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I'll start off this thread with a quick breakdown of three of our most recently trending DT prospects:
This young man received a somewhat favorable review from French recently. I'm not sure about when he would enroll, but listed at 6'1 and 326 this guy seems to have play-ready size. If he is able to get on campus sooner than later that would be huge to make sure he is proper playing shape, but if nothing else he could hopefully provide meaningful snaps and help us hold up at the LOS if he has the lower body strength to utilize his weight. JUCO
This guy has been trending and would hopefully fit our gap shooting defense. His listed weight varies from different sources, but the big upside here is that it is my understanding that if we land Crawford, he will be able to get on campus sooner and spend time with Hilgart getting into playing shape. JUCO.
This guy is not a JUCO, seems to have typical preferred DT size for a VT defense. His team recently played in the VA 6A state championship against Manchester who has current VT OL commit Pritchard. I don't know much about this guy but I'm sure others with more knowledge can weigh in.
If anyone has any analysis, or extra prospects to watch down the stretch feel free to contribute your thoughts.
My ranking of the three are in this order:
Crawford: exact type of smaller DT that we've had success with in the past. Think Woddy Baron for a playing style. I'd say 275 right now but will get on campus in January, so I don't see him having much of a problem getting to 290 or so. As long as he's able to keep his quickness with that weight, I think he will push for that 2nd starting spot next to Hewitt. Needs to get better at using his hands.
Fuga: Somewhat of a mix between the two. Total late bloomer and VT isn't the only P5 school to show interest right now. Good size for a high school senior and has good quicks off the ball. Again, could use some time in S&C but I think he's more likely to see the field as a freshman than Kendricks IMO. Would be nice to be able to get him third string snaps. Not sure whether or not he's an early enrollee.
Cunningham: College ready strength and weight, but could use some re-distribution of the weight. He does have good feet, but from what I saw, isn't a great penetrator. Moves well sideline to sideline, but seemed to get stood up at the line of scrimmage and simply hold his ground rather than make a push into the backfield. I see him as more of the rotational 3rd/4th guy.
My DT depth chart looks like this:
1's: Hewitt, Crawford
2's: Porcher, Cunningham
3's: Fuga, Dean/Burke
RS: Kendricks, Pollard
Lots of in home visits in GA and FL.
Love the Metallica shirt on Pollard. Can't be a coincidence, right?
The maroon window treatment tells me everything I need to know.
That's enough to easily make him my favorite member of this class. This kid gets it.
That metallica shirt is dope
Please check out that family shot of Kendricks. Moms be like "You knock that shit off! Put that down" to somebody off camera.
What's everyone's thoughts on early contributors for next season, particularly from those already committed. I see guys like Payoute, King and Robinson getting some time in this offense. Obviously some of the tackles will get their shot. JR Walker in the secondary? Does Carter project as a corner? You'd have to think that all of those spots could be won.
Does anyone return punts that might be a difference maker?
I think Robinson, Payoute, King, Hudson, Fuga play and the rest redshirt. Could see Robinson as the PR for his entire career. He and Ellis would be my top two picks there.
So you're saying we will flip Fuga!?
Yes...the big dogs are closing in
You better watch out
Sign those LOIs
Visit your 'croots, I'm telling you why
The big dogs are comin' to town
They're makin' their lists
And offering your guys
Gonna find out who's flipping tonight
The big dogs are comin' to town
If we can't flip a commit from a Temple program that doesn't even have a head coach, we need to start over
I would think Payoute would RS given our depth at WR. Same with Hudson.
If Payoute is the burner/deep-threat we've been looking for to take the top off the defense he will see the field. If defenses are afraid of him running streaks that opens up too much for the offense not to play him.
Not going to lie, the thought of Turner, Payoute, and Ellis all on the field is pretty exciting. Speed everywhere.
Agree, esp if Willis is starting QB. He has the arm to drop a ball in his arms from 50+ yards out.
I've heard from others that Payoute is pretty raw, Pinckney is the guy to play next year.
It has begun
Won't be the last. They're rumored on flipping some big names.
What's crazy is their ceiling next season is 6/7 wins and almost topping out at 8 the next three seasons after that.
It's a story as old as time.
You know players take more than a team's ceiling into account when choosing a school, right?
Yes lots of reasons that only that kid can decide are important. My point was all these kids as good as they are aren't going to be able to compete in a stacked BIG eastern division.
Yep, until Locksley goes 3-9, 4-7, 3-9 - he is going to sign every good player in Maryland that he wants.
