Maybe it's just me (and I'll delete this thread if it just me), but I'd like just one thread regarding the rest of the 2014 class so I don't have to flip through several different threads to figure out what's going on. Unless there are objections, I'm going ahead and making this the official thread for the rest of 2014 recruits. I'll update it regularly when we get new information.
Here are some the targets that we're going after, position, their rating according to 247 sports, their hometown, and VT's status with them:
Jesse Aniebonam, 95, DE, Olney, MD, Top 5 (Commited to UMD)
Derrick Nnadi, 94, DT, Virginia Beach, VA, Top 2
Kentavius Street, 94, DE, Greenville, NC (Committed to NC State)
Shai McKenzie, 92, RB, Washington, PA (Committed to VT)
Noah Brown, 92, ATH, Sparta, NJ, Top 8 (Committed to OSU)
Brandon Lee, 90, OLB, Indianapolis, IN, (Committed to Mizzou)
Ryan Izzo, 90, TE, Sparta, NJ (Committed to FSU)
Ricky Walker, 90, DT, Hampton, VA, (Committed to VT)
Raymon Minor, 90, ATH, Richmond, VA, Top 2
Kendrick Holland, 88, WR, Winter Park, FL (Committed to VT)
Roger Lewis, 90+, WR, Pickerington, OH (Favorite)
Comments
I realize this isn't the entire list, I'll slowly put more together throughout the week
So I listed all of the guys 247 lists as 4-stars...personally I get jacked up for these guys as opposed to the 3 and below so I'm going to stop here (no disrespect to the other guys, it's just easier to track the four-star bros versus all of them)
Great idea, I love this!
I'm all for it, even though I saw Stiney at the top and immediately cringed.
This is actually a great idea
don't forget derrick nnadi! arguably our biggest target left on the board for 2014
Last I heard, Street told us we were no longer in the running. All signs point to him going to NCST.
I think you're right but I'll keep him up here until he actually commits...he said about a month ago that he "loves VT" so I'm not sure if we're completely out of the running.
I dig it. I too was growing weary of jumping between threads.
Joe, is there any way to keep this post on the active discussion thread?
If someone posts 1 Wang joke a day, it will keep it active...
At least we have all learned Wang's favorite uniform combination is the blue jersey...
Hopefully no guy will beat Wang off a block this year
With Wang in there, I bet we stick it in
Wang really loses his effectiveness when he's always wrapped up.
Kudos for that one, haha.
Just getting my daily wang in so I can get the thread up
Hooray for daily wang!
Wang pay attetion
Eagles cut their Wang (off)
Wangless=No fun
Hopefully no Wang holding calls for the #TipoftheSpear this year.
On a serious note, I know nothing about this Aniebonam kid, but he seems highly rated and that can't hurt our line. My understanding is the he is a strong lean toward UMD (maybe Edsall watched the same 30 for 30 as London and is getting the MD recruits to buy in). Either way, if we could snag him that would be huge.
With the recent attrition I'd love to see us snag another DB and OL. Adding a big receiver would be really nice too.
really want to +100 for the rip on London (what a douche)! Well played sir, well played.
Hey now, I think that's a pretty harsh thing to say about douches.
There was this thread:
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/february/11/2014-target-board
It's now outdated, but...
He wrote that that's the purpose of that thread...
Jesse Aniebonam named UMD as favorite
Any idea when he is announcing his decision?
He should wait until after UMD falls flat and sucks so that he doesn't have to worry about de-committing from them.
Agreed! I forget who else is in his top 5, but I'm sure they are all way better than UMD football wise. I wonder what his main factors are. Maybe distance from home?
so you're saying he should wait until after the 2011-12 seasons?
I wouldn't be surprised if UMD has a decent season. They had a Linebacker playing QB last season & Diggs still had a great year. They may turn some heads and end up 3rd or 4th in the Atlantic.
I hope Maryland goes 0-8 in the ACC, an academic scandal is discovered, all players are proven to have received improper benefits, the football program gets the death penalty, and then they go join the Big Ten.
