VT Prospect Camp Helps Hokies Impress Variety of Recruits

Hitting the recruiting trail all over the country can be a grueling process.

That's why the Hokies took the simpler approach this week, and invited recruits to come to Blacksburg for a prospect camp on Monday.

Tech's coaches wasted no time seizing the opportunity to watch dozens of high schoolers show off what they can do, extending scholarship offers to three players immediately after the camp concluded and evaluating many others.

The Hokies largely placed a focus on players in the class of 2016 — offering a pair of high school in juniors in athlete Jalen Elliott and defensive back J.J. Givens — but they also made an offer to senior Lawrence Cager of Towson, Md.'s Calvert Hall College.

Newest offer from Virginia Tech, visit went well with @Nextlevel_shaq S/O that #DynamicDuo #hokienation pic.twitter.com/Is19r0eEi7— LC #8 (@LC3era_8) July 14, 2014

"I got work with (wide receivers coach) Aaron Moorehead a lot, it was great," Cager said. "I like the program, I like Coach Beamer, he's the winningest coach in college football, and they have great facilities."

Cager has become of the country's fastest rising recruits in recent weeks. He's rated a 3-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite ranking, and has offers from 18 schools, including North Carolina, Oklahoma State, and Maryland.

However, despite the interest from many other programs, he's had a longstanding relationship with Moorehead.

"I've been talking to Coach Moorehead since my freshman year. We just talk about life, we have a great relationship," Cager said. "He said that if I performed like he expected, then there was no question I'd get an offer at camp and I did."

For the other, younger players, the offers came as more of a surprise.

"Going to camp was actually a last minute thing for me," Jalen Elliott said. "Shane Beamer only invited me about a week beforehand, and family decided to go down without much notice."

Got to see Sam today (somebody tag him please) pic.twitter.com/BeVsipiuVW— JALEN_UNO (@Its_jalen3) July 15, 2014

Elliott isn't yet a highly touted prospect like Cager — he's unranked by 247Sports — but his athleticism quickly got him noticed by the Hokies. He's played quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back with Chesterfield, Va.'s L.C. Bird High School, but Tech's staff sees him sticking in the secondary.

"I worked at all positions during the camp, but Torrian Gray said he'd most like me to be a DB," Elliott said. "And I would definitely be comfortable be playing there with a guy like him mentoring me."

While this trip to Blacksburg was a surprise for Elliott, he's no stranger to campus.

"Both my parents went to Tech, and I've been here for some basketball camps," he said. "But I definitely want another look. I'm trying to go to some practices in August and some home games."

Elliott's only other offer is from ODU at the moment, but he's headed for a visit to Tennessee Monday, and is also looking at Duke, UNC, N.C. State, Michigan and Michigan State.

blessed to say I have received a offer to play division one football at Virginia Tech #GoHokies #hokienation — Sookie (@RegimeJay) July 14, 2014

J.J. Givens is another unranked defensive back prospect to leave camp with some good news. The Hokies are his first offer so far.

"I was actually about to leave for FSU when I found out I was invited," Givens said. "It was such a blessing to stop in and come away with an offer."

Givens plays safety for Mechanicsville, Va.'s Atlee High School, but Gray saw his 6'2", 165-pound frame as a better fit elsewhere.

"The coaches had me play cornerback, and they say that's where they prefer me," Givens said.

During the camp, Givens also got some advice from one current Hokie.

"I really like hearing things from a player's perspective, and I got to talk to Kendall Fuller a lot, which was great," Givens said. "It's important for me to find about more than just football, I want to know about the education, the campus too."

Besides the Seminoles, Givens is also fielding interest from Miami and Virginia, but he came away from the camp very impressed with Tech.

"I want to get back to Blacksburg as soon as possible, I loved Tech," he said. "They're my top in-state school right now. I really want to get to some games."

Some players at the camp already held offers from the Hokies, but that didn't stop them from coming to interact with the coaches once more.

Augie DeBiase, an unranked junior quarterback from Jacksonville, Fla.'s Duncan U. Fletcher High School, received an offer from Tech the spring after his freshman year, but he still wanted to stop by campus.

"Coach Loeffler is such a great person to deal with, I can really see myself playing for him," DeBiase said. "It was such a great experience. Coach Beamer is such a nice and sincere person, it'd be a blessing to play for him."

All I gotta say is I really love VT, Coach Beamer, and Coach Loefller. — Augie DeBiase (@Augied5) July 14, 2014

DeBiase has forged a connection with Loeffler that's transcended the program involved.

"My first unofficial visit was to Auburn when Loeffler was still there," DeBiase said. "Ever since, I've wanted to get up here for more one-on-one time with him. This was actually my third visit to Blacksburg, I came up for some spring practices too."

DeBiase has also been drawn to the Hokies through his friendship with a pair of Hokies players that also hailed from Florida.

"(Freshman wide receiver) Isaiah Ford went to Trinity Christian Academy (in Jacksonville) and I played against him this year, so it's cool to think he's here too," DeBiase said. "I also ran into Kyle Chung, I played against him my freshman year (at Ponte Vedra High School) and it was really cool seeing him."

But while he seems to be favoring the Hokies so far, he still has lots of interest from elsewhere. Indiana is his only other offer, but he says he's looking at Georgia, UNC, Florida, Alabama and one other school that he has a longstanding connection to.

"I'll always have a place in my heart for Clemson," he said. "My family had a piece of property on a lake near there, and got to go their game against Georgia last year, but I'm not hearing much from them at the moment."

However, his interest in one factor does bode well for the Hokies.

"I really want a place with a small town feel, with pride for the university everywhere and all the restaurants painted orange, that sort of thing," DeBiase said.

Not every player at camp left with an offer like the aforementioned group, but that didn't lessen Simeon Gatling's enthusiasm for Tech.

The unranked junior safety from Greensboro, N.C.'s Dudley High School had a very positive experience with the staff, even if it didn't result in a scholarship pledge.

Great time at VTech, wish it wouldn't have got rained out— Simeon Gatling (@SimGat_) July 14, 2014

"It was great working with Coach Gray, and I actually ran one of my fastest 40's ever, a 4.59," Gatling said. "It really feels like home there."

Gatling is hearing overtures from both Gray and Wiles, who think he'd fit best at cornerback with the Hokies, and he says his relationship with them is unique.

"I can really talk about anything with them," he said. "A lot of coaches act like they're above certain things, but Tech's are just so down to Earth."

But Gatling is also hearing from people his own age about Tech's virtues.

"(2015 Hokies commit) Mook Reynolds is one of my best friends, and he talks about the Hokies all the time," Gatling said.

Gatling rates UNC, Clemson and Tech as his top three, but he too is interested in factors that could favor the Hokies.

"I want a place my family can come to that's not too far, but I also want a place with good defensive backs and a DB coach that can help me reach my potential," Gatling said.

Although each of these five recruits are at varying stages of the recruiting process, Tech seems to be in good shape with each one.

A lot can change over the course of a recruiting cycle, but it appears that the Hokies' most recent prospect camp brought nothing but good feelings about Tech.

Lawrence Cager

Jalen Elliott

J.J. Givens

Augie DeBiase

Simeon Gatling