Virginia Tech football landed another verbal commitment for its 2016 recruiting class, it's sixth of the cycle. Wide receiver Samuel Denmark of Charleston, South Carolina's Hanahan High School pledged to the Hokies late this evening. That's according to Andy Bitter of the Roanoke Times.
#Hokies got a commitment tonight from three-star WR Samuel Denmark of Hanahan, S.C.— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) February 23, 2015
The 6-1, 172 pound 3-star prospect according to Rivals and 247Sports attended Virginia Tech's early February Junior Day event and left impressed. He previously shared thoughts about Hokies new wide receivers coach Zohn Burden with The Key Play's Alex Koma.
"We really got along, I definitely think I'd be able to work with him," Denmark told Koma. "He'd only been there for two days, but he said he'd already watched my film and he liked what he saw."
Koma interviewed both Denmark and his high school coach Charles Patterson when Samuel received his Virginia Tech offer back in October. That's worth your time to read.
Comments
We may not be "Choppin Wood" anymore, but our new WR coach proved he can handle the "Burden" and appears to be in the "Zohn!"
yikes
Really impressed with this kid. He seems like a natural WR with good speed and can go get the ball in traffic. I like that he already has excellent ball skills on both sides of the ball.
I honestly think that if he was 2-3 inches taller there would be more stars beside his name. This is a good get.
It appears his team and its lack of a passing offense probably also hinder his ranking.
I like his route adjustment and ability to get the ball. Could be a real good get.
The thing that really impresses me is his blocking ability. With how often screens are currently being called, this kid is going to be one hell of an asset.
Josh Morgan 2.0?
Shane Beamer recruited kid, uh #sources said Beamer Jr. could not recruit.
It's not that cut and dry. Shane has had his share of recruiting coups and misses. However, missing on every top prospect out of Richmond last cycle was a failure, and I'd hope he'd be the first to say so.
Every coach has missed recruits.but for people to claim like they have on other boards and FB that S. Beamer can't recruit and can't coach and the only reason he is at Tech is because of his dad are dead wrong on both counts I think. Shane has shown at several P5 schools he can recruit and coach.
Lol if you seriously believed that Shane has never landed a single recruit before today.
I don't disagree--it's hyperbole to an extent. However, taking folks on other message boards to task here doesn't add anything to the dialog on TKP and chances are the folks you're criticizing aren't going to read what you say.
While the vast majority on here are reasonable fans and know that looking at the issue don't jump straight to bashing Shane, however I can recall every time we lost a recruit Shane had a hand in trying to land and when Shane was rumored to be looking at Troy HC job multiple people said something to the effect that Shane can't recruit, those statements got up votes. While I always think Tech can do better at recruiting I don't think its because our coaches can't recruit or don't know how to.
Agree that recruiting success by Shane has not been clearly proven , also Denmark was recruited by Moorhead before he left.
He high points the ball like no other
What's the record for number of recruits to verbal before we get one from in state? I'm loving this.
EDIT: I'm also loving that we have two WR verbals before March. I hope we can get Eric Kumah to get onboard and make it three soon. Good to see us addressing positions of need early in a cycle.
Tino Ellis and CJ Freeman would also make me happy!
Grant Holloway as well.
We're also in on a couple of other guys.
Didn't see it mentioned, but this fellow is speedy-he finished second in the State Champoinship last year in the 100 yd dash; and South Carolina's got some speed!
Welcome to the Hokie Nation!
*Sakerlina
*South Kakalaki
*South Cackalacki
*anUSC
*Visorville
*Mustard Sauce (is inferior)
I don't believe there is an R sound in Sacalina.
I can confirm this. I am currently sitting at my desk in Sacalina surrounded by Gamecocks and Clemson fans.
Thanks for mentioning that, it wasn't apparent from the handful of plays I watched of his film. His film shows that's got great hands, highpoints well, is physical in the running game and generally plays like a 6'4" receiver instead of his 6'1" frame.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
2nd int the state as a high school...Sophmore.
Woohoo more happy dancing!
Welcome to Hokie Nation, Samuel!
happy dancing you say?
Looking at his film, it looks like he might have been held back a lot by poor QB play in high school. Seems like every single one of his catches, he is having to adjust in midstride to come back for the ball.
I'd love to see what this kid can do with a QB putting it right on the money with every throw.
I'd love to HAVE that QB.
Sounds familiar...
Can we call him the Great Dane?
he seems to have great jumping and catching the ball at its highest point. i like it he should be a good slot receiver.
From the pic in the article...
Either Denmark is sneaking a couple of rib eyes home under his shirt, or he already knows his way around the weight room.
Imagine if he had a QB that could actually throw deep..
Have you seen Lawson's film?
Yes, but I was referring to his HS QB. Under-thrown balls everywhere.
That went RIGHT over my head. Thought it was directed at us, not his HS.
Watched Denmark last night against Stratford High School.
Did not have a good night. Stratford went man up on him the whole night.
The first two balls he had thrown his way, great plays by the DB but he was having trouble getting open and didn't make the catch.
Next series, he got alligator arms on a slant route and dropped the pass but definitely had a chance for a catch.
Next series, 1st down, runs a hitch, ball hits him in the chest and pops up in the air and is intercepted.
Next series, has his first catch of the night on a 7 yard out route.
Next series, drops two more balls and catches one more, one literally goes right through his hands. The positive of this one was that he was able to get wide open though.
Postives - he definitely gets off the ball well, and the best thing I saw was he is not a "me" guy. Comes off to the sidelines, watches every defensive play with his helmet on and you can tell a leader of the other guys.