ACC has 50 million reasons not to hate Maryland too much, plus bringing in Louisville with one of the biggest (and very successful) athletic departments in the country is one hell of a consolation prize.
Really wish we played UL instead of BC every year.
Harsh Horse! Who put the manure in your crabcakes? I personally reserve 99 % of my vitriol for LOLuva, and even enjoy it when the twerps beat them. They got a better offer, who can blame them for abandoning Swofford's follies for the B$G? Besides, PSU is gonna crush them year after year, and eat all their crabcakes too.
Maybe. I wish no ill will on any player. I hope they stay healthy, but fail miserably. I don't like that they jumped ship.
Also of note for the thread update-Lammont Simmons is not looking at Tech any longer. Looks like he has a new top 5 that does not include the hokies. GT is the most likely destination. I wonder if we decided to look a different direction after the Stroman commitment. I'm surprised considering the loss of manning and Tookes not to mention so many other players on the roster.
We've had some attrition but Kendall Fuller and Facyson are going to be locking it down at CB for a couple more years, with Riley there to back them up. The safety spots are going to be well stocked too, Frye, Shegog, Greene will be around for a few more years, and on top of them are guys like Fisher, Reavis, McMillian and Harrison coming in Spring/Fall 2014.
If they get Harrison, I hope he picks wide receiver. Harrison and Phillips will be a formidable combo.
With ford throwing to them and Reid and Williams taking attention away behind a 5abulous blocking unit... Oh, and Sam Rogers swinging out of the backfield with his surprisingly soft hands... Who do we have locking down TE for the next few years? I know Lefty wants him some TE in his triangles.
Burke or (if we land him) Izzo.
Kalvin Cline! He is going to be a star.
Noah Brown Update: Sounds like we're not one of the favorites, we're probably behind OSU and Rutgers.
http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2013/8/19/4634144/ohio-state-recruiting...
some believe that due to OSUs numbers they may not take Brown which is why he has been trending for Rutgers recently. some see izzo and Brown as being a packaged deal. gotta also remember the relationship that smith, ford, etc from up north may have on em
If Brown and Izzo are a package deal, they're not both ending up at tOSU; Izzo, to my knowledge, doesn't have an offer from them - nor any true interest, as they didn't make his Top 4. Rutgers remains a possibility, but I think Wisconsin is our biggest threat with Izzo. Brown is a bit of a stretch; while I'd love to end up with him, I have a feeling he is not that into us given his public love for the Buckeyes and even Rutgers, to some extent. We were on them early, so hopefully that carries some weight and we can continue to push hard.
Jesse Aniebonam is announcing his decision tonight. Extremely heavy UMD lean but Hokies are in the top five.
Let's hope he chooses the Hokies.
He's a good counsel kid right? Hopefully Kendall has been in his ear.
Correct.
Getting Aniebonam would be even more shocking than Brady Taylor and Greg Stoman in my opinion. Being able to secure those commitments gives me some hope in any recruiting battle, but this one is a long shot.
What time?
8:30 on ESPN News
Maryland. No surprise there.
Gilman upset Good counsel. Seemed after their RB went out, they had nothing.
Saw some of the ensworth upset over trinity too. Ensworth Ferby is a stud. Had almost 200 yards and 3 tds.
Good Counsel's RB was a good watch. Undersized, but ran REALLY hard and was pushing the pile. A few runs took 4 or 5 guys to bring him down and he couldn't have been taller than 5'8".
You mean #20? He was tiny. Starter went out though, got hurt. The fullback, #8was rocking too.
Jumping ahead...
#ALLOFTHEEDMUNDS
My Fuller senses are tingling.
FYI: I went to sticky this to the top of the recruiting forum, but I can't because it was created as a blog post, not a forum topic. At some point I think I am going to kill off the option to create a blog post. At this point, there is no difference between a blog post and forum topic aside from the latter resides in a specific forum (which means it can be stickied). Either can be bumped to the front page.
