Devin Wilson will join the likes of Jeff King and Bryan Randall as Hokies who both laced and strapped it up.
The 6-4, 190 pound senior guard for the men's basketball squad earned a football roster spot at wide receiver after participating in spring practice.
"Devin is a terrific athlete who really wants to compete for both programs," Justin Fuente said in a release. "Coach (Buzz) Williams and I both believe that Devin can balance his academic workload with the demands of both sports. We're anxious to see Devin continue to develop his skills at receiver and are hopeful that he can help us this season before returning to the basketball court upon the completion of our season."
Per NCAA rules, Wilson's scholarship will count against the football program's allotted 85, but will free up a scholarship for Buzzketball.
Wilson caught 230 passes for 3,200 yards and 41 touchdowns at Montour HS (McKees Rocks, PA). Virginia Tech and Justin Fuente's up-tempo, spread offense are in desperate need of capable wideouts to fill out the depth chart behind Isaiah Ford (1,164 receiving yards and 11 TDs in 2015) and Cam Phillips (582 receiving yards and 2 TDs in 2015).
"I'm open to whatever it takes to get the job done," Fuente said after Tech's spring game. "So whether that's asking guys from the basketball team to play wide receiver, or whether that's playing multiple quarterbacks, or whether that's playing one, it doesn't matter. Find a way to get the job done. I've been open to all sorts of ways to do things and ultimately we'll figure out what that is by the time we play the first game."
On Fuente's watch in 2015, Memphis' three leading receivers were former walk-ons.
"He's been making plays," WR C.J. Carroll said of Wilson during Tech's spring practice. "He's raw, definitely, but he definitely has a future. You can see it. I don't know if you guys saw that catch he had on Twitter that was surfacing everywhere, but that's not the only play he's made. He had a touchdown in the scrimmage I think on Saturday."
Devin Wilson https://t.co/AqYZgH8JtE— HokiesFB (@HokiesFB) April 9, 2016
Comments
Thats what I call a win win right therrr
Scholarship Breakdown for 2016-2017:
Point Guards: Seth Allen, Justin Robinson (2)
Wings: Ahmed Hill, Justin Bibbs, Chris Clarke, Ty Outlaw (4)
Bigs: Zach LeDay, Kerry Blackshear, Johnny Hamilton, Khadim Sy (4)
Man.....its down to that few? Any new commits likely soon?
No, but that's okay. With hoops, you only need 8 players in your rotation. That's 10 players, so if all of them contribute, that's fine.
You also can't commit to too many years on a player with not enough talent. Can't take a guy just to fill the roster if he clogs up recruiting for 3 or 4 years. It's better to have to few players and recruit what you can.
What's the max again, 13?
So what does this mean for how many more we are trying to join the 2016 roster? And who are they other than Markell Johnson assuming he remains a 2016 signee instead of 2017?
So I don't understand that rule by the NCAA. He has a basketball scholarship, tries out for the football team and makes it and now his scholarship counts against the football team and not the basketball team even though he's still playing basketball which his scholarship was originally for. I mean if he switched all together I get it. But other wise it seems a little dumb. I don't know which scenario is better for Tech so if it works out that this is better than cool I guess.
Thank Miami. They found that they could exceed their football scholarship limit by putting some of their guys on other teams, like track and field, and using those scholarships instead. So now, if you're playing football and have a scholarship, that has to be a football scholarship.
Muck Fiami
Pretty sure that's what the NCAA rule change was titled.
But can't that go the other way too? Could we stash a good basketball player on our football team?
We just did?
Miami is personified by that Miami stripper in The Big Short who had 10 houses and a condo.
I've seen on other message boards opposing fans accusing Beamer of keeping guys on weightlifting scholies for the same reason. Is that just internet BS? Does anyone remember anything like that happening?
Weightlifting isn't a scholarship sport at VT...
Well there ya go
Tell that to the football players. They spend more time lifting weights than they do playing football. ;)
Anyone think this will bring some positive attention to the program?
Seems like a cool thing.
I think it has, Bleacher Report shared it on instagram the other day and several of my friends tagged me in it or talked to me about it later that day (I live in upstate SC, so they wouldn't have seen when it first circulated). That said, the impact of the attention might not be too much unless he really, really balls out.
Yeah, I don't remember many 2 sport athletes in the mainstream since Bo or Deion.
Hopefully he'll do well and get some attention.
Bruce Ellington played both basketball and football for South Carolina a few years ago. As a football player, he had 106 career receptions for 1,586 yards and 16 touchdowns. As a basketball player he averaged 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal per game. Not too shabby.
Famous Jameis
You got me thinking and I can't recall anyone playing in two of the major sports leagues at the same time since Bo and Deion (and don't forsee Devin making that leap). There have been at least a handful of guys who dabbled in two sports during their college years. Below is a list of guys I could think of (excluding football/track guys since there are a lot of them):
That's some great info, thanks. Seems like a real challenge and it intrigues fans
and the media. I hope DW is able to do well and bring attention to VT football
and the school overall.
I guess college basketball just left a bad taste in his mouth...
but anyway, I feel like there are probably some instances of track/football crossovers out there as well (a la Corey Fuller or David Wilson.)
I saw Dell Curry pitching for VT his last year. Not sure how much work he got, but he certainly looked the part when I saw him.
Samardzija was probably, out of the more recent ones, the only one who could have pulled off being successful in two sports based off talent. Timing conflicts may have made it impossible, but he was 1st-2nd round talent at receiver, and he is currently a well paid MLB pitcher.
8-12 year career throwing baseballs every 5th day or get your brains scrammbled and forget how to tie your shoes after 4 years?
He was smart.
I agree completely, he made the right choice. Worst case scenario he has some lingering arm pain (barring some freak accident of course).
It certainly can't hurt. It fits nicely into a narrative about VT. We've had a history of unheralded guys and walk-ons, now we're giving a basketball player (albeit one with football experience) a chance to play. It rolls into a theme of, "at VT, you're given an opportunity to succeed, no matter your pedigree. You're given a chance, and you can earn your success."
After further review... it was a catch. A mighty fine one at that. Excited about this development!
You should have been the one doing the booth review for the OT catch during the 2012 sugar bowl....
And pretty much a guarantee now that if he gets playing time, every announcer game after game will have to point out that he's also on the basketball team like it was breaking news
Along with Bucky Rogers, Andrew Motowapoopoo, and Jarrett Boykin's glove size.
and don't forget that Logan was actually recruited as a tight end.
And don't forget that Marcus is right handed, while is older brother Mike is left handed.
And he's 6'6" 260 lbs...my buddies and I had to drink every time an announcer said that during a game.
be careful about using that catch as an example of what Wilson might do. That is the type of play that could easily turn into an interception. Praise it for the effort but it is the normal catches that need to be made.
That's funny. But I gotta admit it took me a second to figure it out.
Me: "What is that, a crime scene.. wait no that's not a blanket, it's a towel. A wet towel. A WET TOWEL. I GET IT!"
Thanks for explaining that to me, I wasn't even close. I was in the "worst picnic ever?" arena.
Me too. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what that was, but in fact, I knew what the post was meant to say. It was an absolutely fabulous catch, practice or not, and I'm impressed by it.
CRE (^-^) EPY!