Virginia Tech hosted a bevy of high schoolers on Sunday at its first junior day event of 2017. The Hokies entertained recruits from the 2018, '19, and even '20 recruiting cycles. There was a blend of talent, those prospects with and without Tech offers, and a pair of Hokies' commits in attendance — Bryce Thompson and DeJuan Ellis.
What's below is a glimpse behind the scenes courtesy of the attendees' Twitter. Expect interviews from Alex to follow in short order.
Keshon Artis holds regional offers from Virginia Tech, Virginia, Rutgers, and Maryland. The 2018 linebacker led Oscar Smith with 108 tackles (16 TFL), and was named to the 2016 All-Tidewater squad.
VT #HokieNation pic.twitter.com/1TkJHwHFBp— Keshon Artis (@asvp_ke) January 15, 2017
Quarterback Dakereon Joyner narrowed his list of offers in December to Virginia Tech, N.C. State, South Carolina, and Georgia. The 247Sports composite ranks the Palmetto State product as a 4-star recruit. He earned Gatorade Player of the Year in South Carolina honors last season. He passed for 3,642 yards and 44 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,089 yards and 12 touchdowns. Joyner set a commitment date of Father's Day.
Joyner stayed the night and is expected to visit with Justin Fuente again Monday.
"I really enjoyed it, the experience and I finally got a chance to come up here," Joyner said. "I enjoyed the facilities and I love the city itself. Blacksburg is a nice town."
"It's my kind of offense," he said. "I'm the kind of guy that throws the ball well, run the RPO and spread the ball across the field. Coach Fuente has a great quarterback history. Virginia Tech itself has great quarterback history with Tyrod Taylor and Michael Vick, those six-foot kind of guys."
VT #Hokienation pic.twitter.com/MiV0WQLJpj— Kereon Joyner (@Cant_StopCinco) January 15, 2017
Virginia Tech QB commit DeJuan Ellis made the trip to Blacksburg.
How this look? pic.twitter.com/NETHquhosr— DeJuan Ellis (@HeadHonchoJuan) January 15, 2017
Virginia Tech had a chance to impress CB/WR De'Von Graves. The 3-star Appomattox County product committed to N.C. State on April 9. The Hokies offered on December 15. Graves was voted the 2A Virginia defensive player of the year.
2018 VT Target @vongraves23 with Coach Fuente #HokieNation #LunchPailD #DBU #ExitLight18 pic.twitter.com/zUJOpA3SsQ— HokieNation (@VTHOKIE_NATION) January 15, 2017
Sanderson HS (Raleigh, NC) DE Alim McNeill left impressed from Hokies visit.
Defensive lineman Alim McNeill claims Power 5 offers from the Hokies and Boston College. The 247Sports Composite rates the 6-1, 260 pound Sanderson HS (Raleigh, NC) product as a 3-star prospect.
Virginia tech #hokienation — Alim McNeill (@AlimMcneill) January 15, 2017
Peyton Winstead, another Raleigh-area prospect (Leesville Road HS), visited. The 6-3, 290 pound offensive lineman has not yet been offered by the Hokies.
.@LeesvilleFB OL Peyton Winstead (@pwinstead57) in Blacksburg for @VT_Football junior day. #HSOT pic.twitter.com/BKRBqx4Jp4— Jon Stout (@JonStout89) January 15, 2017
The No. 1 prospect in West Virginia, Dante' Stills, checked out the Hokies again. Although, the 4-star DT figures to be a tough pull for Tech. Stills' brother is 2017 WVU commit Darius Stills, and his father Gary played at WVU before nine seasons in the NFL.
Great visit to Blacksburg !!! — Dante' Stills (@kinglamar222) January 15, 2017
2018 Thomas Jefferson HS RB/CB Jalen Jackson seemingly came away impressed from his visit.
VT Junior Day is lit!...great program, and great facilities. @mitchcarrtv @RealChadRicardo @CBS6SportsSean pic.twitter.com/FZgBghQVZ0— Jalen Jackson (@jalen_jackson2) January 15, 2017
Dudley HS (Greensboro, NC) WR Nigel Fitzgerald was among the Tar Heel State prospects in Blacksburg. Fitzgerald played alongside incoming 2017 QB Hendon Hooker, and is in search of his first offer.
"Hendon has talked to me a lot about Virginia Tech," he explained, "and he has introduced me to some of the coaches there. He told me after we won the State Championship, like he has been telling me all year, 'I have to get you to Blacksburg with me.' I've been in contact with Coach Wiles (Charley Wiles), who recruits my area, and he told me that he really liked my size at 6' 5" and that he liked my film. We also discussed me coming to Blacksburg for camp this summer."
Junior Day At Virginia Tech #GoHokies #ExitLight18 pic.twitter.com/YEKJSG37Rk— Nigel Fitzgerald (@ni_fitzgerald12) January 15, 2017
A pair of North Carolina running backs with Hokies' offers — Jamal Elliott (4-star, Hillside HS) and Marcus Caldwell (3-star, West Forsyth HS) — seemingly enjoyed their visits.
