Tomorrow, TKP will have a live thread for National Signing Day. As each player signs, there will be immediate reaction and analysis from TKP staff, along with answering your questions in between lulls. The thread will be open to all TKP readers. Make sure you tune in tomorrow and have that refresh button ready to put in some work.
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Comments
Threat level?
Midnight.
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Can we expect any 'surprise' converts? Throw us another bone.... purty please? :() What time is the thread going live?
Based on what the recruitnicks are saying, Speed and/or Johnson would be a surprise. I would be thrilled to get both, and getting one or the other would make me much more excited about the class. In general, I am happy, especially for a couple of players who I think are either elite talents or "culture-changers" in terms of the way they play. Gaps right now for me is at least one traditional split end, a second running back (unless DJ Reid stays in the program and takes a step up), and at least one more defensive tackle and corner.
The thread will start at 10:00AM at the latest. I have to get from Falls Church to Alexandria and back in the morning, so I ask for latitude.
One thing I will remind everyone- I am not a "recruiting insider." I don't have back stories into their recruitment. My contribution to the thread will be a fair and accurate assessment based on their film. With that said, a couple of the recruits (Drake Deiuliis, Silas Dizansi) don't have film that is very easy to assess, so I won't comment on them.
Once they sign, there won't be any spin or rose colored glasses. I will give my most fair assessment possible.
Your assessments will be much appreciated I assure you.
I'll be online at 10 am Lord willing!!
Anybody else gonna be at the peninsula HokieClub lunch on Thusdsay with Zohn? I'm really looking forward to his take on our #S17 recruits.
Let's Go.....
Absolutely can't wait. This is my first rodeo as a member and your analysis of game film is one of the reasons for my joining the Key Players Club so I am excited for what your view into the recruiting side of things brings. Thanks for everything French
already getting worked up...
ouch. pro-Pitt?
(full disclosure: me too!)
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I will be ready!!
Thanks for putting us on high alert.
we will overload it with nonsense gifs to over heat your phone because well, that's kind of what we do to bring humor on a butt clinching type of day.
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I've actually got adblock set to hide GIPHY images because I think how they embed is obnoxious and I can always click through to see what it is. Nice side effect is it reduces load times...
I love the gifs
HF's phone will be doing it's best galaxy note 7 impression once this thread gets all the way turnt up.
Orange? Maroon? What is the threat level currently??
Relax and enjoy the day because tomorrow will bring a refreshing feeling of recruiting delight!
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Is she a VT lean or nah?
She's a VT Swing.
More like VT schwing.
She can swing or lean however she pleases because she is very qualified to do so.
She back and forth on her decision.
Or perhaps....side to side?
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I'd like to see her flip to VT-in those exact clothes
Wait, who is she agai- oh right, the shirt.
DEFCON 1.
Wait for me
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National Signing Day Live Threat Update
We are going to have to make a National Signing Day Threat Part II before we even reach tomorrow. TKP never disappoints.
Chances are the first one will fill up with 'Threat' puns before midnight.
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is...is that a threat?
Better one:
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National Signing Day Threat Part Deux, Electric Bugaloo
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No assessment of capabilities OR intentions, so not a very helpful threat update.
Should I be alarmed?
My F5 key is going to die tomorrow.
Tomorrow is gonna be LIT, FAM!!
Threat level:
"Bee doh bee doh bee doh bee doh bee doh"
Well now you've done it. This thread has bad ju ju, all the recruits are gonna decommit!
EDIT: is there a POA&M for this? Gahdammit Helo_Hokie
(sadly, I think some of you will get this -leg your asses)
First off: Gross, get that work stuff off of TKP boards!!
Second: It's POA&M (I hate myself)
Fuck POA&Ms
I hate myself that i know exactly what this means. Happy that I never have to do another government related mountain of paperwork ever again.
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY AINT PLAYED NOBODY PAAAWWWWLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF NATIONAL SIGNING DAY WAS IN THE SEC THEY WOULDNT WIN 5 GAMES PAAAAWWWLLL!!!!!!
I have to admit I just put 2 and 2 together on this whil Pawwwllll thing today.... but it's hilarious esp the #pawwwlllll on twitter.
Care to share? We old guys don't keep up with this new fangled stuff.
Caller into the Paul Finebaum show. Think strong Southern drawl, lamenting that other teams "ain't played nobody Paul!" in defending why Bama? Auburn? (I forget who they supported) was the best team. So "Paul" gets drawn out in the drawl to PAWWWWWWLLLLLL.
She's a 80-something-year-old 'Bama Thumper.
just go to youtube and type in paul finebuam callers and you will see! Its pretty entertaining.
I just figured it out....you guys got it all wrong - he meant to type 'National Signing Day TREAT Level.
