Lessons learned is good, but I also noticed a lot of good players heading out of state. I know we've beat that drum on TKP but hoping Fuente makes a difference. Let's win
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Whose top 10 list? 247 composite has 2 of top 10 at Tech, but still not great. Although from articles some of those kids didn't even want to listen to Tech's pitch.
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How are they defining A-list players? Because by the 247 composite, very few of the guys listed in that article would be considered A-list. Some of them are low enough for a 2 star composite ranking. They also left out true A-list players. Just looking at the 2015 class Josh Sweat and Tim Settle aren't on there, both of whom will be drafted come April. 2014 they leave out Dashawn Hand, Quin Blanding, Andrew Brown, or Derrick Nnadi. Shawn Payne was the 49th ranked player in the state in that class but is listed here.
I'm not saying all A-list players make it, but unless I'm missing something, this article is extremely inaccurate.
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I mean what else would you call a list of the best players in a media coverage area? It's like saying the all conference players in the NAIA aren't that good so why do they get called all conference. Richmond just hasn't been a hotbed of high school football talent recently.
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They get all conference because they're the best in the conference. By that logic the article should be Richmonds best or top 10 players in Richmond. It just seems like A-list refers to the best of the best. When you're not even in the top 50 players in the state I don't think A-list is the right way to refer to them. Especially when you're trying to make a point about guys who don't end up being career football players. Obviously from that list you're not going to find many career football players. I just think the way the title was phrased is misleading.
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Grant was terrible against VT fortunately for the Hokies and ultimately was beaten out by Raekwon McMillian.
Powell might be the worst DL to start a game in the ACC since I started watching film.
Eberle is fair, but has struggled (as has FSU's whole OL the last two years.)
Taylor was involved in a bunch of the shenanigans that brought down Butch Jones.
Becton's feet make me look like Fred Astaire.
Felton Davis, Greg Dortch, and K'Von Wallace are the big misses. For me, when I read this article I think to myself "man, I hope VT puts more resources in to recruiting DC and Charlotte." There have been a ton of misses.
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Who was Mike before Motu? Tyler? It's amazing, but if it was Tyler, I don't think Grant was better than him...at least for our system.
Eberle would have been an improvement on our Centers of that era, I believe. "Fair" is an upgrade.
We went after Dortch and Wallace late in the process, knew they were players but didn't close. I feel like Felton Davis was just a miss at the end of the Beamer era. Maybe if Shane gets any 804 blame, that might be a key one right there. Would love to have Davis and Dortch right now.
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SB Nation ran this image last week regarding recruiting
I hear a lot that recruiting is a national game, and while that is true, just look at that map. For states who have a major football university in it, its pretty much standard that one of the home schools will bring in the majority of the top recruits. And then there's Virginia, which is getting its lunch eaten by out of state. Hell, we're 3rd or 4th on that list where Ohio State would have claimed it if not for Penn St.
Something needs to be done about keeping Virginia guys in state.
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It's the Mormon and Polynesian connections. LOLUVA has one of the three largest numbers of Polynesians on staff, the Mormon Church has a very large presence in the Pacific communities also.
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They have the 4th, 5th, and 10th ranked players, we have the 7th, 8th, 14th, and 17th. Granted, our mid-tier 3 stars is better, but they got the better top-end talent.
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VT definitely got great talent overall, but when you're talking about who "won" the state, its about the elite elite talent since thats where national recruiting competes. And ncst beat us there. No need to cherry pick the top 23.
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I wouldn't. UNC got 2 of the top 4 (who were top200 national recruits) as well as a couple other guys rated higher than our second highest guy. I don't see how you could say we did better than them.
I would say we "won" VA though. Largely because the no single team got two elite national guys.
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I would agree with you that we need to improve our recruiting of the top guys in Virginia. It's just very difficult now, since as you stated, recruiting is a national game and that does hurt us some. But it's not like top players always stay in their respective state.
Of the top 30 guys in the 2018 class (per 247), 15 of those players committed to an in-state program. 4 of those 15 were Georgia natives & UGA recruits, and 3 of those 15 were California natives who committed to USC. That's nearly half of the top 30 right there. Those states are absolute football hotbeds with programs that carry weight in the top tier of college football.
