Fresh off a Virginia Tech visit for last Saturday's Frank Beamer BBQ, wide receiver Divine Deablo decided to end his recruitment and he verbally committed to the Hokies on Monday evening. For those of you not keeping track at home, Deablo joins LB Tavante Beckett and OL Patrick Kearns as the third recruit to commit after attending last weekend's major recruiting event.
"It has been in my head for a while but I still wasn't sure yet. At the barbeque Saturday they made it clear that they really wanted me and I could see that," Deablo told 247Sports.
"Coach Wiles, Coach Loeffler and Coach Burden make me feel like the best wide receiver in the world," Deablo told Rivals.com.
Deablo has a 5-star name, and according to ESPN is a 4-star talent. ESPN ranks Deablo No. 172 in the ESPN 300 and the Four-Letter's recruiting evaluation had this to say about his game.
STRENGTHS: Deablo is a tall, well-built receiver who can use his quickness to get upfield. Deals well with traffic and can be a quick, physical runner after the catch. Is shifty for a bigger receiver. Has upside to win on the jump ball. ... AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Can tend to catch the ball with his body and is not 100% confident in his hands yet. Can become a more polished route runner with more experience. Also needs experience with blocking. ... BOTTOM LINE: Deablo has the size and physical build to be a solid contributor. Experience should only help him become an even stronger player. Can play on the inside and outside.
247Sports and Rivals are less bullish on Deablo, and rank The Mount Tabor HS (Winston Salem, NC) product as a 3-star prospect.
Wide receiver was a major need for Virginia Tech's 2016 recruiting class. The Hokies didn't sign a wideout in 2015, and Frank Beamer recently noted the lack of depth at the position. Tech's already secured verbal commitments from Eric Kumah and Samuel Denmark. Fun fact: ESPN rates all 3 Virginia Tech wideout commitments as 4-star prospects. 4-star WR Tino Ellis will announce his decision Friday evening. As it stands now, it's a coin flip between Virginia Tech and Maryland. 2016 Bayside WR Phillip Patterson has Virginia Tech in his top group. Patterson will announce his decision on August 1. Tech's also in the mix for Florida WR Dredrick Snelson. Both Patterson and Snelson were in town last weekend.
Comments
Give me Patterson and Snelson and I'm good.
Grant Holloway.
Holloway caught 19 passes last year, also he may be more of a track guy than football guy. 4.29 speed is something you can't teach, however if he wants to pursue track rather than football that would be a wasted scholarship.
We are looking excellent at receiving, now get us some OLs!
Everyone keeps talking about all the WR commitments we've been getting but no one seems to be mentioning Conner O'Donnell. Did something happen with that commitment?
#SOURCES ALERT!!!
This is all hearsay. I know nothing official and am not inside any inner circle.
Rumor is Conner committed to a non-commitable offer. After committing verbally, the coaches really haven't pursued his recruitment that hard and I don't think he's returned to campus since. Everything I've heard is that he will wind up elsewhere.
That and a buck-fifty will buy you a cup of coffee, though.
Conner isn't even on our board anymore.
Samuel DenmarkEric KumahDivine DeabloTino Ellis
Phillip Patterson
Dredrick Snelson
Geez... when you list it out like that, its a pretty f'n good class at wideout so far. Getting 1 or 2 more from that remaining list would arguably put it over the top.
There's a very good chance we'll go into next season with arguably deeper talent at the receiving positions than we have ever had on the roster at one time. Can't wait to see what these guys are able to do with Lawson down the road.
Haskins is the playmaker that would really put the cherry on this receiving group. And he loves Bucky
Who doesn't love Bucky
Opposing defenses.
That ref in Columbus
The ceiling of any room he walks into
Mark Berman's neck
AnOSU fans
I just realized that the lady in purple was really digging Bucky's moves.
Don't forget Holloway. Not convinced he is going to play college football but if he does VT has a good shot.
I think Tino is gone. I think Patterson is in. I think Snelson could be in but always worry Florida kids will bail last minute when a local school offers...
All the local schools have offered Snelson already, he is 96 in the ESPN 300.
but he's 327 in nation per 247.. wtf? how can ESPN and 247 be that far apart?
Happens all the time. Look at Lawson or Settle.
Lawson
ESPN 199
Rivals 175
that's not that far..
but 96 to 300 seems to be far
Lawson must have been re-graded somewhere along the way. IIRC, the spread was greater on him at some point.
Nevertheless, Tim Settle:
ESPN: 19
247: 101
Rivals: 174
Settle is probably realistically in between the 247 and rivals ranking IMO, keep in mind these places had the change to evaluate him even further at the all American game where he wasn't in the greatest shape. There are always going to be differences of opinion depending on what settings they personally see the kids in. Snelson's disparity in rankings seems to have something to do with his off-the-field issue.
I'm not arguing that there aren't differences of opinion or that there aren't reasons/excuses for having them. I just stated that it's not uncommon for them to vary "considerably".
The only film on him is his Sophomore year highlights. They will update correctly if the Junior film is released and as he plays his Senior year.
Because they all suck!
I know it's been mentioned everytime this kid is discussed, but that name is spectacular. Even HUDL (which doesn't he setup himself?) has his name as Deablo Divine, not Divine Deablo. Either way, who cares. That's an all world name.
My favorite name of an athlete ever has always been former Providence PG God Shamgod. From that era, I was also a huge Fennis Dembo fan. Other all-time names?
??
...sounds like a personal problem..you may want to get that checked out...#justsayin
Yea, probably should have just stuck with Richard.