Bring on the treats...as in Pie, not cake.
How lucky we are - this would be behind a paywall anywhere else. Is there an option to join TKPClub that doesn't involve paypal (no tengo)?
All you need is a credit card.
all you need is love
Well, we just got a Hooker, so to-may-to, to-mah-to.
In hindsight, it's almost like I just paid for a hooker.
Well how do like them apples, that was easy. Kudos to French and the gang - thank you all for the great work.
Welcome to the Club.
Happy NSD Eve everyone! It's like Christmas...if there was a very good chance your parents, little brother, and that kid from down the street would swoop in at the last second and steal your presents out from under your tree even though they'be been there with your name on them for months.
can we open our presents now?
cant wait
Nardouchi and his office fax tomorrow:
More tease- I have a spreadsheet with about a paragraph of analysis on 30+ targets. Unless a surprise is totally off the radar, you will get the X's and O's.
Man I hope you don't have X's and O's worked out for at least 1 commit. Would be awesome to get one off the wall shocker.
All of TKP tomorrow
We are going to shoot for 9AM to start some analysis. LOI's will be in at that time. Please keep in mind, each player will get a short write up posted as a comment. We will provide actual film clips to bridge the space between now at spring football.
Threat update got me like
A bunch of CB's for Louisville on Becton came in yesterday. I don't like that.
Today is going to have me all
Not looking like an exciting finish. Have to be happy with what we have. Think there are big holes in this class at CB, OL and DT, but honestly a better class than I expected.
If we miss on Becton, consider me officially underwhelmed by Vice.
Mitchell may be worse for someone who inherited the DBU moniker and seems to be squandering it.
If we miss on a player we were considered to have essentially no chance since early in this recruiting cycle and then were able to get in the picture after an official visit two weeks ago?
Yeesh.
Pretty sure we slow played Becton and didn't offer him/start recruiting him heavily until way late.
Because both Beamer and Fuente have a policy of not offering a kid especially OL until they see them in person.
Per 247 VT offered April 2016 and Louisville (his current presumed choice) offered March 2016.
Does that matter when looking at the position group coming in? It's who did you land to help us going forward? Becton is part of the group that could have upgraded the talent level. If we had no chance at him bring in someone else that can contribute instead of him.
We just had a 10 win season and will sign a class with multiple of the top 10 players in VA this year, which is a point fans have specifically griped about in recent years. Yet here we are anyway, insinuating that at least two coaches are incompetent or not good enough and the alternative is so simple and obvious that anyone off the street could have easily done better.
I'm glad it took until the morning of NSD for this sentiment to emerge this year because it can wear thin really quickly.
He said he would be underwhelmed by vice. You are making sweeping assumptions that he never said.
Curt Newsome helped us get Tyrod and that was a good early indication of his coaching and recruiting ability. let's see if he's willing to come back.
So you think vice has done a bang up job at coaching and recruiting this year or you are just putting words in people's mouths and don't even believe that?
I think he's been here for one season and is our 4th o-line coach in 5 seasons. I think judging a coach at a position that is generally acknowledged as requiring the most development at the college level after one season is entirely too premature.
I'm incredibly happy with this class as a whole. I don't understand why we can't praise the good and criticize the not so good. It's gotta be all sunshine and rainbows or nothing for some.
I think that's fair. There's also a contingent that always seems to keep moving the goalposts, so to speak. We accomplish something that we haven't in a long time and has been criticized, but then we do it and it still gets criticized as if it's not enough. Looking at pros and cons is perfectly valid and should be done, though.
I think the class is a net positive. We have a ways to go before we're at the top, but #Statement17 is a step in the right direction.
The top of the ACC is getting better. If we want to compete we have to recruit at a SIMILAR level and hope that grit and superior coaching will do the rest. The goalposts move because our competition is moving them.
Right, but there's a difference between "We need to recruit like Clemson and we're not doing it" and "We need to get a few top-10 in VA...we got a few top-10 in VA but we missed others that we should have gotten." The first is sensible, the second is frustrating.
When I say SIMILAR, I don't mean a few top-10 in VA. I mean a few top-10 in VA + steal a couple top recruits nearby. Our class needs to be within 5-7 clicks of theirs. FSU is top 5, which means we gotta be top 13 to consistently compete JMHO.
I'm commenting on the generic argument that seems to be fueling shakeitallabout's post, not anything you're specifically advocating. I completely agree with you.
Don't think we will be close to that level, possibly ever. Florida, Miami, Clemson all have geographical and financial advantages we aren't going to overcome anytime soon. Consistently getting classes around 20 while meeting positions of need will do wonders for the program.
This hit the nail on the head for me. I completely agree that that level of expectations is not realistic until at the very least the donor base increases significantly .
