it but I'm not all for it either because I do believe it's bullshit.
Again, it doesn't matter how old they are or how much experience they have. Supply and demand dictate value. There is limited supply (due to artificial limits on when someone can play college football) and a lot of demand (based on how much boosters are willing to pay for winning football games and dick measuring contests), thus players' value is high
Right, i get it, and i know how supply and demand works but with this college football system and even basketball, i'm just saying it's bullshit. It's honestly a disservice to these kids/athletes considering 98% of them won't go pro. It's a false sense of value and security. Not how the real world is.
Ah I see. This is a different (and much more reasonable) argument IMO.
😁
You can't compare those two situations. Not only is he providing a different product in each, the supply is wildly different.
I'm an electrical engineer and I get paid reasonably well to do that job because of the skills required and the limited talent pool. If I decide to change careers and work for Best Buy selling electronics, I'd obviously make much less money for the same reasons.
The difference for Sam Rogers is that he's forced to change jobs once he graduates.
I'm not sure I agree with that. Has there been an analysis of ... not sure what to call it, like second or third order effects of athletic department, especially basketball and football success to the university they belong to at large? Do wealthy donors that give to athletic departments also give to the academic side more so than schools that have little athletic success? Does 100% of tv revenue that goes to schools for athletics go to the athletic department? Do better students looking at colleges (who aren't going to the Ivies) prefer schools with good athletic programs? Do more graduates from schools with athletic success donate than schools without athletic success (meaning donations to the school not for athletics)?
I mean, if students didn't want to watch their schools' football and basketball teams, there wouldn't be all of this stuff going on. And most kids and graduates probably care way more about their school's success than college football in general. I'm assuming going to games with your college friends and cheering your team instills more of a feeling of belonging than otherwise.
The conversation is always missing the "value over replacement" difference between prospective "employees". I used to work at a major oil company that was very picky with candidates (arguably focusing on the wrong things but I digress) and there were still thousands of candidates that honestly you could have hired any of them and not noticed a difference. If a handful of candidates were the difference between a division being successful and losing money they would have put a lot more into it.
Take a look at software engineering, for example. There are millions of software engineering jobs out there ranging from ones requiring top end skills and others where a 3 month coding bootcamp is all you need. Someone with the same title may have a salary of 100k at one job and 500k at a different job, all based on the value over replacement and the revenue per employee.
John Calipari won 90% of his games at Kentucky turning over the roster largely year by year. The argument that these resources are irreplaceable thus millions should be spent luring them to your school I will never buy. Never.
Doesn't that... prove the point? Calipari has secured the #1 recruiting class in the nation eight times and the #2 class six times during his tenure at Kentucky. Only two of his classes ranked outside the top 2 nationally since 2009.
So if each year he replaced ~5 guys, and those 5 guys were (more/less) the best guys available each year, and he won a lot of games in that time... doesn't that mean that it makes sense to pay a shit ton of money to get the best guys each year?
No it means John Wall- who you paid (allegedly) money to and spent thousands recruiting is so "worth" it, he was replaced by a better player 8 months later. Again back to the theme- where else do corporations spend millions on disposable/replaceable human capitol? No normal business is going to wine and dine you knowing they can get someone better in 8 months. But no normal business has go Blue idiots with too much disposable income and yet beg literally for more- NOT normal. Ive said my peace on this.
I think you hit the nail on the head - there's no other business (I can think of) where the rules of competition force you to replace your human capitol.
This doesn't mean that human capitol doesn't matter - it's basic supply and demand - demand stays high because supply is artificially limited to a small talent pool. So schools fight tooth and nail to get the best players in the insanely small talent pool.
No other business is forced to play by the same rules, BUT if there were a governing body that forced every law firm to hire kids at a certain age, never take more than 85 at any given time, then release them at a certain age, we would see the same exact behavior.
