Alright so July got off to a rocky start.... but there's tons of time to still bring in some quality talent at needed positions. The past few weeks have been pretty quiet with most coaches around the nation attending camps and getting ready for Fall. I would expect some more offers to go out shortly so this months is a little bare. As always will definitely update this as more news is available.
Isaac Buell- 6'4" 265lb 3* O-line prospect could be receiving an offer very shortly after he camped at VT back in June. He definitely has camped at a lot of different schools (Duke, GT, Cincy, Louisville) in effort to showcase his skills. HUDL is mostly his at DE so hoping to see if he gets some O Line film soon.
Khalil Moore 6'4" 283lb Unranked OT has received a ton of interest from Vice lately. Interesting to see Vice actually named with an OL recruit as he's known to keep things tight for the most part. HUDL
Nathan Proctor 6'2" 205lb 4* LB is back on the map and expects to come back to VT soon. HUDL This would be a huge pickup for VT as he is ranked #13th LB in the nation. Not expecting to commit until he takes all his visits. Competition is strong as Tennessee, Maryland, Pitt and Penn State are eyeing him.
Brailyn Franklin Is expecting to commit July 30th with Maryland, Penn State and VT as leaders. Projected as LB and again with VT's lack of depth the more LB's the better.
Caleb Chandler 6'5" 3* OT has decided to decommit from Iowa State and has recently named a top 6 which includes Florida, GA Southern, Iowa State, Louisville, VT and Mississippi State. Rarely does a recruit decommit and then end up at the same school so this is wide open IMO. HUDL
Interesting Tidbit-> Hulk Hogan...I mean Nick Acree former VT lineman has been hired on Full Time with VT's S&C team.
With the Season right around the corner its time to focus on Fall Camp and let the recruiting battles continue. VT has a hill to climb for sure but an 8-5 record, would be a big step in getting that vibe back to where it was a couple years ago.
Comments
I'll set the over/under at 1.5 for the good guys..... go!
Going optimistic: Over with TWO!!!
I thought Franklin committed to us in April. I guess I'm not following this as closely anymore.
Ditto. That is way better for your (and my) sanity.
1st, the reaction is this
and then, the reaction is this
Wait.....you mean I don't need to run around screaming like my hair is on fire? But.....I was so ready for that......
Great to see Acree land a job, doods a beast.
Your image guide to July recruiting:
I don't quite get it. There's a ton of cool stuff, but not totally connecting them.
The bike is a BUELL.
Michael MOORE.
Exam PROCTOR.
$100 bill features Ben FRANKLIN.
And the last is CHANDLER Bing from Friends.
Thx
I needed that. Dang, old age must be slowing me down.
Sadly that also describes the past few years of recruiting. :(
Remember when London sold the UVA program to all the VA recruits in 2012? He got a crazy good class that I compare to that one crazy class that Hugh Freeze got at Ole Miss. It raised eyebrows across the country as London got two 5 stars and some 4 stars to commit to a program that was a dumpster fire. Tech can't seem to sell our program to these young men, even with some of the best facilities in the country. Hopefully Fuente can get this ship moving in the right direction so we can get our VA kids to stay home and stop leaving for Bama/FSU.
I knew we weren't getting Khalan Laborn as soon as he made the comment about warm weather year round. That video of him in the FSU Lambo still just gets at me. I know we've had many discussions of how these 18yr old kids don't owe us anything and they can commit where they want, but I still cringe a little when top Virginia kids leave the state. FSU seems to have a strangle hold on the top talent in the 757. Look at their past classes, every year they land top Virginia kids. Anyway i'll stop rambling. I trust in Fuente and Whit that our program is on the up swing and well soon see the fruits of their labor. See you guys in Bristol
In my mind, it's one thing when recruits leave the state. VT isn't for everyone. But for the #1 rated VA recruit to go to FSU 3 years in a row? Unacceptable, and I don't mean for the kid's "not staying home and representing the state because they should be obligated." VT has to do a better job.
Agreed, we need to start treating FSU as an enemy of the state. I know we have a terrible record against them but they are also kicking our ass in recruiting in OUR state. VT needs to hire a full time person that just stays in757 making appearances at games and building stronger relations with HS coaches. We can't even get kids to commit when their parents went to tech (Derrick Nnadi). We won't be winning any ACC titles unless we pick up in recruiting, especially with Ritct in Miami.
Eddie Royal had the right idea. We need to show them that "Excitement is on the way" this year, then maybe we can do better.