Honestly I've agreed with everything you've said that doesn't relate a specific coach. My issue with that is two fold: 1) I think the coaches mentioned deserve the benefit of a couple seasons and 2) measuring a coach's success by the recruitment of one player strikes me as ridiculous given the volatility in decision making of 17-18 year olds. And frankly #2 was my main issue.
My statement of underwhelming was not based solely on whether we get Becton or not. We took a lot of projects on OL. We will see how they pan out. Run blocking needs to improve. I'm underwhelmed by Vice to date. That does not imply "fire him now."
To be fair I didn't make the statement about becton. I just could see why he might be underwhelmed by the overall OL haul that vice would be thought to be responsible for. Positions coaches also don't exclusively recruiting their positions, so that is misleading sometimes but vice didn't exactly tear it up on the trail looking at who he landed either.
+1
you think achieving a top 13-15 class is unrealistic, ever?
Ever? No. Consistently? Yes, unless something fundamentally changes in terms of athletic dept $$.
You said consistently. We could get lucky from time to time with an extremely deep VA, MD or NC classes, but no I think our regular ratings will be between 20 and 25 even with improved recruiting. Key will be addressing holes in the roster, which I don't think we've done a good job at necessarily.
Lots of good in the class and some areas of concern. I think both should be discussed personally.
Landing 3 of the top 10 in the state is definitely a step in the right direction. Our OL recruiting in general has been a mess for years. CB and DT aren't looking too hot and could be a big issue on the field in 18 if we don't get some impact players next class.
I think that's a perfectly reasonable thing to say and have no issue saying "we missed on some guys in these areas and will need to make that up with the next class."
On the other hand, starting to call out specific coaches, who have been here for one season and are working to establish themselves in our recruiting circles, is a different thing. Like I said above, many fans probably would have considered Newsome to be overachieving after one season. We've had an insane turnover rate at OL coach for the past 5 years and that almost certainly has an effect on our recruiting at OL. Mitchell is replacing a long time coach in Torrian that was expected to stay on only to leave after signing day last year. Gray is undoubtedly familiar with our target board and built relationships with those recruits and he is now recruiting against us for an SEC power.
I want to get all of our targets as much as the next Hokie and think we have made large mistakes in the past, but I find it unreasonable to make statements on coaches like "underwhelming" based on a single data point and believe it is extremely important to have some patience with the new staff.
That's obviously what everyone's saying and you aren't overreacting, not one bit.
Oh, and I'm TOTALLY not being sarcastic either....
Becton gone?
Seems like it. Getting the no one knows, but where there is smoke there is fire.
Yes.
Becton to Louisville?
yes
No so fast.. no UL hat at his announcement.
RB, CB, DT and OL have to be top recruiting priorities for next year, right??
Definitely a RB we need another Sam rogers jr too
another? the world couldn't survive another Sam Rogers Jr.
I'm eyeing the top player from VA for the 2018 cycle for rb but it's always good to have a talented full back
Well the man did just get engaged. So the end is near. or we have a helluva recruit to keep an eye on in 18 years.
He's going to be Rogers progeny. The kid is going to come out with a full beard, bench press his mother, and ask for a steak and bourbon. He'll be enrolled within 5 years.
All I want for NSD is to beat LOLUVa in bball in their own house.
Welp capeharts gone come on becton and Robinson
Robinson isn't signing today.
Prediction(s):
One of the guys everyone seems to think is gone will sign with VT (Becton, Speed, Johnson, Cape, maybe even Dazz)
And we flip a kid none of us had coming here. James Robinson doesn't count - and fuck it! I think we get him, too.
Not sure why. Just feeling like a good surprise is in the cards today. LFG
Well, Cape's out. Just signed w/Maryland officially.
Oh well. Good luck to him. I hope he doesn't regret his choice down the road.
well that's a really optimistic view. I can't imagine anyone choosing UMd over Tech and not regretting it. One of those times when you head leaves the pillow one morning and you just think "my God, how did it come to this?"
It would appear that choosing UMD over VT was not his preferred choice. He made a bad decision over the weekend and having to enroll at UMD over VT is the consequence. I imagine he may already be regretting it now, but best of luck to him. I'm sure the experience will make him a better man.
I used to visit my friends at UMD on the way home from VT each thanksgiving break. I just remember waking up, looking out their dorm window, and just thinking, "man, I'm so happy I don't have to go here."
If you have seen the UMD campus, you would already be regretting it. One of the worst looking campuses in the US.
Location doesn't help UMD either. One of the many reasons I didn't even apply there and went out of state.
Not knocking the kid just wondering if MaxPreps is legit:
Did Capehart really only have 19 catches for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns this season?
Not likely man. I appreciate the optimism though lol.