NCAA and their fuckery aside- at SOME point these boosters, collectives, etc are going to want a return on investment beyond 7-5 and the Mayo bowl. Or beyond getting sent to Dayton in the play in game. It has happened since the dawn of time, and it will happen with LIV golf too. THAT is when we see some form of market correction. These big boosters are going to stop buying practice facilities and no show NIL gigs when you go 7-5 every year. And there are more of those programs than they are Alabamas/OSU's.
Totally agree!
I think a lot of boosters with this kind of coin are just as interested in avoiding 4-8 as they are interested in achieving 10-2.
Boosters will tire of 7-5, and they will tire of the coaches that produce those results. They will not grow tired of protecting and/or investing in their team's good name.
I don't think you invest in the cfb product unless you have a certain pride in your team, and I think that same pride will maintain 7-5 with hope for future 10-2 or 12-0.
It's silly (or borderline bad faith) to compare the age and pay of normal corporate recruiting to that of collegiate athletics. If Amazon or Telsa had a talent pool that was limited to 5 or 6 year window, you better believe they'd be throwing money at them.
Really? What if the talent pool was the same or better every 5 years? The next genius EV designers are as good or better in 5 years anyway, so Musk is still throwing millions at their interview process? nah.
Your comment doesn't translate though. Athletes aren't producing a product that lasts. It's here today, then it's gone. You need to constantly restock your talent or your toast.
This isn't to say that I disagree with the broader point that college football is a disaster right now. Just like anything, unfettered greed will produce exactly what you're seeing. There need to be guardrails put up.
I do think I missed your point after rereading your post. I combined it with things you posted in response too and I think I read into your post more than the word written.
Big law firms. Law school is 3 years. During the second year, students interview with a bunch of law firms and if they get selected for a major firm, they get a summer internship the 2nd summer that is nothing short of a dog and pony show. Expensive dinners, expensive events once a week, expensive resort retreat at the end of the summer, etc. Their goal is twofold: (1) outcompete the other top firms for talent, and (2) have the student fall into a luxury lifestyle and think law firm work is like that all the time (which, it definitely is not as an associate at a firm).
A summer intern student flipping from one top firm to another firm, however, is uncommon.
Fuente did this with Capehart and it did nothing but hurt our status with recruits. Not sure this kind of hardball does anything but hurt recruiting. People just have to come to terms with the fact you're not committed until you sign the NLI
Why would it hurt us? To other kids, I'd say, "just don't commit if you want to keep talking to people." The coaches don't want to hold a spot for someone they can't count on. How would the kid feel if he committed and the coaches told him they were going to keep looking for someone better, or rather he found out they were looking for someone better. He asks the coaches if definitely has a spot, they say yes, but he hears they keep looking. Why would he stay committed? I sure as hell wouldn't, and don't blame Pry for pulling the plug.
Because teenagers don't always apply logic to their thinking?
Pry also encourages recruits (pre-commitment) to take their OVs and visits so they are 100% sure they want to be Hokies. Just don't be deceitful.
The work Pry is doing with in-state high schools could not be more different than the work Fuente was (or was not) doing. This is not a comparison that has a lot of weight to it IMO (I don't mean that as a slight to you).
Capehardt was small and sucked wind. Right move by Fu.
I can make an offer to a girl to marry me. If she accepts my offer, but I later find out she's seeing other guys, you're damn right I will rescind that offer.
Brandon Kubay
Class of 25
TE, 6'4, 225 lbs
St Thomas More, Clearwater FL
HUDL Profile
247Sports
James Perrone
Class of 27
QB, 6'2, 170 lbs
Miami Southridge HS, Miami FL
HUDL Profile
247Sports
DJ Hunter
Class of 27
QB, 6'2, 190 lbs
HUDL Profile
DJ Hunter
Class of 27
QB, 6'2, 190 lbs
Horn Lake HS, Mississippi
HUDL Profile
If you want to day drink, we won't judge you, you can just do it. No need to double post on yourself.
Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw a guy wearing in a brewery bar/tasting room. It read "You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning." I never got a chance to ask him where he got it, but I will always remember the wisdom.
My friend had a WVU shirt that said that
Apparently we have a Pitt commit in campus today. Any idea who that might be?
Don't know, but obligatory pass the salt Pat or eat shit Pitt comment in response.
Hear, hear!
Believe it was Bryce Yates
Class of 25
🌟 🌟 🌟 WR, 6', 165 lbs
Matoaca, Chesterfield, VA
247Sports
HUDL Profile
Evan Watkins tweeted ("X'd?) today that there was a 5 star visitor for the Hokies, but any info was behind a paywall. Any idea who it might have been?
I think it was a women's bball player
Yeah that's the only one I was tracking. Women's bb should have three 5 🌟 visiting this summer.
Kaellyn Carroll Class of 25 Wing, 6'2
Divine Bourrage Class of 25 PG, 5'10
Nyla Brooks Class of 25, Wing, 6'1
Also working to get Autumn Fleary Class of 26 PG from Sidwell Friends School in too. Hokies have offers out to 5 of the top 12 in Class of 26.
I wish they had separate accounts - football and everything else. Got me super excited! Not that I don't care about the other sports, just don't follow any of the others the way I do football.
Looks like it was
Immanuel Iheanacho
Class of 26
5 🌟 OT, 6'7, 340 lbs
Georgetown Prep, Rockville MD
Hokies offered back in October 23. He is thought to be an Ohio State lean
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Ihaveanacho belongs on the all-name team.
Tyrell Simpson
Class of 26
OL, 6'8, 320 lbs
North Brunswick HS, Leland NC
HUDL Profile
YouTube Weight Room Video
That's one massive guy there
We still need to see him standing next to Bowen for official judgment.
Well, he certainly looks really happy in that photo
LOL. He's probably a big teddy bear.
I live down here (not in Leland, but over on the coast) and have been able to catch some games here in New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick counites... Not sure how I missed this massive specimen of a human being, but I will be sure to catch a couple of his games this year!
Kameron Vance
Class of 26
WR, 5'7, 160 lbs
Northwestern HS Rock Hill SC
247Sports
HUDL Profile
Oh I like this guy
He's got hands but he needs to hit a growth spurt.
Oh I'm only going off this tweet where he said he EARNED an offer
Yeah, his head is in the right place.
I get that different positions create opportunities for different body types, but the contrast in size between Simpson and Vance is mind blowing!
Tyrell Simpson
Class of 26
OL, 6'8, 320 lbs
Vs
Kameron Vance
Class of 26
WR, 5'7, 160 lbs
Tyson Harley
Class of 26
LB/Edge, 6'4, 220 lbs
Gonzaga College HS, Washington DC
HUDL Profile
247Sports
Someone with way too much time on their hands needs to put together some kind of commit/success rate for recruits that refer to us as Virginia Tech University in their tweets/X.
Evan Watkins has his bat signal up but nothing from Pry yet or any other head coaches I have seen.
I'm getting the sense there might be multiple commits incoming.
Pry Signal is up
Today he woke up feeling the cheesiest.
1. French is gagging watching this, and
2. Where do I get one of these?
Hokies make Top 5 for
Zeke Chinwike
Class of 26
🌟 🌟 🌟 DE, 6'6, 242 lbs
This kid must be a development prospect because that offer list does not match his size.
This is a big target for the staff so hopefully this weekend goes well
Feel very good about getting Overton.
Anyone have a list of guys on officials @ Tech this weekend?
247 Link - AJ Brand
I know nothing about quarterbacks but his throwing motion looks weird to me. It's almost as if he's throwing off his front foot...? Am I crazy?
yea, I watched his film too. His passes were a lot of upper body that resulted in deep and high loft passes, requiring the WR go get it. Obviously really strong upper body, but his footwork and accuracy need to be honed in. He has a body and frame for being a top-tier QB but needs a lot of development. Hopefully he is working with a good QB coach.