The country just isn't as big anymore. And by that I mean that everywhere is so accessible. The importance placed on proximity to home is almost negligible now. Only winning matters. And I agree with that. Winner want to play for winners. Recruiting is gonna take some time to get back to where it was, because VT isn't really considered a winner anymore like it was a few years ago. If we can string together good seasons over the next 3 years, I have no doubt that we will start to land the big recruits in VA.
Good point but truth is, VT was still losing the top state talent when we were winning 10-11 games a season.
Gary Oldman was insanely good in that movie.
FTFY
This reminded me how I really don't like the Direct TV Jon Bon Jovi commercials.
I watch them thinking "Why, Jon?"
That is all.....
"HEEEEY that's the Power to turn back time"
I'll take "Washed up '80s and '90s hair band singers who blew their money owning sports teams" for $1000, Alex.
I thought he was dead. I watch too much Harry Potter.
Here is hoping you are correct. Devon Hunter, unlike players like Laborn and Crosby, is not only a perception must get- he is a strong talent. He immediately factor's in at the rover spot, which is a position of desperate need.
Have to get some interior OL in this group. I am a little less worried about DE. Linebacker- good lord find some bodies. Right now, we are looking at a fall camp where there are only 4 scholarship linebackers. One is a true freshman who there has been lots of talk that he will move to end. Perhaps Minor can move back inside, but he needs to get over his allergy to contact before he can factor.
It is a scary situation where the best middle linebacker option behind Motuapuaka is the kicker. Slye, by all accounts, was one hell of a HS linebacker.
Had no idea Skye was a linebacker ! Seems like it's easier to get a kicker than linebacker, just move him over. Good to know in a pinch.
He has been one of their best special teams tacklers the last couple of seasons. That isn't by accident.
Maybe they could make it work, like a Danny Coale kicking punts type situation
Not suggesting that he is an option (likely more valuable as a placekicker), but he is more accomplished than most of the other options.
Again, Ray Minor could make a huge difference if the light goes on. But, he has to be willing to play to contact, get off blocks, and be gap sound.
Minor is a wide receiver playing linebacker
Referring to Bellmar moving to DE? Thoughts on Eron Carter?
Thoughts on Eron Carter?
With a little message to the new F$U RB.
You don't see alexander being the rover of the future? I agree hunter is a desperate need as well, but thought FS might be a bigger hole after chuck is gone.
OT, DE and LB are my next biggest concerns and CB is slowly making it's way up the list especially if laddler isn't healthy.
As for MLB Bud always seemed to love Huelskamp so don't see anyone knocking him from 2nd on the depth chart.
Hasn't Alexander been officially moved to corner? With Terrell switching to FS
Ya, but i'll believe he's a starting corner when I actually see it. I think they were just doing it to speed up his coverage skills. The kid is a player, but even with that length he doesn't have the speed to be a corner.
Until I watched the spring game, I would have wanted Alexander and Edmunds as the two corners, with Facyson being the wild card if he is healthy. After watching the spring, pray Facyson is health, Edmunds back to corner, and Alexander at rover. Alexander has every single athletic gift needed to play the corner, but he was... not good from what I saw in the spring. Very high risk, and lets receivers get too deep into his cushion to turn and run with them even with his tremendous gifts. Long term, I think Alexander is a top notch corner. Right now, I think he is safer and solves other problems by being used at rover.
We will see if Bud agrees. The secondary plan would be the first question I would ask if I was at Media Day.
UT vs Oklahoma was on the other day. Like you said, I worry about Alexander and especially the secondary in a big game. I could see him making big mistakes, like biting on a qb run, and getting burnt for a td. Man that Bristol game is starting to worry me.
Any idea when you will have an analysis for UT matchup, lol?
I probably won't dive into that film until the week before the Liberty game. Defensively, the best film you could watch is VT vs Cincy at FedEx and then put the Vols much better athletes at RB and WR.
Alexander doesn't have the straight line speed to play corner IMO. And i'm not talking Brandon flowers 4.55 type 40 that people said was slow. I think he'd be lucky to run a 4.7.
I can attest to the Slye at LB account. If not for his size, he would've had FBS offers to play LB.
I'm trying not to panic, but I'm kind of...ya know....panicking....
Class of 2018 4* WR Justin Shorter seemed to be on campus earlier this week and enjoyed his visit.
Per 247- 11th ranked WR in Nation and 3rd best recruit out of NJ.
P5 Offers- Miami, Penn State, Rutgers (leader), BC, Michigan, Tennessee, Ole Miss, UNC
HUDL
6'4" tall? I dunno, I kind of expected he'd be, you know...
more slight?