Prediction: this goes exactly as we expect it will. Becton will choose Louisville, nobody else flips. we get DeBose on Friday.
Do they give trophies for 5th place in your division?
Why did Capehart flip?
The early speculation is that he told Fuente during his in home that he was done with visits. Then the next day he went to MD. Fuente didn't like.
Again just early speculation. Full story will probably be out by the end of today.
Full story? We don't need a damn investigation into this. He chose Maryland so let that be the end of it. His decision and his alone. We don't need to speculate. Let's move on.
Settle down.
I know none of us are too Keene on losing a player at the last second like this, but I really don't think it's a big Deiuliis.
Our WR class is already Farley good.
/\ BUMP (underappreciated puns) /\
I disagree. I'd like the story.
I heard this too, also heard that upon finding out Capehart was lying to him, Fuente pulled the offer.
Don't know how to link it but Andy Bitter just provided a periscope link to Becton commitment on twitter.
Yep, I'm watching it now
The coach will not shut up.
He's not even talking about anything, he's just talking, it's awful lol.
So many kids, this will take forever.
By the time it gets to Becton he will have to reclassify to the 2018 class.
No louisville hat on the table..... he's going there
Agreed. Ole hat under the table trick.
Louisville's hat isn't on the table in front of becton it appears... so i just assume he's going to Louisville
Lol Wilton Speight is watching this periscope live feed and the Michigan fans are freaking out.
What bothers me the most about what happened with Capehart is that this legitimately came out of left field. On Thursday he meets with our coaches, and everything seems fine. By Wednesday, he sends his LOI to Maryland without bothering to decommit from us nor apparently bothering to give any indication he soured on Tech. As of now, his twitter account still reps Statement17 and still has his commitment to VT pinned as his top comment.
That's a messed up move from Cape. If I was a recruit in this class, I'd be pretty pissed off at this kid, and justifiably so. I'd want Maryland on our schedule, and I'd want to light his ass up early and often during said game.
Um...Relax there sport.
1. You don't know what happened behind the scenes. We might've messed up by trying to bait-and-switch him to CB. I don't blame him at all if that's the case
2. These are 17-18 year olds. They're going to make switches to and from us. You don't think the same fan-base wants to say that to any other last-minute flips that happened our way?
As I said above, I think the kid truly wanted to be at VT, but he made a mistake over the weekend and was told to go elsewhere. This literally did come out of the blue. I imagine it was not a cheerful 48 hours in the Capehart household. Mom was all Hokie as well.
I give Fuente kudos for trying to establish a culture and sticking to his guns, even if it means telling a top recruit to hit the road. Short-term loss for long-term gain.
If that's the case, I completely give the kid a pass and will retract all my questioning on these events.
That being said, I would have to question the long term game on this by Fuente should this be the case, because if you're going to pull an offer to a kid who has been all in on joining your school with less than a week to go before signing day, you might as well kiss any hope of getting more recruits out of that high school goodbye, especially if that high school is coached by someone who is notorious for holding grudges, such as the coaches of Bishop Sullivan.
Do you know that for sure or are you just speculating?
I have no #sauces - just putting together reports from several different boards.
I agree that this may have implications at some schools down the road, but it depends on how it is sold. If Fuente is up front with his standards and relays the mantra where "you live up to your end and we will live up to ours", then that builds the level of respect that we want our program to exude. Most parents get this as well and will buy into a program that will make their sons better men versus some of the shady stuff going on in other places.
Of course, there are players and families that get all into the shady stuff - we are never going to win those battles.
Becton to Louisville
Seems bizarre- but OK, good on him.
that's exacly how i feel right now.....
UL provided a solid down payment for that one.
I'll take our Hooker to Loiusville's hookers any day.
yeah but Becton would've protected our Hooker against L'ville's hookers in future matchups, so this is a big-time bummer
It was so obvious he was gonna pick Louisville, I don't know why I wasted that much of my phone battery to watch that terrible periscope feed.
Seems like a typical Signing Day for VT. Lots of hard work to see the cracks form and players fall off at the last minute.
At least we got the heavy hitters already in. Could be a lot worse, but its a shame this class is apparently going to end on a bit of a shitty note.
Glad to see you're so positive about this. Good thing you're not a debby-downer.
Yup. Solid talent (that more importantly, VT wanted) in VA out the door to programs that aren't even superior.
Debose and potentially Robinson after NSD could reverse this slow finish.
Good morning sunshine...
How in the world is Maryland getting all these recruits they just got #8 RB in the nation that was 100% predicted to ole miss
They get to go lose in some historic stadiums.
Beatty promises hookers & blow, but sucks as an actual coach, gets let go. Lather, rinse, repeat. Just guessing.
just no. Unless you're talking Louisville, Baylor, or early 2000's Miami, any claims like this are unsubstantiated sour grapes BS.