V-tech was smooth pic.twitter.com/T324hT0OTj— Jamal Elliott (@jamalelliott) January 15, 2017
Had an Unbelievable time at Virginia Tech today @VT_Football @TheVTZone #Gohokies pic.twitter.com/1nMuPQB42z— Ca1dwe11 (@_Marcus_C) January 15, 2017
A pair of 2018 Oscar Smith lineman — 6-5, 297 pound OL James Collins and 6-3, 250 pound DL Kyle Thomas — both visited Tech.
#HokieNation #ExitLight18 c/o '18 demons pic.twitter.com/hzw03irwXl— James 78 (@polosandretros_) January 15, 2017
I love #hokienation & VT Campus will be back soon — Kyle Thomas (@Kyle_Thomas9) January 15, 2017
2019 DB Jeremiah Gray had a chance to meet Bud Foster and Terrell Edmunds during his visit. The Ardrey Kell HS (Charlotte, NC) product has offers from BYU, Penn State, and Wake Forest.
Great meeting @HokiesFB Defensive Coordinator @coachfostervt @TSL_Recruiting pic.twitter.com/rokfBQC2v7— Jeremiah Gray (@JeremiahGrayyyy) January 15, 2017
Really enjoyed connecting with @rell_island6 Safety for @HokiesFB today. I appreciate the words of wisdom pic.twitter.com/AeCSfukHDy— Jeremiah Gray (@JeremiahGrayyyy) January 15, 2017
2019 Indian River defensive lineman Ben Smiley III made the trip to Blacksburg.
#Hokienation pic.twitter.com/R0Ool4wut1— Ben Smiley lll (@BenSmiley9) January 15, 2017
2019 Oscar Smith WR/CB Cam'Ron Kelly "loved" his early look at the Hokies.
I can't wait to be back in Blacksburg, I loved the visit! #hokienation— Cam'Ron Kelly (@CamRonJKelly) January 16, 2017
Comments
Exitlight18! Has the potential to be something very special. So much talent in one weekend and a lot of chatter about it.
All this great spread out content in one convenient place. All for free.
As much as I tend to... not prefer VT wearing primarily orange uniforms, it's telling that so many of these guys are having their pictures taken in orange uniforms.
Because Whit didn't order any orange uniforms for game use due to fans hating them, so they have a small stock solely for promotional purposes like these?
If that's legitimately the case, and I don't know if it is or not, so be it.
Still seems like if a recruit wanted his picture in a maroon uniform, we'd probably be able to oblige?
I'm sure they would. Hell, they let Devon Hunter reveal the Hokie Stone jersey for Battle of Bristol. But all I'm saying is there's probably a stock of non-game usable jerseys for these mass recruiting weekends. If a kid's on an official, or we're specifically making him a priority, I have no doubt the staff will do whatever to make the visit special.
Not that this really matters, but I'm pretty sure the orange jerseys are the old versions from when Beamer was head coach. The font on the jerseys is the old block style, not the newer slanted font. This suggests that we do not have updated orange jerseys.
Exactly.
Nah... Even if that were the case, these are last year's orange uniforms, and we still have the previous year's in stock for maroon and white versions as well, as well as this year's complete uniform set. In recruiting we typically allow the players to choose which one they want to try on from a full set of recent ones we've worn (which is why you've seen the Bristol and grey CFA Kickoff uniforms worn as well) and they pick out which one is their favorite. Unless that process has changed recently, it looks like the orange uniforms are a big hit with the recruits.
Thanks so much for putting all this info together in one place!
Love the orange jerseys! And that talent pool is sick!
TKP is the best.
Will this be the first class with a kid born in 2000?
Get off my lawn! /s
And cut your hair!
God damn. It might just be the quarter life crisis talking, but knowing the 2018 kids are 10 years younger than me makes me feel like an old man
Thanks for posting all this, don't know how I would've found it all.
Got some good players we're after!
Anyone else think that Edmunds looks super old?
Maybe not "super" old, haha! Jeremiah Gray is a 2019 recruit - meaning he is probably only 15, maybe 16, years old. Terrell is several years older than him.
all these exclamation points, I thought we were recruiting KennyHokie
Interesting that the one kid tagged TSL Recruiting. Makes me think he really knows his VT sources and that it bodes well for us!
What are "sources"
Do you mean #sauces?
I'm glad to see that turkey emoticon is catching on.
Watching Jamal Elliotts tape two things jump out:
1.) The kid has wheels
2.) his offensive Lineman are GIANTSSSS
I had to look them up, now take this with a grain of salt because its the high school roster, but they do pass the eye test, they look massive on tape:
#58 Matt Curry SR 6-4 350
#71 Rashard Bailey SR 6-6 330
#52 Jaylen Lewis SR 5-11 290
#74 Justin Clemons SR 6-7 330
#55 Shamon Mercier JR 6-2 305
Haha. One of De'Von Grave's highlights is against my old high school. Maybe I'll see Fuente around here next fall.
