Hokies Join Slew of Schools Offering Late Scholarships to Chris Williamson

Signing Day may be less than a month away, but the Hokies' coaching staff is still hustling to add to their 2015 recruiting class.

Today, Torrian Gray reached out to athlete Chris Williamson of Gainesville (Ga.) High School to let him know the Hokies were offering him a late scholarship.

"It was great news, it's just a really good offer for me," Williamson said. "Coach Gray called our defensive coordinator Coach (Wayne) Jones and he let me know I had the offer."

Williamson, rated a 3-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite ranking, has received a storm of late interest from schools across the country thanks to his recent de-commitment from the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

He originally committed to the Warhawks way back in September in an effort to secure his spot on a college squad.

"I went down to ULM this summer for a camp and I performed well, so they gave me an offer," Williamson said. "At the time, I wasn't getting a lot of buzz. They were filling up at my position, and I didn't want to lose the offer, so I committed."

But by early December, other programs started to take notice of Williamson's talents as both a wide receiver and cornerback, and he decided to open up his commitment.

"I had a really big senior year, and got a lot more interest, so I just wanted to see what else was out there," Williamson said.

Since then, he's snagged a slew of offers from programs across the country, with one of the latest coming from the Hokies. Both Duke and Vanderbilt also offered Williamson today, joining California, Northwestern, Virginia and North Carolina over the past month.

But Williamson says he's been "building a relationship" with Gray over the passing weeks, and his interest in VT has grown as he's learned more about the program.

"I'm highly interested in them, especially because of the way Coach Gray puts guys in the NFL," Williamson said. "And their academics are really good as well, so I definitely want to know more about them."

When Gray first reached out to Williamson, he was unsure of where he might play for the Hokies. At 6'1" and 190 pounds, he certainly has the size to play on offense or defense, and Gray wanted to know where Williamson felt most comfortable.

"At first, he wanted to know my preference, and I told him I want to play cornerback in college," Williamson said. "So that's what they offered me as, a cornerback."

But if down the line the Hokies start looking at him as a receiver, he's got plenty of experience there as well. He says he started on both sides of the ball his senior year at Gainesville.

"I was on the field the most of any of the team, I was out there for more than 20 plays every game," Williamson said. "I got plenty of work in."

Williamson credits that work with this late surge of interest from other programs, particularly his work in the secondary.

"I think they like I'm a bigger and more physical corner," Williamson said. "I've got good ball skills, I think I've got a smooth back pedal."

But while he still wants to refine that back pedal, saying "you can never get out of your break too fast," it's clear that schools across the country like what they've seen from him.

"Right now, I'm looking at Cal, Cincy, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Purdue still," Williamson said.

He's set an official visit to Chapel Hill for next weekend, and the Hokies' staff are still trying to entice him to come see Blacksburg for the first time.

"I've never been there, so they're trying to get me up there for an official visit," Williamson said. "But it's still up in the air right now since I'm looking at all these other schools."

He doesn't have much time left before he has to make things official, but it's very clear that Gray and company will be working overtime to earn Williamson's pledge as February 4 draws near.