Negatives - I just don't know about his QB play will help him this year and where/how Hanahan's coach will use him. Every series, he is wide left in a trips or or twins situation. Coach never isolated him to take advantage of his speed or moved him around once. (but at the same time Hanahan does play Stratford later in the year so maybe he just wasn't wanting to show that)
All in all I definitely don't think he will be an instant playmaker at VT but in the program for awhile but could end up making some things happen later in his career, but can see him being like David Prince (is he still on the team?)
Denmark won't be playing top competition in SC this year so I am sure he will have some break out games and be able to show his stuff. (he is in 3A in SC, which his conference is comparable to Cburg/Bburg/Salem in southwest VA)
Samuel Denmark got an offer from Muschamp (in person) and USCe today.
He states he will take a visit
It's a new day for recruiting....
That dumpster fire of a coach and program, hopefully he has some good advisors in his corner. If he chooses to not go to VT that's ok just don't go to Muschamp at USCe, go somewhere, anywhere else.
Like Arizona! AMIRITE?
Yea he can go there would play in some cool games might even win a few, won't get drafted but maybe that's not his goal.
I never thought we'd see the day where you hated a coach more than Rich Rod. Apparently today is that day and Muschamp is that coach. Interesting. TIL....
Few points, I don't hate Muschamp I just think he is a really bad head coach, I think USCe is an average SEC east program ( one of the worst divisions in P5 football) but I don't care one way or the other about him as a person. I DESPISE he who shall not be named, I think he is not only an average coach but a bad person, that means more to me. He also is really bad at placing kids in the NFL. But if a if a player feels like AZ and that coach are a good fit then more power to them. TThis also would be a place for me to say I don't think kids should go to a school mostly or solely because a coach is there they like, most coaches will be gone by the time that recruit graduates.
LOL. I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say they are one of the worst divisions in P5 football. They're certainly not as elite as everyone wants to believe, but one of the worst? Not so fast, my friend. SEC East is an average division. SEC West is the class of CFB. The entire conference is propped up by the West division but the SEC East is still better than the ACC Coastal.
I'd say SEC East is in bottom half of all P5 divisions this year. Only talking this year. I also don't think SEC West is best. I think Big Ten East is better, outside of Bama who does SEC west have this year?
Well the East has Kentucky duh.. they gave South Carolina its 1st quality loss in the 2nd week of the season, only lost to UF by 5 and Auburn by 3. /S
I wish I could find the article, but during last year's season, someone ran the numbers and it turns out the SEC East was worse than the ACC Coastal. I'll try and dig it up on my lunch break.
Actually the S&P+ rankings show the SEC East is indeed the worst division in college football.
That's sort of a bummer, but I guess it means VT can visit any USCe recruits that it wants.
It will be a challenging year for recruiting, but I believe in the product they're selling, and in the new coaching staff at VT.
This should be an absolute no-brainer for Sam. You've got Muschamp, a defensive-minded coach who tanked Florida, or one of the best spread offense gurus in Justin Fuente. I mean, I can't blame him for taking a visit; being a P5-level recruit happens once in a lifetime for about 1% of the general population. But logically, there's zero reason to pick USCe over VT right now if you're a skill position player.
Unless you're one of 4 wide receivers committed, and there's rumblings that we may add a top 10 receiver on top of that...
Still not saying going to USCe is a good move, but we could be very crowded at that position pretty soon.
God that's refreshing to hear.
I thought he hadn't decided on an OV yet?
Fuente: "My offense is really exciting and highlights playmaking WRs. You'll have the opportunity to come in and contribute immediately."
Muschamp: "I like defense and yelling."
He is from SC so it would be closer to home for him...
NM I'm an idiot.
After losing Holland, VT better holds on to Denmark.
Well done. Leg for you.
I imagine we will as long as London doesn't get involved.
(not actual #sauces, just needed to keep the joke going; DT target committed to PSU, according to TSL)
Link from PalmettoSports.com:
Decision time soon for Denmark
I thought this guy was a lock
Well according to the HokiesFB twitter he has signed his grant in aid. Non-binding from what I understand but still.
A few guys were announced tonight as having signed their grant in aid. For a kid to back out of that is rare, not unheard of but rare.
FWIW VT and SCAR 247 insiders seem fairly confident he is sticking with VT. South Carolina not having much offensive staff has to be a big role as well, at this point he wouldn't even meet the coach he would be playing for if he wants to enroll early
Well, to be fair, we were kind of at an unfair advantage there. Our coach announced partway through the season he was retiring, so the AD had a head start on the coaching search....
Wait...
Yeah. I'm not sure what's going on with that situation but it looks like there will be some news on it tomorrow.
VT Football Twitter announcing Denmark and Deablo are officially members of the 2016 signing class.
Superb!
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Thats actually rather terrifying
What day do classes start in Jan at Tech? They still have till then to flip but the odds are astronomically small. Can't wait to see what Joe and Alex have in store for us with all these kids coming in.
Two world class names.
Weeeeeeee!!!!!!
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Man, I am going to have to get used to this whole "recruiting topic I thought was dead being brought up again" being a good thing, and not that he's going somewhere else.
that was my first worry on seeing a old recruiting article brought back up to the front.
Just imagine if Fuente could recruit? /s
Waaaaaay off topic, but does anyone else think Sam looks a little like Tyrod?
Man Christmas Day is gonna suck compared to all these wonderful toys we have been given already. It almost feels like Hanukkah full of 8 crazy nights