He just committed over S. Car., so it's nice to pull one from that state over Shane.
Seems like some bat signals are starting up. But not The bat signal.
Warning shots fired
very curious on the context here... maybe some negative recruiting pushes from other schools?
Has to be Maryland right?
Yea, I've heard it's either MD or SCar.
The other context is that this is the end of the opening verse of Euporia (the first 'serious' diss track in the Kendrick/Drake beef).
Such a good song
Still heavy in rotation for me
Strikes me as being a comment directed at SC...
Tweet has been deleted lol
what is the sc context?
Supposedly Shane has been doing a lot of negative recruiting against us. Tweet was a pic of Pierson Prioleau and Coach Cheetah holding up an SC flag inside Lane with caption:
"Brick By Brick, Stone By Stone
This is Home!
"It's a great time to be a Hokie!" #Ap2w"
Man shame we deleted the tweet. Love us firing back at Shane. Arrogant ass. Enjoy being an SEC doormat again this year and being unemployed come December.
Picked up another QB/ATH commit out of Irmo SC
New thread pls
Very happy to have beaten Shane out for this kid, but he's a pretty serious project if he stays at QB. His highlights are mostly him locking in on a single WR and tossing it way down the field after said WR gets behind the defense. There are a couple of other short and intermediate throws, but the film mostly shows his ability to drop dimes (and he's pretty good at that).
Really good athlete, throws well on the run, but again, he's locked in the entire time. He runs well, but there isn't a whole lot of film on what he looks like at the mesh point, so we have no read on how he handles the zone read... In the end, he isn't looking at the defense very much, if at all. None of this means he can't be good at the next level, but kids who spend their high school careers in highly "predictable outcome" type of offenses tend to struggle with the transition. At least for a period of time.
The moral of the story here is this: We picked up a great athlete who happens to play QB in high school who will be a project at the QB position.
Boom! Sweet sugar shane down in south carolina may want to stop talking shit.
... I'm out of the loop, has Shane been talking shit or something?
Yeah a lot of rumblings he's been negative recruiting/has some sort of vendetta against VT. Shane can eff off, he's gonna get fired this year anyway. Don't know what his deal is with VT.
Except he has 4 of the Top 10 in VA headed his way. Right now he's eating our lunch.
Extra frustrating considering the perception is he is on the hot seat and may not be their coach in December
Shane on the hotseat- all the better to flip these cruits to the good guys around the first of December
They'd be dumb as hell to fire him. If they did we'd need to hire him as a recruiting analyst/assistant coach asap
They won't fire him for going 7-5, unless the 5 are the wrong 5- Vandy, Kentucky, Clemson again, etc. If he loses close games to Georgia and Arky etc, he's fine. Not all losses are created equal. If Pry - yes- loses in Norfolk this season, he will catch more than some heat. Trust.
Shane won't get fired for 7-5. If he goes 7-5 either he beat all the teams he should have, or he has some bad losses, but some amazing wins. If they win 7, it means he has at least one win over Bama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, TAMU, Mizzou, or Clemson.
Shane's not getting fired for anything better than 5-7 IMO
We are saying the same thing, but a win over ole miss and a bunch of shitty losses- that include Clemson again, could mean trouble. I don't disagree with your premise. current status aside - "ole miss" is not a career saving win in the SEC.
If "ole miss" is still ranked in the top 10 when they play it might be. It probably will be if they are still ranked in the top 15.
Right if Ole Miss is ranked #1 and Shane dusts them at night at home, sure- no question that's a huge win. If Wake and Kentucky beat Ole Miss before that game- well. Even if Ole Miss wins a few down the stretch and ends the year at 16th... that case not a career saving win. We shall see.
Ole Miss who is widely regarded as a top 10 team going into this season? Think that win buys you another year
I know sooo many USCe fans, and every single one is a HUGE fan of Shane Beamer. I think the hot seat might be perceived or projected. Just my 2 cents.