Since the 2014 cycle is cooling down, this is fine. However, StinyFTL if you want to take the lead on creating the "Official 2015 Recruiting Cycle Thread", post it in the recruiting forum, and I will make sure it is stickied.
Sorry it took me so long to respond here, between work, house work, website work, and shipping shirts my life has been hectic.
No problem man. I can throw together a 2015 thread in the next couple of weeks. I'll make sure to create it as a forum topic.
QB commit Andrew Ford injured his throwing shoulder , but won't miss significant time: http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/2622444513222310146/ce....
4-star LB Brandon Lee is going to make an official visit to Virginia Tech. (Great news for the Hokies.)
That's really great news for us. I thought his interest in us was lip-service but this got me excited.
I read he wants to go to medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon if football doesn't work out. Hopefully our recruiting staff will have the foresight to have Lee spend time with the pre-med advisor (I had a bunch of friends at VT that are in med school, they all love her), the people over at Virginia Tech Carilion (I've heard nothing but great things about the new medical school), and make Brandon Facyson his tour guide (Facyson said repeatedly that he wants to be a heart surgeon).
Also, orthopedic residency programs put a premium on candidates with an undergraduate engineering background, especially those that major in biomechanics or biomedical engineering. Currently, Virginia Tech is ranked #5 (tied with Stanford) in Engineering Science & Mechanics which would be the best major for Lee to position himself as a future orthopod (ESM has a biomechanics concentration within the major). Also he would have an opportunity to study under Dr. Duma who most of you know from all of the extensive research Virginia Tech has done on concussion-impact in youth football.
Definitely excited for his consideration, especially considering he would create some depth in the linebacker group.
I was thinking the same thing as far as Facyson hosting him.
I also think its of mixed blessing that we're the last visit scheduled. Good because it means that we're the last ones to make an impression on him, bad because if he decides to switch one of his visits to another school, we could be more likely to get bumped.
Yeah, what Stiny said...
Get #ALLTHELACROSSEBABES ready for halloween weekend
We need a stronger home schedule. When recruits are coming to the Duke game for their official we have issues.
Specifically this season, I agree. As for future seasons, we're kicking it up a notch with marquee out-of-conference foes. You can't help that a team like Dook is in your conference, or that your conference decides to send you on the road for the second consecutive year to the extreme points North and South. What you can control is who you schedule in your out-of-conference slate, and while there will be the occasional cupcakes (though ODU will bring some entertaining Air Raid to the slate in a few years), you need that OSU, or Alabama, or Michigan that Weaver has scheduled. This is all too important as we bid farewell to the BCS after this year.
Fair point, Weaver definitely had help from #GOACC but the home slate last year wasn't much better. I am excited about the upcoming schedule and hopefully the new playoff system will force us to schedule better OOC.
Really need to beat UNC that weekend. I have seen him and reavis tweeting it up, so hope that helps.
Noah Brown to Ohio State.
Boo urns.
Expected.
Does anyone know how the Noah Brown commit affects Ryan Izzo? Are they a packaged deal?
From all indications, no they are not.
Updated to include Izzo's commit to FSU. New development about WR Isaiah Ford, currently a Louisville commit but is taking an official visit to VT. Wants to play both basketball and football, my "inside sources" (a.k.a. students on campus who knows things) told me JJ would offer a scholarship for basketball team and Ford would be a walk-on on football team.
Not allowed. I'm pretty sure by NCAA policy that if you have an athletic scholarship at all and play football, your scholarship counts against the 85 for the football team and not your other sports. And the same is true for the basketball team if you play other non-football sports. That way, you can't load up on extra football stars by forcing them on "lesser" sports.
I thought that when Andrew Miller came aboard it was as a wrassler and his scholly counted against the wrassling team's total rather than the football team. Will dig around and see if my recollection is right or wrong.