Except his name isn't Richard. His parents named him Dick Trickle. Heard him say it in a radio interview once.
I'm guessing his father couldn't decide between that and "Sue"?
He just didn't want him to forget where he came from.
This got a "what's so funny" from the cubicle next door.
+1
Back in the day on Sports Center they would always list where DT finished in whatever race no matter how poorly he placed. That always made me laugh.
he was quite poor-half the races his car (seemingly) caught fire...we dubbed him Dick Trickle (DNF)
FIFY
Too bad his last name was not Drip.
Got a Droopy Dong, Eh?
(not a lot of Guy Fontenot pictures out there, couldn't find a shot of him in the tavern later in the movie when the quote actually occurs)
George George. George George Jr. George George Jr. Jr.
Dr. Harry Carl Beaver MD
Fairfax, VA
Specialty: Gynecology
Gynecology.
Way.
Talk about a name that lead the guy to his chosen profession....geesh! Hard to stop laughing at that one.
One of my favorite hockey players.
Georgetown F Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje...and one of the all-time legends: BenJarvus Green-Ellis a one man law firm
A two-fer
I remember watching a game on TV (maybe WVU vs. Texas) where Berry sat to the left of Dingle and the announcer said something like "I'm glad they sat in this order and not the other way around".
another two-fer...and both in the state of West Virginia...coincidence?
Great name! Welcome to the Hokies!
Get Swole, Get Swole, Get Swole, Get Swole?
Sure! I really have no idea what he is saying. It was the only devil gif I could find that didn't have some creepy licking/tongue thing going on.
Its from Tenacious D
To add to BCH's response, he's saying "Eat Your Souls."
Viva El Deablo!
Can't wait until he's unleashing holy hell on our opponents
The Ordained Devil will unleash his Sacred Fury
According to the great Ricky Bobby, diablo is spanish for a fighting chicken, therefore Deablo clearly means Fighting Gobbler.
Welcome Holy Fighting Gobbler!!!
The recruiting class is looking better. This has been a good week.
Up to 35th on 247 before all the great players coming! :-)
What I like about Deablo is that he is well-regarded, with a LOT of upside. He'll likely improve with technique.
That's a lot of WR. I doubt there are any more. Need more Oline, a DE, and a TE. As it is, this many WR recruits doesn't bode well for the future of anyone not named Ford or Phillips. It also might show a shift towards less RBs and VT using more spread, and using the WR as RB.
Every team has a lot of WRs on the roster. It would be nice if they were more spread out by class but attrition is common at that position as well.
We had 2 guys transfer, 2 guys leave the team, and one guy graduate last year without getting any WR in last year's class and only Joel Caleb moving to the position. Given that most teams have 14-15 WR on the roster, we're already a couple players short at that spot. Throw in that three guys (two on scholarship I believe) are graduating this year and we're probably taking 5 guys at WR this year just to make sure we have enough bodies at the position.
And yet VT still barely got under the 85 man scholarship number after 2 guys went Juco and Mike Arnold is going to prep. So at what position is Tech overloaded?
14 or 15 sounds WAY too high, out of 85 total. Maybe 14 or 15 olineman, cause you play 5 at a time. I count 7 WR on scholarship not counting Charley Meyer because I don't know if he is or isn't on scholarship.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/2/14/5354962/college-footb...
Looks like 10-15 is normal.
Looks like 8-13 for a pro style offense. Which is what Tech has traditionally played with a more heavy run orientation than pass
Comparing the current roster of ACC schools:
VT-12
Pitt-14
UVA-14
Duke-13
UNC-14
Miami-13
GT-10
FSU-17
Clemson-14
NC St-18
WF-13
BC-10
Louisville-16
Syracuse-8
So we're on par with the conference average of 13.
Are you counting walk ons or scholarship players? Vt has 12 wide receivers on scholarship?
http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/teamroster?teamId=259
This is basically the same thing as hokiesports. I don't think Alden Carpenter, CJ Carroll, Michael Brainard, Austin Jones, etc are on scholarship. This lists, what, 100 players, ans Settle isn't listed on either list yet.
I'm counting players on the roster, to keep it fair across a bunch of schools for which that information is not necessarily obvious or accessible. The original claim was that teams have 14-15 WRs on the roster. The numbers indicate that is a generally correct assertion.
My original post was that I couldn't see how many more scholarship WRs we could take given the needs at other positions and the general numbers that are carried. You can have any number of walk ons that you want. I was basically saying I don't see how VT can take 5 WRs in this class, unless there is more attrition to the existing guys on scholarship not named Ford and Phillips.
we talkin' bout scholarships.
/iverson
Shocked GT has 10 wrs.
Yep, they only needed one Calvin Johnson and Demaryus Thomas.
I chuckled at the speed description for a 3-4 Nosetackle: "Non-slow"
The 3-3-5 description made me think I was reading a post by French about Bud's defense. I'm pretty sure he's used a variant of all of these in articles and/or comments before:
We will likely take 5 this period.
I really like the kid running along and clapping during the first play of his highlight video.
His speed makes it look like he could be a straight line burner. I bet he will really scorch some defenses.
Heard from #sources that he will be a January enrollee.
Like. Something about January enrollees just warms my heart.
We'll have none of that word "entitled" at VT, tyvm.
Which gives us another scholarship to work with. I'm sure Kearns with his massive SAT score well be here early also. Pretty sure Brock Miller is in honors classes also if he commits.
Love the name. Pour some Tequila and start dealing.
Welcome to the Orange and Maroon double D
yikes....not that Jet sweep.....but do like his ability in traffic, hope he works out for us