Just a reminder that Nash Central (Rocky Mount, NC) defensive end Houshun Gaines is set to announce his college decision today at 2:00 p.m.
It's the big day..,— Houshun Gaines (@HZGduoUno) October 3, 2014
Gaines is rated a three star prospect by Rivals, 247 and ESPN.
In addition to the Hokies, Gaines also has offers from Florida, Miami, NC State, Boston College, Duke, UVa and Wake Forest. Gaines has been trending toward Tech for a while, so hopefully we'll get some good news this afternoon.
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VT needs more DE to help with depth. There is also the chance to compete for immediate playing time. No matter what, I will still be yelling GO HOKIES on Saturdays.
2:00? Friday?
Close enough
Yah, I'll take a glass of that right now...
Luke Stampini, Florida Gators Recruiting Insider, switched his Crystal Ball from the Gators to VT today. I know we shouldn't put alot into Crystal Ball picks but it is usually a good sign the day of.
You stop that
No jinxes
Both of yall - Houshun up!
With 15 mins left, only one prediction today and its from a UF guy to VT. So maybe he has told UF its not them. But still could be VT or NCSU.
Are we there yet?
As my mother would always tell me whenever I asked that question on a road trip (regardless on the actual ETA):
20 more minutes.
Watchin this kid's highlights he is really good coming off a block, all i see is him destroying GT in the future!
Gators... sigh
VT Recruiting. It will rip your heart out.
Feels like classic VT recruiting. Can't close
Its not like this kid was a 757 kid, pulling kids from Florida to the rural mountains of Virginia is a huge pull. It happens a few times, but don't expect it to be the norm.
This kid is from Rocky Mount NC.
Did not expect Florida.
Headed to Florida
EDIT: Dammit, a minute and a half late.
That just came from left field... dang...
Huh?
Crystal ballers suck.
gaines -> gainesville.
*surprise*
This is exactly why I don't pay the least bit attention to Crystal Ball stuff.
It's an excellent marketing tool, but terrible predictor.
#@8%...Missed a DE, Really NOW?!?!?!
But I went from:
To:
Instantly. Lots of goodies still out there.
Skyler walking into the pool was by far the weirdest part of that entire show. Side note, I also finished watching the whole thing today on the Flix. That is all, completely irrelevant to this conversation. Carry on
IMO, the introduction of the two Mexican hitmen was weirder. It was the only time in the series I was like, what the hell am I seeing here?
Yeah with the Redskin looking guy's head attached to the tortoise before it blew up. Yeah, you're right. I'm sure we could come up with a few others
probably saw that sweat was headed our way and wanted to stay clear. I mean come on UF has some serious holes on the D side.
funny his twitter background is of him at VT
We are painting ourselves in a corner where Josh Sweat is becoming a necessity.
If Muschamp doesn't turn this ship around, he might not get the chance to coach Gaines. I wouldn't say his recruitment is over quite yet.
That's been my thought with UVa as well. There is still a good chance if we keep up with him that FL dumps muschamp and we can swing this kid back to the good side.
Well...
Gotta win on Saturday in a way that makes the UNC fan base show their real colors about football and then close out Dalton. He and Sweat are absolutely dire need guys right now. If they don't work out, they have to create weakness elswhere by moving Dozier from backer and Xavier Burke from TE to DE.
Dalton and Sweat would be awesome.
Dalton, Sweat, Settle to go along with Fullwood and Hill? That would be beast, and anything else on top of it would just be icing on the cake.
I still like our flipping chance with Tolliver
And apparently Taylor as well.
Yep - we can just take #ALLOFTHEFLIPPERS
He's at FSU this weekend. Let's see how that goes.
I'd laugh a time or two if they took him out for crab legs...
I believe the expression is "whipped cream on the pie."
Tell us something we don't know, French! You know.. like you usually do. :)
Win or lose, the UNC fanbase is sure to show their true colors...
A brilliant shade of Douchia.
I don't see us getting either of those...especially when we are not even closing on the guys that everyone thinks are "definite" for us (i.e. Taylor, Gaines, Ferrel)
Missed him, huh?
Oh, well... his loss. If he doesn't want to be a part of the class we're putting together, that's on him, not us.
Ah well. Best of luck to him. Hasn't signed his letter yet, we'll see if this comes true in February.
Here's what I don't get - from Andrew Ivins' story on the Gaines announcement in today's Rocky Mount Telegram.
Setting the stage: Nash Central's Gaines to decide
Meanwhile, Coach Wiles went down to Durham for Gaines' game against Hillside last Friday night, some 300+ miles round trip the night before a game. Quite puzzling, although I'm obviously looking at this through orange and maroon glasses.
Thanks for the report. Coach Wiles gets an A for effort, that's for sure, and good to know.