Shane is about the best they can get for that particular job, IMO. Sure they could do what they did with Spurrier and hire Chip Kelly or some other fossil and be good for a couple years, but eve then you are talking relatively the same bowl profile and not the playoffs. It's a tough job. It's impossible when GA is winning 95% of their games, Kentucky actually has a pulse in football and Florida and Tennesee are respectable. They won't get much better than Shane.
I couldn't have said this any better regarding the USCe job. It might very well be the worst/most challenging job in all of P5. It's a lose lose for any aspiring coach. However, as bad as South Carolina has been for 40 years, a 7/8 win season and a good bowl game is considered a huge success by the fans I know.
His dad was a college teammate of French and I . His dad is a Hall of Famer at Halifax Co HS and E&H.
Yep. Hopefully they find him a Fuller to throw to (for those who know, this has more meaning than just the Hokies Fuller family.)
So true.
Pry Signal Up.
Too lazy to do the work for a post, but it was for Noah Chambers, 3* LB from DeMatha
Three star linebacker Noah Chambers from
Maryland joins Brett Clatterbaugh in the linebacker room,
Chambers and Clatterbaugh sounds like a great name for a law firm
Another Kristen Bell I believe. Should be gettibg #3
There's Jeff Overton (247 link). He announces Friday. A composite 87 RB. All crystal balls point to VT:
Three others have all crystal balls for VT:
There are a whole bunch of other recruits that have VT on their list. See the list of VT targets (247 link). Several studs on that list, so could be a really good year for recruiting.
Who the fuck has a RR Cullinan in Blacksburg?
That car is worth more than many homes in that area
Well we ain't drivin' Beamer any more so time to upgrade I guess
We should have gone with something much more expensive and cooler, like a Blacksburg Transit bus
My thoughts exactly... well, actually my first thought was "this is so dumb." My thoughts were a big rig or a combine.
Hear me out...
The recruits ride...
A horse on a treadmill.
As foretold
The closest dealership is in Charlotte, Raleigh, or No. VA. So yea, no idea where they're pulling that from. Maybe there is a luxury dealership nearby that has one or something.
I mean on one hand it's cool, I guess. Not like the players get to drive them, but with Texas lining up their recruit entrances in visits with Lambos and McLarens, I guess this is just where we are. I've also seen us doing the same pictures with McLarens.
My question is, how are these getting there? If this is where our fundraising is going, I have serious concerns and reservations about any giving going forward.
My guess is there's a friendly who loans out the cars for the pics - I seriously doubt the athletic department is spending my donation money purchasing luxury cars to impress recruits.
I would hope so.
Even renting those things gets expensive in a hurry.
No sauces but I know in the past when we use a nice car for pictures it has been lent from a donor/alumni
Some non alum at a texas dealership that went to community college but can't breathe without Texas football- woo hoo... loans these out for a photo shoot- because texas football.
As someone who works in the urbanism advocacy space, anything propping up car culture annoys me. I'd be fine with a race car or another non car vehicle but all I see in all of these pictures is debt burden, traffic violence, pollution, broke local governments, and going to the DMV.
WADR, Horse and Buggy culture lost a while back.
True. And as we all know, the only alternative to cars is horse and buggy.
No, no there is also bike culture, wait for expensive inefficient bus or light rail culture, amtrak culture. I know there are alternatives to the horse and buggy.
No thanks.
This sounds like cities today.
I've lived mainly two places, WV and NoVa, and broken local government was way more a small town thing for me. It's anecdotal, but small towns can have very dysfunctional governments, also less eyes on the money.
I remember a school board meeting 20 years ago in which the superintendent and chairman of the board had to be restrained by authorities before they "took it outside"
Ah, rural southwestern Virginia
Another bat signal up from CBP.
Pry Signal been poppin off lately
Holy cow, how much more good news can we take?