Ok, I see it mentioned twice that he went to VT on a wrasslin' scholarship, but can't find anything saying whether or not it counted toward the 85.
http://blogs.roanoke.com/insiders/2008/12/exum-commits-to-tech/
http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=14400
I don't know any facts but I assumed that a scholarship in another sport or an academic scholarship turned them into a walk-on for sports for which they weren't on schollies. I know less of these details than all of you, though. I'm just using logic. But there might not be any room for that in the NCAA's place.
+1 to get you off of 666, don't need an evil horse around here.
The Thoroughbred of Sin?
NCAA bylaws: http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D113.pdf
Section 15.5.9 states the rules regarding multi-sport athletes. Sounds like, if you are primarily recruited for a sport other than football, you can "walk on" to the football team without counting against the 85-scholarship limit as long as you are only practicing. As soon as you enter a game, you start to count against the 85.
Therefore, according to the bylaws and your quoted articles, I think we should assume that he was recruited for wrestling, and that the football coaches told him that he'd be welcome to try out, and counted for wrestling during his redshirt year.
Gotcha - thanks for the clarification!
Don't think that's true. Russell Wilson was on a baseball scholarship at NC State and was technically a walk-on on the football team.
According to 247, Ford's already visited once so for him to visit again probably means we have a decent shot.
Terrell Edmunds had something like 29 carries for something like 359 yards and 5 long TD runs this past weekend. Those are approximate numbers but very impressive. He is 1 hell of an athlete and he is also a year younger than everyone else like Trey was. WOW..
It was wrestling scholarship he took but can't say whether or not it counts toward 85 either. I wrestled at the same time and in same district as his older brother John who was 1 hell of a wrestler and football player as well. He was also a very good offensive lineman at Duke. I saw him handle Corey Simon from Florida State his senior year.
About Shai McKenzie on a free 247 article
"After tearing his ACL earlier this month, many felt McKenzie would pull the trigger and commit to Pitt as quickly as possible. McKenzie does not know yet if he will be able to enroll early, but if he does, Virginia Techs chances of pulling him are likely very slim. As it stands, McKenzie will probably end up picking the Panthers in the next few months."
I thought Tech was his favorite?
Ok here is JC Shurburtt's response to the article:
"If he doesn't enroll early, I think Virginia Tech has a realistic chance to sway McKenzie. They've gone from not confident to confident in a short amount of time."
I trust Shurburtt way more than the writer of this article.
Oh and also did you see who is recruiting him for us? We got this.
I feel honored to have the Derrick Nnadi link to one of my articles on isportsweb.com, but not completely sure why it does.
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know when Jump is going to be a senior and if he is VT caliber? I am sure he would attend if given a scholarship. Would love to see another Hopkins wrecking ball.
He is a freshman in high school right now.
awesome thanks!
Anybody know if Nnadi has set any OV up yet?
Went to the Ocean Lakes/Bayside to check out Derrick Nnadi. I counted 7 tackles for loss with 2 sacks.... IN THE FIRST HALF. This kid is a beast. He has to be the number one guy on our board IMO
I have a feeling last night could have a big impact on his recruitment.
I don't know how to embed hokiesports vids, but Frank had a little nugget about wanting to have a "good weekend of recruiting" while they were still in GA. I don't follow recruiting at all, but I'm glad they are at least taking it a little more seriously.
http://www.hokiesports.com/videos/#!/videos/all/5zOXkyZjpCA2prKx6igMPAPz...
I heard that and assumed he meant playing well and impressing GA kids.
Any word on Ricky Walker?
Not much, but last night he was retweeting a bunch of tweets about how great Tech's defense was. I like our chances with him.
Saw on twitter that it was announced at his HS game that he would attend either Nebraska, Penn State and VT.
Marshawn Williams ran for 203 on 14 carries tonight against Hampton.
That will do quite nicely.
For the last THREE games, including this one, Marshawn has rushed for -
200 yds + 4 TDs
239 yds +3 TDs
308 yds + 8 TDs (no typo!)
--------------
747 yds + 15 TDs
For an average high school RB, that's a season's worth of work - Marshawn is VERY far above average!