Looks like Gaines just wasn't meant to be.
Our misses at DE are confounding me right now.
odd situation since most thought he wasn't a "take" at this point for Florida hope they honor his commitment for his sake, but could get very interesting......
He talked to the coach last night. Either Florida was flat out lying to him, Gaines is OK knowing he might not have a scholarship waiting for him or he got a committable offer last night.
hope it works out for all involved........
petebuddywilson dropped the ball, err, bag.
Happy Meal prizes can only get you so far in the dirty world of recruiting
Hahahaha.
Sorry, guys. I know for a fact one of Florida's bagmen is Bob freakin' Vila. Not sure how I'm supposed to compete with that. Also, if Virginia Tech was in 'Gainesburg', it would've helped our cause. Seriously, they named their town after him.
what the story doesn't tell is that he could have easily asked sweat/dalton where they're leaning towards.. If i'm a 3 * and want playing time I'm staying far far away from 2 5*'s that are going to the same school!!!
FULLWOOD SWEAT TOLIVER II & HILL BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOP ON THE MUTHA F"ING TRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You're forgetting about Dalton as well.
I like the optimism, but it's a little far of a reach to think Gaines, who might not even know Sweat/Dalton, much less be friends with them, could call them up and find out their decisions before they let their family, coaches, and friends. At the time I thought perhaps Darrell Taylor's commitment to UT was influenced by the Fullwood flip since we had Hill, Fullwood, and Lewis committed and were in good shape with Sweat, Dalton, and Gaines. Losing both Gaines and Taylor hurts though and certainly comes as a big shock. Sweat, Dalton, and Settle become hugely important for us now.
point taken I'm not saying 100% commitment but maybe just a little more insider info on where they're leaning towards.. It's not un-common for other recruits to know whats going on as they love to talk.
And then there was this too...
I'm not sure we were ever legitimately on his radar. Decision appears to have come down to Ohio St, Penn St, and Pitt
and West Virginia. Or at least they were in it as well. Once again the crystal ball has been exposed.
I believe we were being considered at one point, but I didn't keep up with his recruitment at all. Just saw his commitment and recognized the name.
You may be thinking of Eric Whitehead who is verbally committed to VT already? He's a DT and we need him now!
No, we recruited the Whitehead out of PA who plays CB as well.
I had dreams of two Whiteheads and two Adonissesesss. Kinda like last year when we almost got Andrew Ford - Isaiah Ford and Isaiah McKenzie. That would have been awesome.
Yes, I talked to a PSU guy today who was so pissed about this. He said he'd rather have the kid go to WVU than go to Pitt.
Houshon, we have a problem.
I hate Florida. Seriously, any team that is playing them is ok by me. I kind of want Muschamp to stick around for a few more years and drive the program further into the dirt.
hearing UF might not accept his commitment? WTF that's real shady IMO. He should de-commit and come over to the Maroon & Orange Side!!!!!!
Unless he committed without a committable offer. Then the shady is on him.
this is true... regardless wouldn't he know before he committed? I know he talked to the D coach the other day so you think he would have told them....
Either Florida is stooping to a new low or he's playing a game.
Something weird going on with this one guys. Don't think the drama is over.....
24/7 is showing Gaines as having UF as his favorite, not that he is committed. Interesting...
Rivals isn't showing Gaines as a Florida commit, either.
Some interesting notes from Andrew Ivins article in the Rocky Mount Telegraph about Houshun Gaines commitment to Florida.
Nash Central's Gaines commits to Florida
No matter where he ends up, hope it all works out well for the young man, however something seems amiss about this whole situation.
Yup. Something isn't quite right here. We'll see in February. But if we load up on defensive talent between now and then, I hope he rethinks and makes it the FAB8 defensive players, or however many we're going to get.
Anyone have any idea how many players we'll be taking this recruiting cycle?
Looks like UF said sure you can come as a preferred walk-on type.. he took that as he got a scholarship and committed.. Now they're hashing things up and he probably will be embarrassed and re-open his recruiting. by Monday
I just don't get how a Bud Foster D isn't something every kid dreams about. I get the SEC but this is UF.. they don't have a good track record for NFL talent on that side of the ball. Tell me on paper how UF stacks up against VT.. I just don't see it at all and I'm not even drunk yet..
If you're talking sheer number of players currently in the NFL, Florida definitely blows Virginia Tech away.
Assuming I counted correctly, Florida has 21 defensive players in the league. Virginia Tech has 10.
Now if we're talking quality of versus quantity, it could be a more spirited debate.
Here's a little tidbit - of those 21 current Gators in the NFL, they have one Pro Bowl appearance, Joe Haden last year.