Any and all would be acceptable in my book!
By visits, I'd probably say Zeke Chinwike, 3* edge out of Green Run
Edit: I am correct
Correctomundo!
We have the need, the need for speed
Correction: where's the beef?
3* edge/ath out of NC
Another local kid (Wilmington, NC)... can't wait to see him in action this Fall!
I was questioning whether Wilmington fit within that 6 hour drive radius, and was surprised to find out that the drive from Blacksburg to Wilmington (5 hours 22 minutes) is less than an hour longer than the drive from my house in Kill Devil Hills to Wilmington (4 hours 25 minutes)
To add some excitement to today's conversations, What other business limits their talent search to a 6 hour drive from headquarters ? Because it costs much more money to fly to meet with a candidate that may or probably won't choose your company? What other business has to consider this in an already ridiculous recruiting budget?
L. O. L.
Not sure why you're catching downvotes for this - leg to negate at least one of them
To be clear, I wouldn't care if it was more than 6 hours, I was just curious, and surprised to see that it was less
because he's intentionally stirring the pot with an extension of the same conversation we have four times a week
A little strong - but true!!
Four cbs to the good guys since the 26th 👀
And a kristen bell tweet from evan watkins 👀
Seem to picking up some nice players with potential, but looking at the avg rating we are sitting about 34th best class. Pry has 100% raised the floor over the past few years, I would like to see him start working on the ceiling and get the avg into the top 25.
Cant raise a ceiling before a sturdy foundation is set
psssh UCF, UCLA are doing it right now. Floor and ceiling go up a lot faster when you get the best materials.
You and I both know those houses aren't up to code.
Materials don't mean shit with shoddy workmanship
Source: Great-Great Grampa, Great-Grampa, Grampa, Uncle, and Cousin who were/are all brick mason contractors.
So you are saying they were built in Miami.
I am definitely noticing this trend as well. But after watching the film (of most of these recruits) and seeing where Pry and Co. would like to use them, I see a very strategic and measured approach. The main issue with Fuente, along with the fact that he burned bridges, is that his recruiting didn't seem to have a strategic approach. It was a little all over the place. And that became abundantly clear during his last season or two, along with Pry's first two season, when the roster was in absolute shambles.
Only time will tell if this strategy will pay off (the strategy of targeting players the staff has some confidence in plugging into a certain position - players they are confident they can develop for a specific purpose). But for now, at least it looks like we have a strategic plan and it is being executed.
Are you saying 10 running backs wasn't a strategy? S//
Pretty sure it was 13. 10 would've been an improvement
It was A strategy. Some would say a terrible one
Dude signed the 75th rated class and one rated in the high 40's- at VT. He was a bum in recruiting. No sugar coating, no excuses. Frank Beamer literally couldn't talk and signed a better class. Bum.
You realize that last class had the highest average player rating of any VT recruiting class in the modern recruiting era, right?
It will come. If you consider the class's upper quartile as a measure of how high the ceiling is, you'll see that Pry's upper quartile has been increasing with each class, with the most recent class having the highest upper quartile since 2019, and the second highest upper quartile since 2013(!!!).
We went down to the wire recruiting Chris Cole. We're attracting talent in the portal. Pry will land his Cornell Brown soon. He will be sending guys to the NFL in the next draft or two. Keep doing that, and keep NIL competitive (it is right now), and we will continue to trend up.
The Evan Watkins bat (Bell?) signal is up as of this morning
Good chance its OL Nathaniel Wright who is announcing today
https://247sports.com/player/nathaniel-wright-46142747/
GOT HEEM
1000% committed worries me
keeps his feet moving...that's all i know to look for!
https://247sports.com/player/jackson-presley-46130826/
87 rated QB for 2026
That is the weirdest short list I have ever seen.
If he goes to Boise or a team without a conference in the rainy cold hills instead of VT or the SEC, welp.