Recruiting status as of tonight -
Tech is the Favorite -
--------------------
Ricky Walker, 90, DT, Hampton, VA, (Favorite)
Raymon Minor, 90, ATH, Richmond, VA (Favorite)
Jacorien Payton, NR, OLB, Haymarket, VA/Atlanta Sports Academy (Favorite)
Tech in the Top 2 -
-----------------
Shai McKenzie, 92, RB, Washington, PA (VT, Pitt)
Kendrick Holland, 88, WR, Winter Park, FL (UK, VT)
Tech in the Top 3 -
-----------------
Melvin Keihn, 87+, DE, Baltimore, MD (VT, MD, UVA)
Tech in the Top 4 -
-----------------
Derrick Nnadi, 94, DT, Virginia Beach, VA (FSU, OSU, PSU, VT)
Tech in the Top 5 -
-----------------
Brandon Lee, 90, OLB, Indianapolis, IN (VT, Cal, Louisville, NW, Oregon)
Players Without Tech Offers, But Hopeful of Receiving One -
-----------------------------------------------------------
Roger Lewis, 90+, WR, Pickerington, OH (UK, VT[No Offer])
Steve Sobczak, 73, DT, Fredericksburg, VA (Verbal to JMU)
nice update, Thanks!
Thanks!
I can't figure out why Sobczak's rating is 73. Based on his film, he looks like he ought to be in the mid- to high 80s.
Payton isn't rated because he's attending a prep school called the Atlanta Sports Academy - his film looks excellent as a pass-rusher coming off the edge, but nothing was in the film involving pass coverage. He might be better served as a DE in our system.
Hopefully we land 2 out of Minor, Lee and Payton. The only position we have trouble recruiting on defense is LB's.
Why no offer to that Roger Lewis kid? I understand ratings don't always mean a whole lot, but 4 star with 4.42 speed seems like a solid pickup to me. He looks like a burner on his highlight on youtube and housed at least a few kick offs.
This earlier discussion about Noah Brown a few weeks back has a link to a Roger Lewis story which explains why Tech may be hesitant to pull the trigger on giving him an offer:
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/september/10/noah-brown-committed...
Good call, I completely forgot about that. Just doesn't seem like a good idea no matter how much talent he has. Its not my place to pass judgement, but why even get yourself into a situation where something could go so wrong. Thank you for the reminder.
Very good question. I understand Lewis had a very good visit to Tech, but there are a couple of factors at play -
1. I think we're waiting to see how the offer plays out to WR Kendrick Holland - if he verbals, I think we may be done for recruiting WRs in the 2014 Class;
2. Lewis has a personal issue that has caused most schools to back away. Here's the latest news and past history of the case - I don't know how that is being viewed by the Tech coaching staff and/or the school admins -
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/08/27/pickerington-plea-deal-re...
Interesting recruiting development!
Apparently, Tech has just offered Darrin Kirkland, Jr., a current teammate of LB Brandon Lee. Kirkland is 6'2", 215, and plays outside linebacker for Lawrence Central in Indianapolis, IN.
Man, instead of subscribing for VTScoop or HokieHaven I can just use you for my recruiting updates and information. :)
I'm probably going to get in trouble over at 247Sports - I honestly forgot which board I was on when I posted my comments. Not good on my part - I should know better than to post late at night. Don't be surprised if I delete my post fairly soon.
Nah, you're good. The kid tweeted about it himself so not like it was insider info.
Class of 2015 btw.
Yeah - my bad! smh
Okay - here's a new 2014 offeree - DE/OLB Rayjon Simes, 6'7", 239 pounds from Stone Mountain, GA -
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/3005507/highlights/62292375
Late bloomer. Also has offers from Louisville, Kentucky, Marshall, and South Alabama.
Dang, he big. If he bulks up he could be an immensely powerful DE, if not, then a ridiculously big OLB.
For reference, at DE, our biggest DE is Gayle at 6'4" 255, and at the LB, Tyler is 6'1" 230, RVD is 6'3" 220.