That's a bold call, you're predicting him to double his total wins as a head coach in his first season
UMD also just hired Elijah Brooks, DeMatha High School's head coach, to be an assistant coach on their staff.
Well, at least they're keeping it ethical.
That pipeline is going to be strong.
both schools have the classiest fan bases you'll ever meet
/s
Flipping a guy from WVU is childs play, let me know when he starts flipping them from Penn State. #notimpressed
per Reddit/r/CFB this wasn't really a flip. WVU apparently pulled Hazel's offer a few weeks ago.
This guy is a 4-star WR. Either he got arrested, or this was a case of "we didn't really want him, we pulled his offer, lol".
Post on r/cfb talks about red flags, something non-academic and non-illegal, that happened on an Oklahoma visit. Didn't see anything more specified.
He's definitely a good WR on the field. Off the field there seems to be something going on though.
But my point was mostly that Locksley & Co didn't flip anyone. His WVU offer was pulled long before he "flipped" to MD. They picked up a talented prospect who was uncommitted and seems to have a bit of a tarnished reputation.
Not surprising that Locksley and the media spins that differently.
He failed his preparatory "couch burning for prospective freshmen" program?
With the early signing period coming up, are we looking to take all of our commits, or will some wait? I believe last year was full house, but wasn't sure if someone had the feeling for this year.
I thought Gary was a decommit/opened his recruitment back up?
The inside information was that he was going to flip to USCe if he was a take. I don't know for sure that was true, but I heard it from USCjr fans and some of our people. He never decommitted or anything official though.
He also broke his femur the day before he was supposed to go on a visit there, which pretty much ended that whole line of drama anyway.
Which looking at the pictures of him I'd expect a bigger brace or something on his leg.
I honestly have no clue how he's upright. Obviously different cases/people but I was in traction for two weeks with my femur fracture and then had an external fixator for a long time. I don't think I was up and about for a while without a ton of assistance.
I feel your pain. same boat. but different time. my cast went all the way down one leg and half way down the other. I was scooting around for a while like ivar the boneless
I don't recall that being a Real True Thing, just chatter about the gamecocks. He did break his femur though
Guess this gives us a clue about Webb.
[Mod Edit: Replace with tweet from recruit, previous tweet linked to an article behind a paywall.]
Ummm....not really. Who is this? And did we offer him? Is he calling Fuente the Most High?
(It probably doesn't help that I can't see the twitter picture.)
Brion Murray, DB at Coffeyville Community College (we offered him)
Thanks for providing this extra info.
I think we all know what he meant. Please do not ruin a perfectly good recruiting thread, again.
Hokies were in to see LB/whip Eugene Asante Wednesday.
For those of us needing a reminder
they labeled him as an OLB but really should be BSM based on his film (Ball-Seeking Missile)
Think Alonso Tweedy at the end of the 2011 Miami game. I think that was Lamar Miller.
His name used to be Earl Millmar but then Tweedy hit him like a ball-seeking missile and rearranged all the letters in his name to Lamar Miller.
This may be your BEST anagram post, yet. This is gold, Jerry!
edit: i think i am partial to Joe Lunardi as my best work
Its been awhile since we filled the Lunch Pail with stolen souls, but I think Asante will help with that
#NoArmTacklingHere
Porter Rooks commits to NC ST. When do we start saying 2021 is the year.
https://247sports.com/Player/Porter-Rooks-93001/
Who?
Probably the highest rated somewhat realistic VT WR target for 2020.
You guys keep worrying about Locksley and Mack, meanwhile NC State is the team VT consistently battles for regional top recruits and is wining more than they are losing.
What if I told you I am worried about all three of them?
Then it tells me that it has nothing to do with them, and more to do with us.
They aren't mutually exclusive, at all.
True, but one of those factors is significantly more important.
I'm guessing that Saban frets about other teams offering the guys he wants.
Think about Microsoft and all those companies that tried to the the Microsoft killer, or for the younger crowd, the ipod kill, iPhone killer, etc. When you have what everyone wants they come after you, and you have to worry about the snake oil salesmen because when they are found out they have already made a dent.
I think we have to wait until a big-name VA target that all the insiders thought was a VT lock heads out of state.
So Lambert then
Rinse and repeat.
Getting VT's fans hopes up every year is an important part of the recruiting cycle.
JUCO DT target Nick Figueroa just had three of CBs switch to foggy FWIW
Foggy?