That scenario would make me question how committable certain offers were.
He just wanted an option in each time zone.
Well, he is from Kalispell, MT. I don't think it's a typical recruiting ground for any of the listed schools except BSU and WSU, and maybe OSU.
An interesting fact: there are more undergraduate students at VT than the population of his hometown, Kalispell, which is the home of the Glacier National Park airport.
I don't know how many times we have to tell these recruits, "This is Home"
4 🌟 QB Malik Washington is committing tomorrow at 1pm on 247Sports YouTube. Hokies are going up against Maryland, Syracuse and UCF for his commitment. Might be the most important recruit for 2025 that the staff is chasing.
YouTube Link
Crystal balls do not look good at all...
I thought VT was out of room once Brand committed. I can't imagine them taking 3 QBs this round.
Or Brand was in the room because we know Washington was headed elsewhere.
No idea how VT views their QB room and offers, but I cannot imagine a scenario in which VT viewed Brand and Washington interchangeable and only had space for one.
Washington is an elite QB recruit (14th best in nation according to 247) and would be VT's best HS QB recruit in a long time (I think since Patterson). Brand came to VT because they were one of the few schools promising a chance for QB.
Probably more of a "next up" scenario
Washington isn't a take anymore with Brand in the boat, but I also think his recruitment was trending away from VT recently. Pry and Co. didn't want to put all their eggs in a basket and miss out on both so let both of them know we only had 1 spot left and it wasn't going to be held. From my understanding they went hard after Washington but when he wouldn't commit to us earlier on they had to make sure they secured a QB so hard pressed Brand.
FWIW, Brand's size and stats match up very closely to where Drones was at the same point in his HS career. Not to say that's all that matters but he has the tools, just raw as a passer (much like Drones)
It's interesting. Drones didn't play much his junior year (he was blocked by an entrenched starter), but in his senior year he started and won the state championship 5A, D1 in Texas. Not the highest in Texas, but that's pretty elite competition. Kyron was also ranked the 17th best QB, 263 overall in the country by 247. AJ Brand is not listed as QB by 247, but he is rated the 116th best athlete, 810 overall in the country.
So I don't know what it's worth, but recruiting sites and most other major football programs suggest that despite his size and statistics, he's probably not a top-level QB. We'll see what happens at VT, but I would expect that if he doesn't switch to TE/WR by Spring 2026, he would be a prime candidate to enter the portal.
But alternatively, maybe he gets good private QB coaching and becomes the surprise recruit of this cycle.
Washington committed to Terps
Jeff Overton announcing his commitment at noon today. Hokies feel good here but he hasn't let staffs know his pick, so no one knows who he's picking for sure.
likely between us and the terps -- most recent crystal ball is from last week and is a medium-confidence prediction for VT by the UMD insider, so take that for what it's worth.
i think and hope he'll be a hokie, need to defend Nova from the B1G programs that are geographically closer (time/distance/both)
Just took a quick look at 247 to see where the in-state recruits stand and dang... Shane and Dabo are absolutely cleaning house in Virginia. I guess Snake Oil Franklin isn't who we should be afraid of.
New Pry signal just now for 2026 croot
I'm already at the brewery. I know what to do.
26 commit incoming. Bat signal is up.
A lot of a scheduled commitments coming up in which Hokies are on the final list:
Update: According to his twitter, Preston announcing Sat. July 6.
Evan signal is up, we might have more on the way
Guessing Henderson
Matthew Outten (.89 WR/DB) 4* has been getting CB's to the good guys all morning. Commits at 3 EST
https://247sports.com/player/matthew-outten-46141591/
0.89 composite, 89 by on3, and 92 by 247's inhouse
Another one we are going head-to-head with against my ultimate sports evil of PSU. Oh please, oh please, oh please let's close the deal on this one.
multiple CBs to the good guys by UMD crootin' analysts plural and a national analyst since yesterday
That's his brother
Big time pick up give me all the stars