Well FSU hasn't offered. So we got that going for us, which is nice
Well this adds a new wrinkle and tells you even some players feel the sting of talent leaving the state.
Also weekly reminder: Don't tweet at recruits!
Y3S
And join the Hokie Club
Totally respect Jahque's statement and agree that people shouldn't trash Laborn for not picking VT. There was no way he was coming here anyhow, and we knew it for months. It was an inevitability. However, I do think it's fair to question the manner in which he committed and how it impacts the sport as a whole. More importantly, I question the involvement of "legitimate" media groups like BR being so heavily involved in recruits' commitments. He honestly might have well rode in horseback with Chief Osceola throwing straps of cash. There were FSU logos on that car - you can't tell me the school, which obviously has a heavy interest in their brand, didn't have some involvement in this. Best of luck to Laborn, but just in my insignificant opinion, not the best way to go about business. Keep your head low, work hard, and success will find you.
I would like to hear Eli Apple's mom's take on this, and football recruiting in general. I think ESPN hired her, maybe she will comment on that this Fall sometime.
anyone remember when that call from Wiles to the kid in Florida went live? it was a shitty thing to release that, but the real moral of that story is: don't whine like 5 year old.
it's their life, thus their decision. ONLY their decision. The singular effect your whining like a bitch is going to have on Hokie football is negative. So if you want to prove Khalan and all the other high profile recruits wrong, support the Hokies to beat them on the field. which in Khalan's case is almost never thanks to GOACC scheduling.
Remember: losers always whine. winners go home and fuck the prom queen. (that last part is paraphrased)
"Your best! Loser always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."
"Carla was the prom queen!"
The best line in a movie followed quickly by the worst.
But lets get a couple things straight:
This kid WANTED the spotlight. He starred in a video (with production value) pulling up in a lambo with FSU stickers in order to commit. He wanted attention, and now he's getting it (positive and negative). He'll get a lot of attention in college, and if he goes to the next level, he'll get even more.
You can go through life quietly doing your business, or you can thrust yourself into the spotlight for all to see/scrutinize. A quiet commitment would have ruffled feathers, but wouldn't have invoked as much of a negative fan response (which was also inappropriate, but inevitable). So not only do I not feel sorry for the kid, but I hope its a lesson in self-aggrandization.
We aren't winners (on the recruiting trail), but we shouldn't personify losers either.
REMINDER
Seriously, just don't effing do it! Out of all the things that you can be doing with your day why do people think tweeting at a bunch of high schoolers is the thing to do?????
I agree, but I see it nearly daily on my twitter feed.
It pains me that hokie fans do this. While I know all teams have fans who tweet at recruits, it still drives me nuts. We should be better than this.
Also, why does a hs kid need a twitter account?
because social media runs the world. Can't tell you how many recruits profile's I've had to show coaches... normally its not for good reasons and scholly's get pulled big time.
are the recruits told why their scholarships are pulled? I feel like that information should get out there as a warning to kids about how they represent themselves online.
Unfortunately, there's really no likelihood that this would happen, at least not on a large scale. A recruit might be given a reason, but he won't likely share it because he's ashamed, and coaches can't say anything because they're not allowed to talk about anyone they're recruiting. A few "insider" reports may come out if things leak to those with connections, but probably not enough to make a difference.
where I work yes.. obviously we don't pull them for 1 post but if we see a pattern then we bring it up with said recruit and let them know we see it and its a problem. If it continues then they've been warned and we tell them we are no longer honoring the scholarship due to (insert reasons).
Good News is most times the athlete gets this information and takes it the right way and it's never an issue after the quick chat.
Social media is the new form of texting. I never really got into it but twitter is largely being replaced by snapchat. It's like having an entire class of high schoolers being able to talk simultaneously regardless of where they are. We see a very small slice of it as we largely watch sports related twitters which, to be honest, are kind of monotonous. A lot of gossiping, rumor spreading, and shit talking is done as a form of entertainment. It's like the shittiest Colosseum ever.
Funny, and here I was thinking, why would anyone but a hs kid need a twitter account?
In the "Bizarre Ways to Recruit Athletes" category, the gold medal goes to Oklahoma State for tweeting Pokemon Go edits to recruits.
This is hilarious. Love it.
the analogies are perfect:
"recruits: gotta catch em all"
people are breaking laws and all forms of decency to find pokemon (see: holocaust musem, arlington nat'l cemetery)->Harbaugh is doing the same to find recruits.
pokemon go hooplah is buoying a company most think has no business still competing with the likes of sony and microsoft (nintendo). Recruiting hooplah does the same for Bleacher Report.