Okay, I'll help you understand my intent, since you didn't register it.
Statement: Beatty sucks as a coach. Support: he's been a position coach everywhere except 1 stop where he was a "Co-OC." Most of his stops recently have been for one year only.
Statement: He promises hookers and blow. Support: none. This is obviously hyperbole. Unless you really think I meant that. However, it's widely thought (and no, nobody has it on video) that Beatty hates VT and steered kids away when he was a HS coach in VB.
It's a message board. Lighten up, Francis, and stop trying to hold everyone to journalistic standards of proof.
straight cash homie. How do you think that guy got the head coaching job in the first place. No real experience, but willing to play the game...
If you don't think they aren't paying recruits, I don't know what to tell ya
Just look at who they hired over the past 12 months. They're all in on the shady side of the game.
I hate when I see posts like this. Every D1 recruit is receiving some sort of payment beyond what the NCAA allows. If you really think that Virginia Tech operates with a significantly different level of morals, you are mistaken.
I see you think we're playing the same recruiting game as Maryland
I assure you, this is not the case
without speculation or hunches.... do you have any facts/sources? Or is it just because Beatty is there, then thats how you feel no matter what?
I guess I just don't understand their mindset (disregarding the illegal activities going on under the table) Capeheart and Becton are both going to schools where they will never win their division, let alone a conference championship.
People probably said that about us the last few years too. It's more than just that obviously.
There is definitely much more, but you are literally signing to a school where you have already hit the ceiling (Louisville) and Maryland, who is the ragdoll of the conference. I guess winning doesn't mean much anymore.
louisville was one game from winning the atlantic, and they let that houston loss carry over, theyre a solid team next year, and petrino (despite his character flaws) seems to be a good coach, they can have success for another few years
I think last year was their ceiling. Lamar Jackson really can't throw it that well and you can't rebuild an awful O-Line in one year. F$U is already looking great this year, and I think Clemson will only rebuild. You shouldn't let a loss carry over for not only a rival game, but also a bowl game. Also, not meaning for this to come off as a snark reply either!
I'll respectively disagree. UL has one of the most profitable athletic departments in the nation. They have all the resources to build a program.
Well, I also just saw their schedule and it seems extremely weak disregarding F$U and Clemson. UNC could obviously prove a challenge, but other than that it seems they could have a good year. I still think they finish third in the Atlantic. It's only a waiting game now.
Yeah, nobody should forget that Louisville very easily could have beaten Clemson despite a horrible sequence in the first half and very unfair officiating. I was at that game and I can assure you, until the very end of that game, nobody in that stadium thought they were better than Louisville during the 2nd half. I haven't seen Death Valley that quiet since FSU mollywhopped them in 2013.
Correct. Just ask Quin Blanding.
It's gotta be ego, right? They think that by being the star on a so-so team will get them into the draft?
Woof.
Dazz Newsome to UNC.
VT stumbling down the stretch.
Speed to Georgia and especially Dazz to UNC are not surprises.
We got some CB's for Becton yesterday, so that one is the only real decision we had a strong shot at going into today. But so far I've not been surprised one bit.
Both those were were seen coming from miles away.
I mean, tough to compete when they show up with your degree in their hands.
Don't be such a Debbie Downer!
I wish Dazz nothing but success in getting decimated by our team every year.
Im happy with what we have. Good luck to 17-18 year old recruits who go elsewhere. recruitment is not over yet! GO HOKIES!
it is laughable how salty everyone gets
"they pay players! they're cheating!"
"these kids don't have the right attitude to play here!"
vt isn't for everyone; some teenagers don't want to come to vt to play football, we don't need act like a bunch of toddlers about it
Yes, that's it... lets start a "Not a True Hokie" argument. That's exactly what NSD needs
that's not what i said at all, what i'm saying is if you're going to attack peoples' character (accusing them of cheating, lying, not having the right attitude) you should have some actual proof other than random whispers on the internet
Lol so is a true hokie you who slams Fuente?
Your attitude is exactly what we don't need on the boards on NSD. Or ever, really. These are kids. Let it go. You're a grown man. You'll survive.
Thanks for your concern. I'll be sure to not care immediately.
This is our best recruiting class in a good long while, but don't let that stop the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments y'all.
Surprisingly, it's not. This is ranked lower than the ones we had in 2012/2013 I believe.
Also, Robert Porcher is wearing the most beautiful combination of Orange and Maroon I have ever seen. Periscope on his twitter right now.
Maryland signs ridiculous class, Under Armour Stock tanks. Coincidence?
Under Armor missed earnings big time yesterday for the first time in two years.
I don't buy any of their products.