Also, I think the remoteness of Blacksburg may hurt us more than we think sometimes. From most portions of the Tidewater region, it's a 5-hour drive to Blacksburg. It's 6.5 hours from there to Penn State, for comparison. Similarly, it's about 4 hours from NoVA/DC to Blacksburg, but only 3.5 hours to Penn State. Yes, that's only in comparison to one school, but geography certainly helps them with the areas where the best VA recruits often originate.
Also, Virginia produces a lot of great talent, and it's one of the reasons big names are coming here more often. Per the article linked below, Virginia produced the eighth-most blue chip recruits from 2013-2017. It's not as easy to lock down any state at this point in the game.
But its not just the top of the top. Even when you break it to the top 10 within the state, the commonwealth is being pillaged from out of state schools at a rate that appears to be much higher than anywhere else, especially those with one or more major collegiate programs within it.
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Easiest and most within the rules thing anyone reading this site can do is join the Hokie Club. It's not just about the dollars, it's about the membership #'s. Bigger numbers = better perception of how elite our program is.
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Comments
Lessons learned is good, but I also noticed a lot of good players heading out of state. I know we've beat that drum on TKP but hoping Fuente makes a difference. Let's win
This year more than ever. Only 1 kid in VA's top 10 stayed in-state.
Whose top 10 list? 247 composite has 2 of top 10 at Tech, but still not great. Although from articles some of those kids didn't even want to listen to Tech's pitch.
Ok read it wrong but still, VT has 1 of the top 9.
I wonder how that matches up with the rest of the state...because thats not a huge sample size, but the success rate is surprisingly low.
Thats about 2 starts a year. 3 more get playing time and 7 + a year out of the 12 either never see playing time or transfer.
How are they defining A-list players? Because by the 247 composite, very few of the guys listed in that article would be considered A-list. Some of them are low enough for a 2 star composite ranking. They also left out true A-list players. Just looking at the 2015 class Josh Sweat and Tim Settle aren't on there, both of whom will be drafted come April. 2014 they leave out Dashawn Hand, Quin Blanding, Andrew Brown, or Derrick Nnadi. Shawn Payne was the 49th ranked player in the state in that class but is listed here.
I'm not saying all A-list players make it, but unless I'm missing something, this article is extremely inaccurate.
That's the best players in Richmond. I don't think of the guys you listed were Richmond area.
Ok then yes I missed something lol. I still think the article is misleading though calling some of these kids A-list players.
I mean what else would you call a list of the best players in a media coverage area? It's like saying the all conference players in the NAIA aren't that good so why do they get called all conference. Richmond just hasn't been a hotbed of high school football talent recently.
They get all conference because they're the best in the conference. By that logic the article should be Richmonds best or top 10 players in Richmond. It just seems like A-list refers to the best of the best. When you're not even in the top 50 players in the state I don't think A-list is the right way to refer to them. Especially when you're trying to make a point about guys who don't end up being career football players. Obviously from that list you're not going to find many career football players. I just think the way the title was phrased is misleading.
VT did pretty well with the kids we got. A few that got away that could have been big helps:
2011: Curtis Grant
2014: Alec Eberle, Tyler Powell
2015: Darrell Taylor, Felton Davis, Eli Hanback
2016: K'Von Wallace, Greg Dortch, Mac Patrick
2017: Mekhi Becton
It's fun to think about our offense right now if we had Felton Davis, Greg Dortch and Mekhi Becton.
Grant was terrible against VT fortunately for the Hokies and ultimately was beaten out by Raekwon McMillian.
Powell might be the worst DL to start a game in the ACC since I started watching film.
Eberle is fair, but has struggled (as has FSU's whole OL the last two years.)
Taylor was involved in a bunch of the shenanigans that brought down Butch Jones.
Becton's feet make me look like Fred Astaire.
Felton Davis, Greg Dortch, and K'Von Wallace are the big misses. For me, when I read this article I think to myself "man, I hope VT puts more resources in to recruiting DC and Charlotte." There have been a ton of misses.
French sliding into the OL meeting room if he were hired:
via GIPHY
I'd like to have Hanback right now.
