Hokies Reprise Eating Contests, Build A "Family Feel" at Junior Day for 2018/2019 Prospects

A year ago, Virginia Tech DL coach Charley Wiles stepped up to the plate to challenge recruits in town for a Junior Day to a donut-eating contest.

This year, he switched things up a bit — he tackled the hot dog-eating competition instead.

Otherwise, the Hokies didn't change too much about their strategy from February 2016 to make some of their top high school prospects feel welcome last Sunday.

While the coaching staff offered the dozens of 2018 and 2019 recruits on hand some of the more traditional activities a visitor might expect, like a campus tour and a presentation on academics, the Hokies also tried to keep things light. Rather than simply offering recruits a full meal in the Lane Stadium club level, staffers like Wiles (a man of a not-insubstantial waistline) squared off with prospects to see who could eat the most hot dogs, donuts and even pie.

"It was a lot of fun, and overall, they're just great coaches and great guys," 2018 DE Alim McNeill of Raleigh's Sanderson HS told The Key Play. "The visit showed me a lot about Virginia Tech, and really changed my mind about some things. I loved it."

But the coaches also gave recruits the chance to work off all that food, following up lunch with a half-court shooting contest in Cassell Coliseum.

"It was fun, because everybody down there is down to earth," said 2019 4-star WR Jacoby Pinckney of Roebuck, S.C.'s Dorman HS. "They have a family feel to them. You can tell with the coaching staff, everybody is connected, everybody can talk to each other and laugh. It's not odd when you're around them, (there's) no awkward moments."

2018 3-star LB Payton Wilson of Hillsborough, N.C.'s Orange HS didn't stay for the basketball portion of the afternoon, but he developed the same sort of impression about the staff from what he saw.

"It seems like they're a real close-knit family up there," Wilson said.

But Pinckney said there was plenty to like about the more traditional parts of the event. He said the coaches took all the recruits onto the field at Lane Stadium, and took them through all the team's facilities too.

"They showed us the 'before and afters' of guys in the weight room, basically what they can do for your body," Pinckney said.

Wilson came away impressed from that part of tour as well, especially once he learned the team has "five on-staff weight trainers," but it was Lane that he ultimately found the most impressive.

"The football stadium is just like, 'Wow,'" Wilson said. "And the indoor facility is the biggest in the country, so that was amazing."

Pinckney says the coaches also gave recruits a full presentation "where they were telling us where they were ranked in terms of student life, food, stuff like that" and also gave the high schoolers a full look at Tech's engineering program.

2018 3-star RB Marcus Caldwell of Clemmons, N.C.'s West Forsyth HS had visited Blacksburg before for the ECU game, but Sunday's trip gave him the first chance to learn more about that side of Tech, and he clearly appreciated it.

"I learned a little bit more about the academics, and they're pretty good up there, so that'll be a factor for me," Caldwell said.

The coaches also set aside some time to divide up the players in attendance by position group, and let them learn a little bit more about how the Hokies study film and prepare during a game week from their would-be position coaches.

"We basically went through a little film session," Pinckney said. "They went through how they prepare for a game week, what they do in practice, drew up stuff on the board, asking us questions and stuff."

Caldwell said RBs coach Zohn Burden had an especially compelling message for the running backs in attendance during their break out session.

"They told us that we could come and push for playing time because they're looking for running backs," Caldwell said. "He said they're taking one or two running backs in 2018."

Pinckney might not be able to fill an immediate need for the team like Caldwell, but the coaches are certainly interested in what he could bring to the program.

"They spread the ball around a lot and get their receivers the ball in a lot of different ways," Pinckney said. "They said I could be a great outside receiver for them."

On the defensive side of the ball, McNeill said the coaches were similarly interested in what the 6'1", 262-pound lineman could bring to Tech as either "a DE or a DT."

The Hokies suddenly find themselves with a dearth of depth on the DL, and they weren't shy about offering prospects the chance to play all along the line if they're so inclined. 2018 DL Dante Stills of Fairmont (W.V.) HS said he got a similar pitch, and at 6'4" and 265 pounds, he certainly has a flexible frame.

"They said I could play DT or DE, but they asked me where I'd fit in best, and I said DE," Stills said. "They agree because I'm quick off the edge, I'm lengthy, I'm tall, and DT has to be, I'm not gonna say a slug, but bigger than I am now. So I'm kind of a rush end, and I can get to the quarterback pretty fast."

Wilson suspects he'd be more likely to end up at linebacker if he became a Hokie, but he said Bud Foster suggested he could even transition to the line someday.

"They run that 'lunch pail defense,' it's an aggressive style, they have different formations and I could play any of those three linebacker positions or a stand-up DE or anything like that," Wilson said.

And while Wilson enjoyed his time with Foster, he said it was his 30-minute meeting with Justin Fuente that really stood out.

"He's a real down-to-earth guy," Wilson said. "I'm from a country setting and he's from Oklahoma, so I feel like we'd be good together because we're both from a country background. I could tell from the way he was talking that he's from a country background, and I liked that about him."

Stills spent a similar amount of time with Fuente, and walked away most intrigued by the head Hokie's track record turning programs around quickly.

"He's a great coach, and he's done a good job," Stills said. "He went to Memphis and built that program up. He built Virginia Tech up really well and he's got Virginia Tech going in the right direction."

Overall, Stills left the visit feeling "comfortable" in Blacksburg, and he's hoping to return sometime this spring. Caldwell is planning a similar timeframe for his return, as is Wilson.

"They want to get me up there to talk one-on-one about schemes and stuff, so I'm gonna try to get up there in the summer or during the springtime," Wilson said.

The Hokies are also working to get Pinckney back to Blacksburg when things are a bit quieter, so he can get a full glimpse of student life.

"Coach Fuente wants me to come down for something not planned, not an event, just to come and see how everyday life can be there for an athlete," Pinckney said. "Just come down for a practice and sit in and watch one of their classes or whatever, just get a feel for everyday life down there."

McNeill is hoping to take another spring visit of his own, but unlike the others, he says he's starting to feel the heat a bit from the Hokies.

"They really want me to come back up during the spring, and they really, really want me to commit," McNeill said. "And I'm really thinking about it. But I'm talking with my parents, and I want to take all my visits. It's still kind of early, and I want to wait until my senior year before I decide."