2016 OT/DE Silas Dzansi Commits to the Hokies Immediately After Receiving Offer

Ed. Note: This post has been updated with quotes from Dzansi.

2016 OT/DE Silas Dzansi of Woodbridge, Va.'s C.D. Hylton HS didn't need very long to decide he wanted to become a Hokie.

Dzansi told The Key Play that Virginia Tech offered him today, and convinced him to flip his commitment from Delaware State on the spot.

The newest Hokies commit says it was OL coach Vance Vice that made the journey out to his school, setting a meeting with him and some of Hylton's coaching staff to officially make the offer. Dzansi says he accepted the offer as soon as Vice extended it, a decision that ensured that "everyone in the room was excited," but he's felt confident he'd be Blacksburg bound for a while now.

Dzansi got a chance to meet Vice soon after he joined Tech's staff back in December, and he remembers their first conversation well.

"The first time I met him, he kind of looked at me, and when he saw how big I was his eyes kind of flared up and he stood up and had to look up at me, which is kind of funny," Dzansi said. "He said 'I like you, and I want you at Virginia Tech,' so from that moment I knew I'd probably end up at Virginia Tech."

As a former college offensive lineman, Vice is hardly of short stature, so it's no surprise that the experience of seeing Dzansi and his 6'5", 260-pound frame was a meaningful one. Though he's also played defensive line in his brief time playing football, Dzansi says it was film of his time at left tackle this past season that also helped convince Vice to extend an offer.

"He really likes how aggressive I was and how I was able to protect the quarterback and stay on blocks," Dzansi said.

But even if Vice wasn't very familiar with Dzansi until recently, the senior certainly knew plenty about the Hokies.

"I always knew I wanted to go to Virginia Tech," Dzansi said. "I grew up watching it and it's always been my dream school, so when they said I had a chance to go to Virginia Tech, I took it right away."

He's gotten the chance to see his preferred program several times at this point — in addition to camping at Tech in July, Dzansi said he visited for last season's games against Duke and North Carolina.

Dzansi added that he plans to take an official visit to Blacksburg this weekend, but that trip will have to serve as his last taste of Tech for a bit. He says he'll be enrolling at Fork Union Military Academy for the fall semester to "get my test grades up" and refine his game before heading to Tech in the spring.

In the meantime, Dzansi says he'll be counting the days until he can see a game day in Blacksburg again.

"I want see the home crowd again, come out the tunnel with 'Sandman' going and feel the vibe and that energy, that's what I'm most excited for," Dzansi said.