I believe he means undecided.
I was wondering if that was some nickname for a school and I was just too old or young to understand,
Remind me what they were before?
UCLA
I hope that is good news for us, but I have a feeling that it is more likely that Oregon stepped into the picture.
USC bound
Oooh, I guessed Oregon but that makes as much or more sense.
We're out of the picture. You don't abruptly cancel an official visit the day before and leave the school a few grand in non refundable tickets and then decide you want to go there a week later. Just a few grand down the drain that our staff could have spent elsewhere.
Yeah I was thinking about that and wondering if they bother getting refundable tickets with how often recruits seem to change their plans at the last minute. Obviously situations can change quickly but if the school arranges air travel because you confirmed an official visit, that shows pretty poor character in my opinion.
If they're a few grand, they should be refundable.
Someone who focuses mostly on California schools, you have to figure it's a long shot to get them to the east coast.
what non refundable tickets are we talking about here?
airplane tickets from CA to VA and back for Fig's official visit.
although I'd be surprised if we were buying non-refundable tickets for recruit travel.
Hardee's stuff
JR Walker at the Shrine Bowl this week, still looks like a solid for early signing and enrollment
We are the first to offer scholarship to an absolute beast of a freshman runningback out of Norfolk, Kaytron Allen.
MFW you soapbox about Hokie Club
Yep if you have already joined he Hokie Club then yea it's a dead horse but based on surveys done on here and the Hokie Club overall enrollment and donations they message clearly isn't being heard by enough people.
I joined the Hokie Club for the first time this year and there's a good chance I wouldn't have done so if not for your posts. I haven't been to a game in Lane in 6 years and might never get season tickets but I think you made a compelling case to financially support the athletic programs if we want Virginia Tech to field highly competitive teams.
I'm glad you joined. I'm also glad that my message has reached at least one person, even if it's only 1 that's for me is a positive return on investment.
As for seeing games etc until HokieSports/ Hokie Club get around to sending out my geography events calendars what I do is look over each sport at the beginning of the season and see if any teams are competing in my area. In last 5 years I've seen ACC women's golf, Tech Softball and men's baseball.
I live in the Florida panhandle, and I've seen football in Tallahassee, and basketball in Niceville. Winning in football against FSU in Doak Campbell was very cool.
In addition to televised and streamed games.
don't. make. joke. about. first. o.
HUDL
IMO has a higher ceiling than Ford, Slade, or Laborn at least at this point.
how'd that turn out for us
Take a sip from the half full glass. There is plenty of time for soul crushing later.
So now the glass is less than half full...great...
Let's hope Brewster doesn't start recruiting him
Well then let's see how this works out, mKay?
Will he end up at PSU or FSU?
OSU sounds like they might be due
Just put Kam Chancellor on the pay roll to be our new recruiter in the 757 already. What kid could say no to Bam Bam Kam? /s
Miami is sinking fast
Wow.
Is there something happening at UM that I'm unaware of?
EDIT: I'm an idiot, forgot about Diaz leaving, nvm.
UF is
alwaysthe big dog in Florida now. I believe the entire committed group of OLine recruits decomitted and recommitted to Florida.Edit: Deleted a word that iPhone keyboard added.
I really hate Florida football. The fans are unbearable when they lose. Worse when they win.
Saw a note that Diaz may be going to Temple. I wouldn't doubt if that is why. he was the turnover chain and brought a lot of energy to the team.
Seems to be pretty much a done deal
Yet another "come to Jesus" moment for Mark Richt
That man has had a top 10 recruiting class pretty much every year for the past 15 years, except his first year at Miami in 2016. He has consistently underachieved with the talent he has at his disposal, which is why I hope he stays at Miami for a long time.
Notice how quickly Georgia became relevant again when Kirby Smart took over. He has been using Richt's recruits and they nearly won it all in year 2 (just had to beat Bama twice to do it) and almost had the same chance in year 3.
haha I legit LOL at this. Seriously tho!
LOCKSLEY!!!!! Curse you!!
But it's okay if VT continues to miss on recruits, because Maryland will never beat OSU.
I think I'm doing this logic correctly.
He isn't a 4 or 5* recruit so he's not going to help us win championships anyway.
I'm also doing this logic correctly.
I hear you. I think this guy can actually play, though. The idea we back-fill (or even get) anyone now with a 4* is long gone. I'm much more concerned that we're in a position recruiting-wise where we're in tight battles trying to flip guys from Temple and Troy.
