Nate Lee Gets Introduction to the Hokies From Teammate, Tech Commit Logan Byrd

Virginia Tech and 2016 center have shown mutual interest.

Nate Lee (No. 75) [vhswarhawksfootball.com]

The Hokies already have a commitment from the player currently under center at Kathleen, Ga.'s Veterans High School in 2016 quarterback Logan Byrd. Now they could be after the center himself.

Junior Nate Lee got a chance to accompany Byrd on a visit to Blacksburg to see the Hokies face off against UVA, and his quarterback gave him a personalized tour while acting as his unofficial recruiter.

"He knew the layout of everything, all the ins and outs," Lee said. "And the facilities were just top of the line. It was a great experience."

While the coaches weren't able to spend the whole day with Lee, Byrd tried to replicate his experience with the staff for Lee to give him an appropriate taste of the town.

"I kind of did it all over for him," Byrd said. "We went to Poor Billy's for dinner, then I showed him around campus. I think he liked it a lot, he knows it's not a big town, and he likes that."

Lee says it's no surprise that Byrd's already prepared for giving guided tours given how highly he speaks of Tech.

"He always says he loves the program, he never has anything even halfway negative to say about them," Lee said.

Byrd even tried to do a little recruiting with other players on the sidelines besides just Lee.

"I was doing a little recruiting where I could, talking to (2016 OT) J.P. Urquidez on the sideline," Byrd said. "He said he was impressed by how loud the stadium was, he compared it to Penn State, even though there's fewer people. It's certainly the loudest stadium I've ever been to."

Lee also had plenty of compliments about the feeling down on the field.

"He thought it was a really exciting atmosphere, he thought the fans were really cool too," said David Bruce, Lee's head coach at Veterans HS.

But it's not just Byrd that's interested in Lee coming to Blacksburg. Offensive line coach Stacy Searels took notice of his impressive frame and opened the lines of communication.

"Coach Searels says he's seen my film and he likes what he sees," Lee said. "He invited me to camp with them this summer so he can see more, and I'd love to go."

Bruce agrees that Lee's 6'5", 310-pound frame is enough to get any coach excited.

"Obviously the first thing you look at is his size," Bruce said. "But he's got great feet as well, you wouldn't think he could move so well, but he does."

Lee says that superior footwork is a point of pride for him, especially given that impressive size.

"I think my feet are really a strength, I definitely think I have good feet for my size," Lee said.

Lee's mammoth size might make it seem like a move to tackle would be a logical one, but he says the Hokies think he'd still be best suited on the inside.

"They like me playing center at that size," Lee said. "But I can play the interior line in general, I can play guard too."

Bruce thinks Lee's smarts are part of the reason why Searels would look to keep him as the man in the middle.

"He's a really heady player, just savvy, and he helps others," Bruce said. "He really understands his role."

Lee is currently unranked by both 247Sports and Rivals, and he has yet to receive an offer from any school, but that doesn't mean there isn't still competition for his services.

"I've heard a lot from Purdue, I think Florida's offensive line coach really likes me too," Lee said.

While he says he's still just "looking into" any return visits to Tech, including camps over the summer, it seems Lee will always have a ride to Blacksburg if he's looking for one.

"I want to camp there in the summer, be there for spring ball," Byrd said. "I can take a visit there any time, I might again soon. I just love it there."

If any of Byrd's enthusiasm about the program rubs off on Lee, it would seem that the Hokies are in very good shape with him indeed.

Comments

I love recruits who recruit!

May we all get what we want and never what we deserve.

Amen, brother. Bring him home, Logan!

What a great read first thing in the morning. The whole article is just...
happpy baby

A picture is worth a thousand words. A gif is worth a million.

QBs and large o-lineman. A great combination.

Sounds like perfect TE candidates *ducks*

#ENFUENTE #BALLSOFSTEEL #Livefor32

Watching his video, I started getting hungry because this is all I saw...

Pancakes

There is nothing in the world like Thursday night in Blacksburg!

Kid looks really good at what he does. Granted, it's against generally much smaller opposition than he'll be facing in college, but he seems to have a good grasp of fundamentals too, which makes the transition to the college game a lot easier. Makes a lot of downfield blocks, looks good chipping one guy than sliding to his next assignment, and I like the one clip in pass pro where he doesn't block anyone, but they show him in the middle with his head on a swivel looking for someone to try his gap.

Sounds like we've got a great chance at getting him if he's going to be a fit for Searels.

I like how he gets downfield to seal off the linebackers. Veterans HS didn't have that good of a season this year, but I think it speaks a lot to Nate's hustle that he wasn't a "one block and watch the play" kinda kid that shows up on losing teams. He seems to be a next level player for sure, but he'll need to slim down some, imo. Didn't see much on the tape.

Regarding the level of competition, Veterans plays 4A in Georgia and their schedule contains some very good teams (4A state champ Washington Co. and 6A Valdosta jump out at me), but I don't know which of those highlights were against those two teams (if any).