Who was Mike before Motu? Tyler? It's amazing, but if it was Tyler, I don't think Grant was better than him...at least for our system.
Eberle would have been an improvement on our Centers of that era, I believe. "Fair" is an upgrade.
We went after Dortch and Wallace late in the process, knew they were players but didn't close. I feel like Felton Davis was just a miss at the end of the Beamer era. Maybe if Shane gets any 804 blame, that might be a key one right there. Would love to have Davis and Dortch right now.
Most telling thing, is that the kids that went to Tech and didn't play that ended up leaving, really didn't end up playing anywhere else.
I think the moral of the story is you got to work hard wherever you go, since nothing is guaranteed.
SB Nation ran this image last week regarding recruiting
I hear a lot that recruiting is a national game, and while that is true, just look at that map. For states who have a major football university in it, its pretty much standard that one of the home schools will bring in the majority of the top recruits. And then there's Virginia, which is getting its lunch eaten by out of state. Hell, we're 3rd or 4th on that list where Ohio State would have claimed it if not for Penn St.
Something needs to be done about keeping Virginia guys in state.
Wow, UVA recruited Hawai'i better than Hawai'i did!
I don't know how you get sold on UVA. What was promised? What lies were told?
It's the Mormon and Polynesian connections. LOLUVA has one of the three largest numbers of Polynesians on staff, the Mormon Church has a very large presence in the Pacific communities also.
Who is the guy grinning in Vermont?
Good call. I have no idea.
Alabama ended up pretty good for only winning CT.
Gotta think UK and Louisville are wondering how the hell they lost to Purdue.
I'd say VT won NC.
I would give it to NCST this year, personally.
They have the 4th, 5th, and 10th ranked players, we have the 7th, 8th, 14th, and 17th. Granted, our mid-tier 3 stars is better, but they got the better top-end talent.
Tech got 5 of the top 23 players in NC. UNC and NCST got 3 and Duke 2. I'd say the good guys walked in to NC and took a lot of talent from those guys.
VT definitely got great talent overall, but when you're talking about who "won" the state, its about the elite elite talent since thats where national recruiting competes. And ncst beat us there. No need to cherry pick the top 23.
So last year when Tech got 3 of top 10?
What are you asking?
Last year Tech went to NC and got 3 of the top recruits down there, would you say last year they won NC?
I wouldn't. UNC got 2 of the top 4 (who were top200 national recruits) as well as a couple other guys rated higher than our second highest guy. I don't see how you could say we did better than them.
I would say we "won" VA though. Largely because the no single team got two elite national guys.
I would agree with you that we need to improve our recruiting of the top guys in Virginia. It's just very difficult now, since as you stated, recruiting is a national game and that does hurt us some. But it's not like top players always stay in their respective state.
Of the top 30 guys in the 2018 class (per 247), 15 of those players committed to an in-state program. 4 of those 15 were Georgia natives & UGA recruits, and 3 of those 15 were California natives who committed to USC. That's nearly half of the top 30 right there. Those states are absolute football hotbeds with programs that carry weight in the top tier of college football.
Also, I think the remoteness of Blacksburg may hurt us more than we think sometimes. From most portions of the Tidewater region, it's a 5-hour drive to Blacksburg. It's 6.5 hours from there to Penn State, for comparison. Similarly, it's about 4 hours from NoVA/DC to Blacksburg, but only 3.5 hours to Penn State. Yes, that's only in comparison to one school, but geography certainly helps them with the areas where the best VA recruits often originate.
Also, Virginia produces a lot of great talent, and it's one of the reasons big names are coming here more often. Per the article linked below, Virginia produced the eighth-most blue chip recruits from 2013-2017. It's not as easy to lock down any state at this point in the game.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/28/12040586/rankings-state-stars-florida-texas-california
But its not just the top of the top. Even when you break it to the top 10 within the state, the commonwealth is being pillaged from out of state schools at a rate that appears to be much higher than anywhere else, especially those with one or more major collegiate programs within it.
Easiest and most within the rules thing anyone reading this site can do is join the Hokie Club. It's not just about the dollars, it's about the membership #'s. Bigger numbers = better perception of how elite our program is.