Mostly because I can't stand Maryland athletics. It's a program with a sponsor but no soul.
It's a joke and a half how some fans live day by day on here. Take off your Orange and Maroon glasses and look at the big picture of our recruiting class. We did VERY well. Did we fill every hole appropriately? Probably not but god damn, you think the sky was falling because Tahj and Bechton didn't commit to us. Look at all the good and surprises that DID commit to us vs. being salty about the ones who didn't. You can't land every single one. We don't know what goes in the background of recruiting.
I would also say stop accusing people of receiving money from other schools without any proof. Every player on every campus gets some kind of payment, just look what they wear every day. Decked out in VT apparel every day.... you think they paid for that? lol
Thanks dadcop.
I sure hope superfan didn't go to the Becton commitment today, it would be funny if he did though.
i think we pulled off a great recruiting class, very, very happy about it. I hate we missed Becton but I'm ok with it.
I am upset about Capehart though, just because of the way it apparently went down.
But over all, still a great class, and we still land Debose and maybe Robinson later this week
Great job Fuente and company!
So let's see, last year's recruiting class came in around number 40 nationally. This year's class will land around 20, maybe even in the high teens if one of the later guys comes our way. Next year's class is already being touted as having better overall potential than this year. Sounds like excellent progress, I for one am very pleased and will happily overlook the "misses" while focusing on the successes. Looking forward to seeing the new crop of QB's in action during the spring, when does practice start?
Can anyone provide some insight as to why ESPN has a select few schools having their own dedicated NSD "shows" on the ESPN app? Notably, Duke, Clemson, and Miami in the ACC, but a few other schools as well. Hell even, BALL STATE (?!) has a channel? Why not us?
Strictly a guess but major tv markets usually come to mind ?
I'll concede to the ACC schools for sure, esp the three schools I listed; but Ball State? Indiana isn't a major TV market, is it?
dunno... was just a guess...but this stuff usually boils down to money somehow
Blake Prohl signed with ECU, that's kind of a bummer. He could have been a nice fit.
I'm disappointed in not getting Dimukeje, Johnson and Speed.
Not very disappointed in losing out on Becton. Big guy who has some work to do on fundamentals. His strikeout factor is pretty high. I would rather have him than not, but not a big deal.
I would have liked to have Cape as a DB, but if he wanted to play WR, probably not a huge loss. Happy with Savoy, Pimp and Farley at WR.
So I see Cordarrian Richardson was the big time back who committed to Maryland. He was a Clemson commit who decommitted after it became known to them that there was a brewing academic scandal at his high school and he would not qualify for Clemson/Clemson wanted to separate from him. So for all you guys who think that UMD is being sketchy as hell, this pretty much is just more fuel to the fire.
Edit: Ended up signing with UCF. Not surprising given all the confusion and sketchiness involved with his recruiting.
A few things:
-Devon Hunter, Tyjuan Garbutt, Dylan Rivers, Nathan Proctor, Robert Porcher IV, Sean Savoy, Dalton Keene, Hendon Hooker, Caleb Farley, and Jalen Holston are all great players and I expect them each to make a significant impact during their 3-4 years on the team. Cheers to Fuente convincing those guys to be Hokies.
-You cannot possibly look yourself in the mirror and say "OL, DT, and CB recruiting is fine." Those three positions were huge areas of concern heading into this recruiting season and now remain a huge concern. Very disappointed in how those positions finished out. Inexcusably bad. This cycle did not set us up for success in those areas.
-This class as a whole is satisfying. Landing some of the top talent in the state for the first time in a few years is great.
-National Signing Day in a vacuum - ignoring the last few weeks and just judging today - was a total shit show. It simply could not have realistically gone worse. A total dumpster fire.
Even in a vacuum, this is over the top. We had one recruit flip, who we had info suggesting it would happen ahead of time, and we didn't lose on anyone that we were actually expected to get. Speed to UGA was the favorite, Dazz to UNC was the favorite for awhile, Becton to Louisville is the closest thing to a miss. Essentially nothing happened today that was unexpected.
You're trying to somehow rationalize that crossing the finish line 0/4 is fine because it was expected.
This was a god awful end to the recruiting cycle.
0/4 in what sense? Flipping? We never counted them in our column other than Taj, and mind you we flipped Rivers, so that's a wash.
You're making much-ado-about-nothing
we were more like 0/5300 under that line of thinking....Now, he has a point..../s
I don't think you're looking at this correctly.
Getting the commitments for a top 25 class signed is GREAT news.
You're somehow trying to act like this is a video game where the correct inputs always produce the desired results and we failed in those inputs. We have known for a few weeks we wouldn't get Dazz and we probably wouldn't get Speed. Going 0/4 is a little harsh when we literally knew we weren't getting some of these guys and a few were reaches anyway. Now how we ended up missing these guys is up for debate. But I still think "as bad as it could have possibly gone" is a total overreaction.