Poor Billy's?...ugh. Please tell me these recruits are taken to much better restaurants than Poor Billys

Unofficial visit, so the school doesn't pay for or have anything to do with their meals. It was their own choice.

"Exit light..."

What's wrong with Poor Billy's? I would argue that they have the best steak in the burg, and their pork chop is amazing. Where would you have them go?

exit light

Must not like good, expensive seafood.

Virginia Tech Class of 2013
Mining and Minerals Engineering

Sailing the Eastern Seas....on a ship filled with sand....

Ummm, where in my post does it say anything about Poor Billy's seafood? I said they have good steaks and pork chops. Just out of curiosity, where is Blacksburg do you get good, expensive, fresh seafood? I do live here but I haven't eaten at every restaurant in town (I'm a student, gotta get my parents/in-laws to take me to nice restaurants when they are in town). And I am from RVA, I do know a bit about good food.

exit light

FSU

It is free there

The restaurant at the inn, and the Palisades out in Giles are my go-to "I need to impress someone today" dining places

Palisades is awesome, but it is a 30 minute drive from Blacksburg. I've never been to the restaurant in the inn (isn't it called Preston's?). I guess I was just a little annoyed that my taste in seafood was being called out because I said that Poor Billy's has good steak and pork chops. You shouldn't order seafood this far from the coast in a small town and expect to get anything other than frozen, farm-raised fish.

exit light

I don't think you were being called out. Original question: why go to Poor Billy's? Your answer: hey, there's good stuff there. Add-on answer (as I read it, directed to the original question, i.e. agreeing with you implicitly and suggesting something further): there's good seafood at Poor Billy's that the OP must not like.

Maybe I'm misreading the conversation, but that's how I saw it.

"Exit light..."

Ok I think you're right. I am studying for my O-Chem final and it has me a little testy I guess. Sorry for the misunderstanding, legs all around.

exit light

Man, I wish TKP had been around when I was in OChem (it wasn't THAT long ago, don't get any ideas...) because my time-wasting would have been so much more enjoyable...

"Exit light..."

I am studying for my O-Chem final and it has me a little testy...

I see what u did there

What's Important Now
The Lunchpail.
The Hammer.
BeamerBall.

You shouldn't order seafood this far from the coast in a small town and expect to get anything other than frozen, farm-raised fish.

Try living in the frickin Midwest sometime. *sigh*

"I liked you guys a lot better when everybody told you you were terrible." -Justin Fuente

You'd be lucky to find some good mountain oysters so far inland in Blacksburg.

"some good mountain oysters"

Delicious, but difficult to harvest, I'm guessing...
bulllll

A picture is worth a thousand words. A gif is worth a million.

Apologies for the retort to your comment that I think I misinterpreted. I read the comment as "you don't know good seafood" which I don't think you were trying to say.

exit light

I would argue that Poor Billy's is one of the better places in town. One of.

It's just a bit pricey, but if that's no issue, I see no reason to avoid it.

VT Class of '12 (MSE), MVBone, Go Hokies!

"I was doing a little recruiting where I could, talking to (2016 OT) J.P. Urquidez on the sideline," Byrd said. "He said he was impressed by how loud the stadium was, he compared it to Penn State, even though there's fewer people. It's certainly the loudest stadium I've ever been to."

My heart was filled with pride. We still got it!

The Dude Abides

They were trying to talk at the game but we were too loud.
CFB obviously doesn't care about recruiting, he should be fired.

This is going to be great for the ACC.

Yup. Totally sending that quote around the office.

This may be my final entry

Reminds me of OSU fans talking up the "atmosphere" at Ohio Stadium, and how they "stand up on third downs." I was thinking "we stood up the entire time when I went to Lane." Then witnesses come back reporting how the horseshoe's flat shape doesn't lend itself to loudness, and the VT visitors brought plenty of noise with them.

___

-What we do is, if we need that extra push, you know what we do? -Put it up to fully dipped? -Fully dipped. Exactly. It's dork magic.

I don't recall them even standing much on 3rd downs. Even when they tied the game, it wasn't a total frenzy.

What is this new phenomena of recruiting OL? Is this practice observed at other major football powers? Are these recruits able to play any other positions?

The truth is out there!!!

"Take care of the little things and the big things will come."

Sorry for double post.

ChicagoHokie

By a newly adopted rule concerning double posts, you must now edit this post to be a line of dialogue from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

"I liked you guys a lot better when everybody told you you were terrible." -Justin Fuente

But what if the original post was such a line? If the line were perhaps from the Black Knight, do you have to replace it with something about unladen swallows? Of course we'd have to determine if it had to be a European or African swallow...

Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.

In such an occurrence you must answer me these questions three:

  1. What is your name?
  2. What is your quest?
  3. What is your favorite color?

"I liked you guys a lot better when everybody told you you were terrible." -Justin Fuente

Sign Nate up! Pancakes galore, gets to the second level and drives his block another 20 yards, helps block others once he's taken care of business, he's huge w/ good feet. What's not to like?!

ChicagoHokie

Did someone say pancakes??

Keep calm, Gobble on