2016 WR Conner O'Donnell Picks the Hokies After Years of Searching

To look at him, Conner O'Donnell seems like he's barely out of middle school.

Yet the wide receiver from North Carolina's Concord First Assembly Academy is actually a grizzled veteran of the recruiting process.

"I've been doing this eighth grade, I've probably been to 30 different campuses already," O'Donnell said. "So I definitely knew what I was looking for."

The rest of the recruiting world might've been surprised when O'Donnell became the Hokies' first commit of the 2016 class last weekend, but the O'Donnells have been planning for this moment for a long time.

"It was always the plan for him to make his decision before his junior year," said Geoff O'Donnell, Conner's dad and former high school coach. "This isn't some kid flippantly making a decision. He's walked the walk at Notre Dame, Michigan, all over."

Geoff, a former college football player himself at Dickinson College, has done his best to steer his son in the right direction through all the stress of the process.

"Conner had to make this decision, obviously, but he also needed someone to give him options, press him to get up for those early flights, that sort of thing," Geoff said.

Conner was juggling offers from Akron, Mississippi State and UCLA in addition to Tech, but a couple of visits to Blacksburg made it clear to him where he wanted to be.

"I knew back in April when I visited that I loved it," Conner said. "Then I got a last look at campus at Tech's senior camp (on July 14) and I knew."

Associate head coach Shane Beamer has been Conner's primary recruiter, and made the family feel comfortable almost immediately.

"Coach Beamer is just so easy to talk to and laid back," Geoff said. "He doesn't sell you the way some guys do."

As he got more serious about Tech, wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead started to get involved.

"We met with Coach Moorehead for about half an hour the last time we were there and he broke down his game for him, told him he can't get complacent," Geoff said. "And I like when someone tells him what he needs to work on, those candid moments."

While Moorehead said he loves Conner's skills as a receiver, he needs to focus on his size and strength.

"My hands and routes are really strong I think, my ability to catch without using my body," Conner said. "But I want to get a lot bigger, put on weight but keep my speed."

Geoff agrees with that sentiment, considering Conner is only 6'0" and 160 pounds at the moment, but feels the size will come with time.

"We never pressed him to put on weight, because we knew it would come," Geoff said. "He's going to come out of high school at 175 or 180, probably play at 190 and that will comes as he matures. He still has half his high school career in front of him."

But now that he's entering his junior season, Conner will be working on his game in a slightly different environment. He spent the last two years working with Geoff at South Lake Christian Academy.

Then, Geoff decided to step down as head coach and Conner decided to look elsewhere for some more flexibility.

"South Lake wouldn't let me graduate early, and I wanted the option to," Conner said. "I'm thinking I'll enroll early, but that's up to Coach Beamer."

If he does decide to head to college early, he'll have the necessary preparation. He's already attended three national events for Team USA football that have given him a taste of college competition and the college lifestyle.

"Those are fantastic opportunities to be like a college football player for a week," Geoff said. "I dropped him off each time and said 'see you next week' and he had to stay in dorms with kids he'd never met, work with coaches he never met. And he played with kids considered the best of the best, so he has confidence that he dominated at that level."

The events also gave him the chance to meet other top 2016 recruits, like highly touted quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Now, he plans to be the Hokies' first cheerleader for next year's cycle.

"I've played with him and a lot of other guys before, so we're close friends," Conner said. "I can definitely talk up the Hokies to them as much as possible."