DE Seth Dooley is 6'5", 245 - taking the redshirt this year. He's looking VERY good from all reports.
DE Vinny Mihota, Class of 2014, is 6'4", 240
Side note - Hall of Fame OLB Ted "The Mad Stork" Hendricks, who played for the Baltimore Colts, the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders was 6'7", 220. That guy was amazing! Couldn't run around him and couldn't pass over him.
Forgot to check the recruits lists, and managed to miss Dooley. Turkey leg for you for correcting me and giving us correct info.
In case anyone is wondering why he's such a late bloomer, he just started playing this year and has only played 4 varsity football games in his life. Similar to Kalvine Cline, just decided to try it out his senior year I guess.
How soon before he offers to be one of our OTs? ;)
6'7... Wonder if he can throw...
JK. If he has good ball skills he could be a nightmare at TE for opposing DC's. Talk about a mismatch. He's a little too tall to be playing on the dline for my taste, hard to be the low man when you're 6'7.
Looks like Billdozer is impressing some of the recruits.
I'm not a twitter-er so all this just looks like gibberish to me
Recruits retweeting a video of Billdozers and mentioning/tagging other recruits in the post.
Updated Ricky Walker commit to VT.
Might as well add Melvin Keihn to the list as well.
Saw somewhere today that we might still have an outside chance at Hand, it's extremely doubtful but at least it's something positive. He hasn't said anything about his favorites for a while so who knows?
You could call me mashed potato pants if we got Hand and Nnadi late in the process, and if Walker gave a way early commitment.
With Izzo out of the fold, do we go find another TE? That seems to be one position that Lefty really likes to use and we are dangerously low on. Looks like we are looking at a lot of WRs but what about TEs? Maybe there is one hiding down in Florida?
Cline is a t-Fr and we'll have Malleck back next year as well. While I certainly wouldn't mind getting a quality TE, we could be in worse shape at the position (agree we'd really want to get a highly regarded TE in 2015 if we weren't able to take one in 2014).
So, if Ford is lights out at QB, anyone think Hodges moves to TE- especially if his mechanics do not dramatically improve.
Bitter just tweeted that he is there again on the scout team. Made sense last week, preparing for a scary TE in Ebron. Anyone know if Pitt has a scary good (and tall) TE? I just know about the two superb wideouts (Street and Boyd). If not, maybe they are already easing him into a TE role, and the QB race in '14 and beyond will be between Leal, Motley, and Ford... Not that I know anything, but that kind of excites me, given Hodge's athleticism, and the criticism of his throwing motion floating around TKP and other places...
Updated to include Kendrick Holland commit to VT.
Bump for update. Also any word on remaining uncommitted recruits.
We know we missed out on Lee (Mizzou) and we don't appear to be on Street's short list any more (NC State is the favorite with Miami, Ole Miss, and LSU in consideration).
Yeah,but Stiney can update the original post, which is why I bumped.
Wonder how many of these kids will be at UMD.
My guess is a lot.
Already pushing to be my favorite Hokie of all time and the kid hasn't even officially arrived on Campus.
Better watch out Fernley. I hear Sam Rogers can make it to China and back faster than a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick.
haha... just saw this. Not sure if I wanted to know though. Now I will forever live in fear. Ignorance was bliss
Agreed. I think he is a better rep than CJ. Doesn't tweet a lot, but he is very positive and respectful. The more I hear about this kid, the more I'm excited about him being our QB. I like Bucky too, but honestly, I think he would be a better weapon somewhere else on the offense.
Not sure how many of you guys have heard but Tyler Wiegers decommitted from Rutgers. Rivals has him as a low 4-star, 247 as a high 3-star.
http://247sports.com/Player/Tyler-Wiegers-20413
Tyler plays at "hoity-toity" prep school Detroit Country Day (alma mater of Chris Webber and Shane Battier). I know Lefty has got his guy in Andrew Ford but it might be somebody to look into (especially since Lefty probably has ties to the area from his Michigan days). Here's his highlight tape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG2MqH_a5f0