January was awesome. February hasn't impressed me much so far.
Totally agree....I didn't expect Dazz or Speed...Becton was up in the air....We knew about Capeheart yesterday.
So....4 decisions, none of which we were counting on, makes this a shit show?
"Dumpster fire?" Thats the kind of ridiculous comment I usually would see on Bleacher Report...
"-National Signing Day in a vacuum - ignoring the last few weeks and just judging today - was a total shit show. It simply could not have realistically gone worse. A total dumpster fire."
Talk about overreaction. I couldn't disagree more. Seriously, its not a good look for you.
Yeah, one recruit flipping and one a near miss isn't really the end of the world.
The overall class is great.
Are you a 2016 Chemical Engineering grad?
Other than the following who is left that we had any shot at?.....
Debose
Robinson
Nelson?
Wardlow?
Wardlow looks like ND
A couple of points
1. People don't like negativity, but the deeper message is that they think we can do even better, and I agree we are on the up
2. We have a great class coming in, these coaches worked their asses off and a one year sample set is too small to trash any coaches performance
3. We pride ourselves on being a family atmosphere and being respectful
4. Some croots like "big city life" Blacksburg is not for them
5. I don't understand what UNC sells recruits on. There stadium is empty, there downtown sucks, there girls are not that great, they only have 1 sports bar
6. Go Hokies!
Pertaining to #5 (girls):
You on UNC's campus, then?
I dated a Tar Heel for a while...it was far less than great.
I'm not saying they're all winners, but to say they don't have a lot of.....talent.... is incorrect.
more research is required.
https://colleges.niche.com/rankings/hottest-girls/
And that's after our coach's first season. I'm pumped. The future is bright people!
247 is super high on this class. Hope they're right.
fellas...fellas...fellas... DEEP BREATHES.....
Today is my first NSD with you folks as a TKPer and it seems many of us are doing exactly we didn't want to do prior to today which is get all wrapped around the axle about supposed "misses/shortcomings" today. Of course, it's perfectly fine to air our complaints/greivances but lets keep focused on the GOOD in this class coming our way! We got some real ballers that are gonna make some plays for us on both sides of the ball so let's stay hyped! Personally, my plan is channel those 'flips' to other schools as fuel to root even harder against those teams and hope we destroy them in future head2head matchups!
GO HOKIES!!!!
Forgive my ignorance - but was Holston on our radar this entire time...? If not, can we please continue sending Coach Zohn back to GA for recruitment?
Top back on our board according to some news outlets. We pushed hard for him, at least since I started really paying attention to our recruiting the past year and a half. He was a major get, and is criminally underrated, as is the case for a lot of GA schools/players.
Am I missing something? We still have a #24/14 class on 247 and people are saying it was a shit show or that we are stumbling down the finish?
Still a solid class in my opinion. 9 early enrollees is awesome too, as they will have bonded and be in the system before next season. Some of those EEs are impact players as well.
It's still a great class.
Having a recruit flip to Maryland on NSD is just a tiny bit humiliating, like tripping over your shoelaces on the way to the mailbox, or noticing your fly is unzipped in public. It's mildly embarrassing, but completely insignificant in the big scheme of things.
Let's all remember how well JaWand Blue worked out for Miami.
We were at #19 and have been slowly falling as others sign more guys. We may jump up a couple spots if we can nab one of the remaining targets, but I'm guessing we drop out of the top 25. I still like who we got, so I'm not trying to be negative or anything, just realistic.
Seeing how hot we got in January I can understand why some people are disappointed to see our ranking fall.
No. You got it right. You're not the part of the fan base that's clearly missing something.
This is just one of those years where we secured most of our big commits before NSD (which is not a bad thing). Knowing that we didn't have very many kids we were counting on today it was somewhat understood that we were going to drop in the rankings. As of right now we are down to #25 on the composite which is about a 6 spot drop so far today. It will be interesting to see where we land as the day winds down.*
*Disclaimer: I promise I'm not angry or trying to be a pessimist. I'm just stating the objective numbers.
Yep, although 247 themselves remains bullish on our class with us still at 14.
Well, if it makes anyone feel just a little better, 247 has the Hoos at #54 class and WVU at #55. Their message boards must be imploding.
Wow. The HokieSports live coverage just featured an interview with Silas Dsanzi. He openly said he would much rather play defense and left it very open that he might want to switch. Sounded very negative about being slotted at OL.
That's between him and the coaches, I guess. I'd want him where he's happiest.
I personally didn't detect negativity. A OT with a defenders mentality- I'll take it. They need to have the 'Dwayne Brown' talk with him.