There have been six Pro Bowl appearances among the 10 Lunch Pail Defense Hokies currently in the league - DeAngelo Hall - 3 (2005, 2006, 2010), Kam Chancellor 2 (2011, 2013), Brandon Flowers 1 (2013)
And, you know, Kyle Fuller is doing Kyle Fuller things so far with the Bears.
Biggest problem with Bud Foster defense right now for recruiting. Very little successful defensive linemen or linebackers in the NFL. We start producing higher NFL picks, the recruiting will start getting easier just like at our cornerbacks and safeties, but obviously it's the whole chicken vs. the egg thing.
Jason Worilds?
One out of a million. Let's just think about guys within the last ehh 5 years (give or take). Tell me what happened to James Gayle, Jack Tyler, Derrick Hopkins, Cordarrow Thompson, Cody Grimm, Bruce Taylor, Cam and Orion Martin, John Graves, Xavier Adibi, Vince Hall. The list could go on for decades. Very simply, NFL draft scouts consider Tech D linemen "too small" to do really contribute at the next level. Obviously some of the guys I named have played a season or two in the pros, but Tech is known and will be known for DBU until something changes. It's unfortunate but it's true. We just simply don't get the guys who have a chance to play LB/DT in the SEC, most of the time. Regardless how many players UF produces at the position, it's still SEC. If the kid was DB, my guess is Tech would be the top of his list regardless where he's from
James Anderson is with the Titans, Gayle got injury settlement from Titans, Tapp is with the Lions, Hopkins was cut by 2 practice squads.
Forgot about Anderson. I thought Tapp had gotten cut by Detroit, but I was mistaken
Boy, talk about a leap of faith!
I get that he just doesn't feel it at VT. It's OK. We can all move on now
But why not just wait to make a commitment? This could get very embarrassing.
*And great info, btw.
Question is.... Would we take him now if he reopens his recruitment?
He said he "couldn't see himself at VT if not playing football." So.....no? That's kinda the essence of what we are selling and he .....poo-poo'd our essence.
If you break up with your girl with "I'm just not attracted to you" then don't expect a booty call the next weekend. Unless she is really sad.
if losing Gaines means VT gets Sweat & Dalton & Settle. im fine with that.
Welp!
Sounds like drama.
Wasn't there a kid a few years ago who did not have offers but held a giant press conference to announce he was attending a school that was not even interested in him? Hart or something out west?
Haha, good memory. His name was Kevin Hart from Nevada. Maybe fernleyhokie knows him.
Not this Kevin Hart...
Wow. What a story. Sounds like that Hodges guy was a snake oil salesman. A bunch of wrong, a bunch of mistakes, and a whole lot of pain all around. Hopefully Kevin has found his way. Everyone does stuff they regret as a kid; unfortunately his mistake was very public.
ohherro, how dare you sir! No I do not know him... I mean it's not like he comes from the same town as me. There's like a loads of towns named Fernley in Nevada... like... like... ok, there is only one.... in the whole country.
fine... yes, that's where I am from.
it was a really crazy story. I remember when it was announced that we finally had a D1 recruit. I was crazy impressed. Mostly our kids go to D3 or JC, and this kid had an offer from Cal. And then it all came crashing down and I remembered why I left there, went to Virginia Tech and eventually worked in China.
Do you live in Fernley, currently?... I have lived in Minden for the last 11 years. I don't see many VT people out here.
wow, Minden?! what are you doing there? Are you from the area originally or you moved there after VT?
No, I live in Shanghai now. I have lived in China for 13 years now and rarely ever get back.
I grew up in VA, went to UCSB for undergrad, met my wife there, I convinced her to apply to VT for veterinary school and she got in. We moved back, She went to Vet school, and I went to grad school there. She's originally from Sacramento, so when we finished, she wanted to move back west to be close to her family. We settled on Minden, no CA state taxes, and only 2 hours to parents house.
I'm a golf course superintendent out here and we really like the area. Lots of stuff to do. We are only 25 mins from Tahoe and the stagecoach lodge at Heavenly. It's great...
13 years in China! That's a long time to be out of the country.
makes sense. definitely agree about CA taxes. It is a really nice area actually. I have been away a long time so things have changed a lot there. Growing up there however it felt like a black hole that no one ever leaves from, so I was determined to get out and stay out.
Which course do you work at? I forget which course is where but I used to be on my high school golf team so I probably played it if it's that old.
I'm at Thunder Canyon in Washoe Valley. It was built in 1993, I believe. I could definitely see wanting to leave if you grew up here; that's exactly why I went to Santa Barbara for my undergrad, after growing up in VA.
It's changed a ton, even since I've been here (2003). South Reno is built out pretty much all the way to Pleasant Valley, etc...
Bob Vila's gonna be pissed.
I don't even.