Two thoughts:
1) I want Winstead. He looks like an O-Lineman and you get your haircut for the job you want.
2) I'm probably wrong but when did we wear those grey uniforms that Jalen Jackson had on? Are they new?
Those are the gray jerseys from the 2013 Chick Fil A Kickoff against Bama.
Are you serious? I thought that was them but that means we're just chilling on jerseys that are almost 5 years old now...
If you want to round 3.25 up to 5, then yeah . . .
Another perspective, the 2013 Alabama game was the first game that members of the current senior class were students (referring to the general population of campus).
The gray jerseys were from the Chick-fil-a kickoff game against Alabama in 2013.
Ah VTJ12 beat me to it, leg for you
I'm not sure but are those jerseys from the game against Bama, in Atlanta, the Chic Fila Kick Off, in the Georgia Dome?
Wait, wasn't that game played at Bethel High School?
Hold on, didn't one of our current players go to Bethel high school?
Winstead looks like he needs to be in touch with Wyatt Teller, as he certainly has the look of becoming Teller 2.0
Great list of prospects
I'm not a recruiticorn guy, but I do like seeing that we're in the hunt for a solid 4* QB prospect. It seems like post Tyrod it was uncommon for us to pick up those elite QB recruits. Yeah I know there's Lawson, but there were some red flags that probably wasn't going to work out I won't go into.
Maybe he'll transfer if those red flags come to light.
Lawson or Tyrod?
Woah, not often we are actively recruiting a kid from Raleigh, let alone the high school about a mile and a half from my house. Hell, we have our Alumni Chapter game watching gatherings right down the street on Leesville Rd. Hmmmm... how to use this to our advantage....
Find someone who is a magician in their spare time and find out how they use persuasion to "read people's minds" then use those skills to show Tech stuff all around the kid.
Oooh I like it
Peyton Manning was a great QB.
Peyton Manning played for Tennessee.
VT played Tennessee when Peyton Manning was there.
Fuente is a QB guru.
Something something connection to Peytons and successful offensive players.
#VTFootballTwitterLogic
Think we've recruited a good amount of kids from Raleigh over the last several years.
QB's talking Tyrod and MV1 in the same breath, plus FuCorn offense, I'm riding a unicorn to glory!
Doesn't it look like HeMan is coping a feel?
I don't see a problem there.
Sure is, but he's a celebrity so he doesn't even wait.
This was my favorite cartoon growing up and now it's on Netflix! I get to introduce my son to it...kinda cool.
Apparently we're "smooth". I like it.
I sat directly behind Peyton Winstead (OL from Raleigh) in November and enjoyed talking with his father who played for ECU back in the 80's. His Dad jokingly said that he grew up hating the Hokies, but now "we love the program" and he said then his son was very interested in VT. Nice family and the kid was very respectful/outgoing. He plays center and passed the eye test.
Please, please Smithfieldhokie, post here more often!
Okay, will do. I usually post a full review on TSL recruitingsite after each home game of my observations. I don't post alot, but I'll mention some highlights here if folks are interested. I consider myself kind of an ambassador and always make an effort to meet each family I can, welcome them, and make them feel at home. I sit fifth row behind the bench with the four rows in front for recruits. I enjoy getting to know them and talking football during games. One thing I learned about Garbutt this fall was he wanted to be a receiver in college as he showed me his highlights on his phone during a timeout.
Thanks, bigdaddy
I wonder what the likelihood of Garbutt ending up on offense is if we land 2 (or more) of Johnson, DeBose and Porcher.
He brought Orlando Jones with him to at keast 3 games. Both were very friendly. Tyjuan's comment regarding which position, was basically, whichever one would take him to the NFL. That was early fall and it was the first I'd heard he was interested in being on O. With Durkin leaving, I could see him helping there big time, but I'm sure the coaches will make the best decision
Just a fantastic site for recruiting news! Beats the others, HANDS DOWN.
#ExitLight18 totally means we will have #Enter19 right?
#TakeMyHand20? Anyone?
#OffToNeverNeverLand21?
#Something'sWrong22, could be a bad year
#HarbaughIsTheBeastUnderYourBed23
What if "Enter Sandman" is actually a prophesy of VT Football?
Technically #EnterNight19, but yes
Not having it be EnterNineteen was such a mistake.
I would like to promote my own comment from 5 months ago: http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/430641#comment-430641
(Also, I really just wanted to relive Koastal Kings reply)
Edit: Sorry Koastal Kings...I had to...nothing personal
savage
I was thinking #EnterN19ht
In 15 years someone is going to come on this site and call themselves "The Beard of Winstead"
I'm still waiting on someone to call themselves "The Mullet of Teller"