Pokemon Go distracts people from the boredom of real life. Recruiting distracts us from the boredom of the off season.
For this story, Oklahoma State are know as the "Pokes" as well. PokeMon means something totally different to them.
Means something different up here at PSU, too. Has for forty years.
Jordan Williams will commit to either Tennessee or Clemson on August 6th.
https://virginiatech.rivals.com/news/jordan-williams-preparing-to-make-h...
:(
Yo. Not everyone can read that.
Linkin' to content behind a paywall...
...that's a paddlin'
Darnell Ewell a 4 star DT from Lake Taylor in Norfolk, VA committed to Notre Dame today. He is the #4 player in the state of VA, #9 DT nationally, and #146 player overall per 247sports for class of 2017. I don't think we were ever in the run for him but another blue chip recruit that is leaving the state.
Dammit I saw this comment talking about a kid from my alma mater and got really excited just to be let down
Ok some good news:
Hokies knocked it outta the park with 2018 4* WR Justin Shorter
The 2018 #1 RB recruit Ricky Slade per 247: He is extremely enticed by the idea of starting a movement in Virginia. Becoming a player like the notorious Michael Vick, Tyrod Taylor, Cornell Brown who became legendary winners while still playing for their in-state school. He is also enamored with the idea of becoming the premier option in Justin Fuente's offense, which is built around establishing a run attack. His family also loves the prospects of him playing at Virginia Tech and his close friendship with Tech Signee Silas Dzansi is something to keep an eye on.
We still lead with 4* S Devon Hunter
I personally don't want to get my hopes up on Slade. Its a long ways away to signing day 2018 though things certainly are promising.
Starting to get somewhat concerned with UNC for Hunter. He visited twice in 5 days a couple weeks back and some people think they might be starting to build momentum there. IMO from a fan perception point, he's make or break for this class. Land him and things are fine but if we lose a long time lean from Virginia to a conference rival you know people are going to come out of the woodwork complaining about recruiting/the staff. Especially if we win <7 games this season
That's what people don't understand about UNC, Duke and NCST they are closer in driving time to the beach than VT is. Hell so is Richmond, that can make a difference.
Hunter isn't coming for the big cookout this week and I believe is visiting florida (torrian) instead.
As for ricky slade i'm as hopeful as anyone, but not going to be too optimistic with a borderline 5 * kid.
Wow, last two posts are perfect examples of glass half full and half empty. :-)
Haha didn't mean to be too pessimistic. If it makes it better I think we get Hunter. I was just saying he's a big need for perception from casual fans and UNC might be something to keep an eye on with him. I do think its too far away to get excited about 2018 guys though.
For the most part I'm fairly content with how our class is right now. It's a brand new staff that didn't have many connections in VA. Its not like they were recruiting Virginia super heavily before they were hired to Tech. Relationships are built during junior years and kids are going to choose schools that they have better relationships with. I would expect the 2018 class to be a lot better than the 2017 one for that reason, especially if we're successful on the field.
Seems like half of the recruits we are missing on have been on the defensive side of the ball where we don't have a brand new staff. We also retained zohn largely for his ties to the 757 and that's been a big miss so far too.
The only holdovers on defense are Bud and Wiley whose recruiting everyone and their mothers have been complaining about probably since they got here. Though to be fair thats really not how recruiting works. You don't just go recruiting your position group, you go recruiting an area and then once the area recruiter gets traction you bring in the position coach to try and seal the deal. And while I honestly haven't followed it super closely this year it seems to me we never got traction with a lot of elite kids, for whatever reason. I don't know what the regional assignments are other than Zohn in the 757. And I think he wasn't a very good hire and that we could have done better but Fuente needed someone who could at least make the intros/connections for him and provide a familiar face, similar to Haggins at UVA. Wouldn't stun me if he's not around next year.
I still think next year will be more telling of what this staff will be able to do in recruiting, a year into relationships and evals with kids and with results on the field to point to. I also sometimes think coaches coming up from midmajor schools have a tough time managing when to accept commits early on because its a different style. For non-power 5 you want to accept as many kids as you think can play early on and then hold on late when power 5 schools that missed on top targets move down their board, whereas now Fuente could afford to slow-play some of the more marginal kids and chase after the bigger fish. I think the UF coach has struggled a bit with this too
VT had a camp today in Blacksburg. Have seen at least one offer given out. Will try and embed when not on iPad.
https://twitter.com/thommybry/status/754763197970874368