2017 DE Tyjuan Garbutt Commits to Tech on Blacksburg Visit

The Hokies' 2017 class just doubled in size, courtesy of a major in-state commitment from DE Tyjuan Garbutt of Fredericksburg's Riverbend HS.

Garbutt announced his Tech commitment while on his visit to Blacksburg Saturday afternoon, becoming just the second member of Tech's 2017 class.

I'm staying Home pic.twitter.com/JPhbnOwn03— 4 (@tyjuangarbutt4) February 6, 2016

The decision comes very early in the process for Garbutt, who's rated a 4-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite ranking, but he says that now he's decided to jump on board with Justin Fuente and company, he won't be going anywhere.

"See, I've always been the type of person where, if I give somebody my word, I give somebody my word," Garbutt said. "My commitment is my commitment, and I committed to Blacksburg, the Hokies and Virginia Tech."

Garbutt says the reason he can be so definitive about his decision roughly a full year away from National Signing Day 2017 is simple — Tech's coaching staff, particularly Fuente, Bud Foster and Charley Wiles, made him feel at home in Southwestern Virginia.

"I had the best relationship with these coaches than with any other coaches, I think that's really the main, important thing," Garbutt said. "Not only staying home, but who do you have relationships with other than football? I feel these coaches are going to take care of me and want the best for me, and I'm going to maximize my potential playing underneath Coach Wiles and Coach Foster and Coach Fuente."

Coming into the visit, Garbutt says he told his high school coach that he "thought Tech was the place for me," and he followed up with Foster ahead of the trip, "just letting him know that I was really considering coming here."

But once he got back on campus and met Fuente, he knew his decision was final.

"I went up to Coach Fuente's office and I talked to him and told him," Garbutt said. "He told he was fired up, because I'm his first commit under him in this class. (Stonewall Jackson HS DB) Devante Smith has been committed for a minute now, so I was Coach Fuente's first commit while he was head coach."

While Garbutt feels that his relationship with Fuente is "getting stronger," he stressed that his ties with Foster were a key part of his decision. Foster's been recruiting him for years now, and Garbutt says he consistently came away impressed with his character.

"Every time me and him talk when I go up there, we don't just talk about football, he actually asks, 'How's your family doing? How's everything going?'" Garbutt said. "Really football is probably a 50-50 conversation about football and life in general and how I'm doing and how everybody in my family's doing, so it's nice to know that he cares about me. I know he's going to treat me like I'm a part of his family."

Family is clearly an important factor for Garbutt — he says he consulted with both his parents and his grandfather before making the decision — but he notes that it was undoubtedly his decision to stay in-state.

"I talked to my family and I told them 'I think I'm gonna stay home and play for Virginia Tech,'" Garbutt said.

Foster is likely already salivating about where Garbutt, who's the eighth ranked player in Virginia according to the 247Sports composite, can fit in his scheme. Though he mainly plays defensive end at Riverbend, the 6'4", 222-pound junior says he could see himself switching positions down the line.

"I talked to Coach Foster, and he was just telling me that it sort of depends on what my body does from here to when I get there," Garbutt said. "If I grow some more and get bigger and all, then I'll probably stay at D-end, but if my height doesn't come with it, he said he thinks with the type of player I am, I could still play D-end, but I could also play linebacker because of my athleticism and how I move in space."

But until he can get to Tech and start finding the right fit with Foster, Garbutt says he'll be working tirelessly to get other in-state prospects to join him in Blacksburg.

"I already told (Fuente) 'We're going to get Virginia Tech back to national contenders,'" Garbutt said. "I said I'm gonna help recruit all the best players around me. A couple players follow me and we talk on Twitter, some of the best players in the state, and some players in my area also. I'm trying to make it well known that Virginia Tech is going to rise and we're ready to get back to where we once were: a top-25 team."

In particular, he hopes to convince RB Khalan Laborn of Virginia Beach's Ocean Lakes HS (who's rated the top player in Virginia by the 247Sports composite) to stay in-state as well, and got to know him a little more when he was on campus during this weekend's visit.

Similarly, he hopes to get other players in his area to come with him to Blacksburg. He says he's already talking to 2017 DE Yetur Matos of Fredricksburg's Chancellor HS about the prospect, since he's "not that far from me," in addition to 2019 RB Devyn Ford and 2018 OT/DE Nana Asiedu of Stafford's North Stafford HS.

"There's just a bunch of other kids that should stay in Virginia and show everybody why Virginia is one of the top states in football," Garbutt said.

But even as he evangelizes on behalf of Virginia Tech, there's little doubt other schools will come calling for Garbutt to try and get him to reverse his decision. Both North Carolina and Pitt were hot on his trail before he committed, and others will surely take a look at him during his senior year.

Yet Garbutt says he doesn't plan to take any visits to any school but Tech from here on out, saying he plans to "be up there soon" to see some spring practices and possibly the spring game, as he seeks to stay true to his word.

"I think it's only going to be going to Blacksburg from now on," Garbutt said.