You couldn't have heard that and came away feeling that he was excited about playing OL.
Yeah he didn't seem disappointed about playing offense to me since he was kinda laughing about it. I feel like most guys who play on both sides of the ball would want to play defense.
yeah, cause every other word out of Duane Brown's mouth is VT and how they are good to him. For every Duane Brown there are 10 Joel Calebs.
Nijman would have said the same thing. Dsanzi knows what he signed up for and should still have a good career on the OL once he gets up to speed.
coolest commitment video so far. easily trumps crappy becton video
C'mon man, no reason to bring politics into this. /s
Pretty cool, and shot just up the road from me... yet I've somehow not managed to hit the slopes there yet :-/
Do we have a legit shot with James Robinson?
247 showing "signed" with Florida
This thread was just supposed to be a reminder about today's live thread and it took on a life of it's own.
You don't control us anymore French.
via GIPHY
Hmmmm, slightly OT, but thought this was interesting, apparently a top 100 recruit would rather grayshirt at Bama than go somewhere else to play ball
I guess Saban's house left quite an impression on him.
This is for class of 19, Tayvion Land reopen his recruitment, definitely not a good signing day for us.
Lifelong hokie fan. Speculation suggests this is related to the Capehart situation. He's got a long way to go so I still hope he ends up in Blacksburg.
We aren't elite enough a program to do this petty "you visited when you said you wouldn't so you're out" sh*t. So what if an 18 year old wants to get treated like a rockstar for a weekend? Let it go - it's not a big deal at all if he ends up signing with us anyways.
We just burned our bridge to the most talented HS in VA and lost the 2nd highest ranked recruit in the state for Land's cycle.
See. I don't find it petty. I don't think it was handled extremely well but I can see where Fuente and staff are coming from here. From what I've read on other sites, Cape made a poor choice by lying and apologized. Fuente accepted the apology and sent him a LOI. By that time, Cape's family had decided VT was out. Which I think is the most absurd thing about this. They chose to lie to a head coach to his face and when it goes sour for them, they shun the school. It's not a good situation and people are going to fight and disagree about this. It's just my take on what I understand to have happened.
my guess is if the kid is honest and says "coach I wanna visit Maryland and make sure Va tech is where i wanna be " Fuente says "ok",,,,,go and make certain. but don't lie to your future head coach that has spent all this time and money recruting you...shows very bad character and sends a message we were honest with you we expect the same .
I said in another comment on a different thread that I believe Cape got some bad guidance. Totally just my speculation. I don't think he's a bad kid or has bad character. He's young and still very impressionable. I think he just made a mistake. Just like every other teenager does.
ill wait to get more facts before i comment further but bold face lying to coach is unacceptable if thats what happened.
I agree. But I think it was his circle of people that encouraged him to do that. Seems like he still loves VT, was regretful, and wanted to be here but the same people that decided lying to a head coach was an okay thing to do also decided that VT burned them.
Can confirm that when a kid's being recruited by major programs, people come out of the woodwork like someone's just hit the MegaMillions and Powerball at the same time.
And now he will face the consequences of that mistake. He must go to Maryland for a year and sit in timeout.
pretty sure a year in College Park violates the 8th amendment. Boy should get himself a lawyer.
I'm disappointed were we ended up ranked. I won't lie. I mean I wasn't expecting a top 10 or even top 15 ranked class for this first goaround. I was hoping/expecting for a 15-20 finish. Hopefully next season. Overall, though, I'm pretty pleased with our commitments. But it is statistically (very) doubtful that we will win (much less compete) for a MNC without a top 10 ranked class (I know this has been hammered ad nauseum) and to even compete with a top 10-15 ranked class, would require a QB of epVick (see what I did there) proportions to make up for any talent gaps. I hope what this will do is lead to improved rankings in the following seasons, as well as competition (wins) for Conference championships, BCS appearances (plus wins), victories over top 10 opponents, etc. The only thing I can think of is that we need to throw (a LOT) more $$$$$$$ at this thing.
Basically only like, what, 7 or 8 guys in each class are really gonna become Hokies that get significant playtime right? I think we for sure have that with class. Very excited for some of these players. Hopefully we have some talent in WR coming up that makes us forget about Ford/Bucky! Actually that might be impossible, but still. Hunter is gonna be awesome. His measurables are insane.
More proof that the national reports are inaccurate. From 247:
Not a mention of JJ who is probably the front runner. Nit picking but hey its the off season.
Because they are talking about people from this class, which JJ was not a part of. Hooker and Bush are in the mix to start right away since it's an open QB competition. What's inaccurate?
Which recruit was announcing today? Do we have a time on him?
Debose. I read 4:00 to 4:30ish.