As first reported (tweeted) by Jason Pughe, Virginia Tech received its fifth verbal commitment of the 2014 recruiting cycle, 6'1", 175-pound defensive back Kalen McCain of Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. According to Rivals.com, McCain had other offers from Georgia Tech, Louisville, and North Carolina State. Virginia Tech has made scholarship offers to two other Hillside juniors: RB Donte Thomas-Williams and WR Trevion Thompson. Both Rivals and 247Sports rank McCain as a 3-star prospect.
Chris Hadersbeck is the defensive backs coach at Hillside.
Big congratulations to 2014 S/DB Kalen McCain @_km27 and his verbal commitment to #VirginiaTech today. Great news for #HHSFootball.— Chris Hadersbeck (@CoachHadersbeck) April 8, 2013
Jason Stamm of Rivals.com spoke to McCain after he committed.
McCain was in attendance for yesterday's junior day and made his decision after thinking it over when he got home.
"My first like was Coach Gray, the DB coach," McCain said. "He talked about playing with a lot of swagger and a lot of confidence and being a big-time player and a leader on the back end of the defense. I liked that, plus the college town atmosphere they have. It's not really big, but they're really big on their football and they support the team."
Listed as a safety, McCain said he's been told by the Virginia Tech staff he'll play cornerback next year.
His highlights are here.
Welcome to HokieNation Kalen!
Comments
I like him. Needs to learn how to hit a bit harder, tackle a little lower. He doesn't lay the wood like VT is know for, YET. But the kid has wheels. I like how he goes after the ball. With his speed and a mind for going after it, I can see why we offered him. He has a great upside.
Welcome to DBU, we got that swag too. You'll fit right in.
Apparently he's a 1 year starter and was a CB moved to Safety to fill a need for the team. I hope to see him develop as a safety this upcoming season.
He seems to find the ball and force turnovers. With how comfortable he seems dropping in a zone, I bet he'll fit well in robber schemes too. Once he learns to limit the yards after contact, he could be a really solid player.
It's nice to see us getting some bigger corners who can be more physical. We saw the benefits with Exum later last year. Hopefully, Kalen can be similar in a couple years.
But he's only 175 lbs man... It depends if he can bulk up a bit. He's got some time, after all...
You're right. I'm just counting on Gentry doing an excellent job as usual. Maybe he won't add a ton of weight, but he will get stronger. Thankfully he's already got some wheels too.
What is this "if" you speak of? We have the best strength and conditioning program in the country. Hell, they got Manning's weight way up. This kid will probably be up to 190 or so by the time he sees the field.
First of all, only? 175 is decent for a hs corner/safety. Second, as I think I saw it mentioned, a year or two in the weight program here and he'd be up to 185/190 and solid which is really all you need for a corner.
I think the discrepancy here might just be because of the Exum comparison. Exum is 220+ and came in right around 200 so maybe not the best comparison. When I read the Exum comment, that's what I was thinking. He is good sized though, I think he's bigger than Manning already and probably will go on to be bigger than Bonner.
Generally, when we offer a DB, they have passed the most difficult test in my book. We don't need a lot of DB's, so if we saw him and we offered him, he's likely pretty high on TGray's list. Fine with me.
Also he is going to recruit his two 4 star teammates which shouldn't hurt
He is a long strider and with limited playing experience looks good! He could be up to that 190 mark before he even enrolls at VT. 15lbs for a growing young man isn't a stretch.