Yep, seems like he thinks he is a Gator but he really isn't. This should be interesting.
I feel terrible for this kid. Hopefully someone gets to the bottom of this, and fast. Sounds like someone was probably playing him.
Did he burn his bridges at major D-1 programs?
An SEC team playing fast and loose with offers?
Unpossible.
This absolutely sucks for him. I can't think of anything else to say.
I wonder who the guy was who convinced him that he had a Gators offer. I mean, if there was someone who he thought was close to the program, I wonder what Florida is going to do to investigate this. If I were in Muschamp or Foley's position, I would want to find out who was misrepresenting themselves as a representative of my school/department/team. Then I'd want to hang them up by their trousers.
Wouldn't surprise me if it was a member of their staff. I mean hell, they can't even get their linemen to block the right team.
Starting to feel really bad for this kid. Sounding like he got snookered.
He just got played by the University of Florida
I hope our coaches get on the phone with him (if not tonight, then sometime tomorrow) and reiterate to him that he is actually wanted at VT. This situation sucks, but its an opportunity to show how up front and honest we are in the recruiting process and how we don't deal with the shady things that other schools get away with all the time.
"Ultimately it came down to where I saw myself wanting to play football and where I would want to be, and I couldnt see myself at Virginia Tech if I wasnt playing football,"
Maybe after that bridge stops smoking.
not sure why everyone is getting offended about this. I choose VT because it just felt right. Coming across country I really didn't know much about it other than my grandfather went there. I had my choice of Virginia schools and visited several and VT was it. Maybe Florida was the same for him. He didn't burn any bridges and if he ends up choosing VT then great.
Sounds like he loves VT football, but isn't sold on the broader community.
exactly - he made it clear that he would only want to come to VT for the football. Do we really want to take up a coveted spot in the fab15 recruiting cycle with a kid that is miserable half of the time? Let him land softly at USF ...
not to mention that this kid was choosing between VT who had Charlie Wiles at one of his games IN PERSON, versus someone "close to the program" at UF. He is definitely jonesin' for some UF .....
You're reading way too much into that that recruitspeak quote. If he was 100% honest with that, he's going to Florida regardless of whether or not he actually has an offer.
Forgive me if I'm not holding my breath to see if that happens.
Or we get him up for another visit, and have some of the players show him that good times can be had in the 'burg.
Bottom line though - if you just love the thought of Florida, the school, the weather, the bikinis... it's a hard thing to get over at that age.
Yeah, he's going to go wherever he gets a full ride most likely. But I'd honestly feel bad for him if he came to VT, and then felt miserably out of place when not doing football.
There's more to his next 4 years than football, or at least there ought to be. Kudos to him that he is being conscious of that.
If he didn't feel at home in Blacksburg, I don't see how it's a good fit for either party. When I first saw Tech's campus, I instantly knew it was the place for me. From what I've read, that's how Houshun felt about Florida. I interviewed him, he seems like a great kid and is a player with a ton of upside. I wish him the best and hope the numbers at Florida work in his favor.
Gainesville has beaches?
No beaches but plenty of bikinis from the times I've been around campus.
#beachflow?
Did we just get Houshunned?
I sincerely apologize for this.
At least it's not as bad as getting the Hand.
True that, or Der-rick rolled
This is starting to be one of those who cares stories, I prefer my Hokies to want to be here.
The problem is we have no idea who was talking to Gaines and what he was told. What if he was swayed by false information? Was it even coming from Florida? This is a terrible situation for a young man who probably thought he was on his way to a premiere program at a school he loves. Sure, it may not mean he becomes a Hokie, but it's so much more than that. We're Hokie fans first, but most of us love the sport of college football at large, so what's happening here, while unfortunate for this one guy, is intriguing, and is very important for the integrity of the sport.
If he doesn't want to be at Tech then that's fine. I would hate to get him and have him transfer out because he couldn't stand being there the majority of the year where football isn't taking place. We still have big fish to grab and this loss wasn't the last straw for the recruiting class. Strange that so many predicted him to us and then he chooses UF especially with the shennanigans about his offer there. Either way though if Blacksburg isn't for him then he needs to go where he is happy.
Oh Well, it's his loss., wish him well. I agree we don't need him if he doesn't want to be here. After his comments I hope this train has left the station.
I wish the best for the kid. It seems we have a pretty good track record "missing out" on players who are involved in this type of drama and stuff during recruitment. They never seem to last wherever they end up. Too bad he was suckered by the school he wanted to attend (that's what it sounds like)
Update:
www.rockymounttelegram.com/sports/high-schools/nash-centrals-gaines-comm...
Appears he was duped, Florida didn't offer and want to see more from him. So he is going back to the drawing board. Some speculation is NC State now.
I don't believe it will be NCST, just my thoughts.