Virginia Tech Football Recruiting: Grant Holloway Draws Interest from Hokies

The Virginia Tech coaching staff is desperately trying to get 2016 athlete Grant Holloway of Chesapeake, Va.'s Grassfield HS on campus next month, even though they're still not sure where he might fit on the football field.

Holloway doubles as a track star at Grassfield, and it would seem that recruiting coordinator Bryan Stinespring has been sufficiently impressed with his athleticism that he wants to get a closer look at him.

"They're just looking at me as an athlete, saying I can play wherever on the field that's comfortable," Holloway said. "And they're trying to get me up there for a Junior Day in February."

Stinespring's had an eye on Holloway since the spring, and the Hokies were his very first offer back in March. Since then, the staff has taken a keen interest in Holloway for his potential as either a defensive back or a wide receiver.

"Coach Stinespring was the one that originally sent the offer to me," Holloway said. "Since then, I've been up for a game, and at a camp over the summer. (Stinespring) took me around for a kind of unofficial visit of all the football buildings when the camp was done."

Holloway's head coach even says the interest in Holloway, who's rated a 3-star recruit by 247Sports, goes beyond just Stinespring.

"Coach Beamer was even going to come down and visit to see him, before we had that crazy snow back in November," said Martin Asprey, Grassfield's head coach. "It's just been an unbelievable recruitment for him. They really like the young man."

Asprey completely understands the Hokies' enthusiasm based on his experience with Holloway.

"He had a high jump over seven feet, 7'1" to be exact," Asprey said. "He's that good of an athlete."

When Holloway joined the team as a sophomore, Asprey thought that explosiveness would best translate to the secondary. The Grizzlies boasted a pair of eventual college-bound players at receiver, so Holloway played on defense for his first year.

"At first, we had two players at wide receiver that would eventually go to ODU," Asprey said. "So he started in the secondary his sophomore year. But he transformed himself into a two way player that offseason."

Now Holloway starts at both wide receiver and defensive back, presenting a tantalizing challenge for the Hokies to sort out.

But Asprey says he isn't in a hurry to offer any suggestions to Stinespring and company about how to deploy him.

"My feeling is you buy a car, who am I to tell you how to drive it?" Asprey said. "I just tell all my players, when you're going to a school, you've got to do whatever's best for them. And you've got to have the professionalism to listen to these guys that have been doing this for 20 years or so."

Even still, it remains unclear where the Hokies might prefer to use Holloway. At 6'3", his size would be excellent for either position, especially when combined with his elite speed.

"I'm a track guy, so they know I know speed," Holloway said. "But I'm still working on my footwork. If I get that down, I'll be in really good shape."

Asprey notes that Holloway is also still working on finding a balance between the demands of track and improving the finer points of his game heading into his senior year.

"He's always working on balancing stuff because he's a year-round athlete," Asprey said. "But he keeps close to 3.0, he definitely knows time management."

Holloway will have to also spend more time working to manage his recruitment as the interest in him intensifies. He says he's also fielding interest from UVA, Tennessee, Clemson and ODU, all of whom have offered.

But given Tech's status as the first school to show interest in Holloway, it sure seems as if he'll also be giving the Hokies a fair shot.

"They were my first offer, and I was just kind of shocked," Holloway said. "I was definitely grateful."