Let that sink in for a second... we're worried about losing recruits to UMD...
We've competed with UMD for recruits for a while now and certainly haven't gotten all of those players. In fact I recall that people regarded Durkin and his staff (Beatty, Stinespring, London, Abdul-Rahim, Bowen) pretty highly as recruiters and they signed the #18 and 28 ranked classes the past two seasons. That might not be elite, but what are you expecting UMD's average class to be under Locksley? Consistent top 15 classes seems pretty unrealistic to me. I would guess occasional top 20 and more often ranked 20-30, which seems to be similar to their rankings under Durkin.
Also I stated this in another comment but I don't feel like we've truly focused on recruiting the DC metro area since Aaron Moorehead's departure. This year we literally don't have a single recruit from the area and that's while the scandal was on-going and Maryland didn't have a head coach. I do think there are talented players in the DMV and this might make it more difficult to secure those players, but I think we can utilize a strategy of pulling a few guys consistently from multiple areas (NOVA/DC/MD, 757, 804, NC, FL) and still upgrade the talent on our roster.
Durkin worried me more, because he could actually coach, and also had zero ethics.
Figured it would cost him in the long run, but was thinking it just might work in the short run. Not as worried about Locksley being a good coach.
I don't know... maybe the fact that UMD can crack the top-20 but VT can't... to me that indicates we're selling ourselves short, regardless of where our 'croots come from.
There is ONE (1) whole school in DC that is worth recruiting for VT and that's Gonzaga. Maryland is worth working on for sure but the fact that we don't have pull there anymore doesn't fully explain why we average in the mid to
lowhigh 20's in recruiting every year.St Johns College? Dematha may as well be DC.
Any school in the WCAC is worth recruiting from. Savoy came from Wilson, which is public. Ballou sometimes has some guys. NOVA, Montgomery County, and PG are basically DC and have talent.
NOVA and Maryland are absolutely not "basically DC."
Yes they are which is why the area is referred to as the DMV and the Washington Post ranks all those teams against each other. If you are LITERALLY talking about schools within the city limits, and not regional recruiting, then fine.
I am literally talking about schools in the District of Columbia because they are administered, funded, and run very differently. And when discussing recruiting, the influencers, athlete culture, and frankly the academic preparation for DC recruits (excepting Gonzaga) are very different than Maryland or NoVa. When people refer to "DMV" recruiting as tho it's some monolithic area, it suggests to me that they don't know the area very well and that they especially don't know DC... regardless of what the ever so thorough and heavily invested in local high school football coverage WaPo does. (That part about the WaPo is s/ in case it wasnt obvious.)
Edit: The fact that this post is green with 20 upvotes indicates to me that there are lots of folks who don't know DC very well. So I'll attempt to expand on what I'm talking about...
There are a host of historical and environmental factors that lower the signal to noise ratio of DC recruiting such that, were I a coach like Fuente, with very finite recruiting resources, I would make a cost/benefit decision to direct my resources elsewhere. For example: if you don't live here, you're probably not aware of the recent investigation uncovering widespread grade and test score falsification at the administrative level to pass and graduate students from several schools (including Ballou) in DC. This impacted most, if not all, of the publicly funded schools here that still manage to field a varsity football team. This example is just the tip of the iceberg of reasons why DC is very different from NoVa and Maryland when it comes to recruiting and why the fact that we don't have many recruits from here isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's not a semantic distinction.
Agreed, in the district, private schools are tops in landing offers. Navigating public schools is insane. it's not as easy as moving to a different county or just getting on the bus to go to your assigned school like in VA and MD. If you go public in DC, you gotta hope you get a good school through the lottery.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.
Calling that area "DMV", and having someone focus on it doesn't mean they have to see it as a black box and recruit every school equally, it just means someone is in focused on that region and spending time developing that area's relationships. They can still focus on specific schools, and recruit them as if they're individually unique.
So someone saying we should recruit that area isn't necessarily implying a blind approach.
TLDR: DC isn't worth the time (except Gonzaga). NoVa and Maryland probably are.
What I'm reading is really DCPS isn't worth the time cost recruiting because of all of the problems that these schools face. For those of you not familiar with DCPS, yak_butter makes a good point, it is not your average school system.
I was trying to tiptoe around the moral and political implications of that statement but it's essentially what I'm saying, yes.
The systemic academic issues are real, which you explained well above. I think everybody got confused because you weren't specific enough as to the who and why. Now we can have an argument about which private schools to recruit from, but because those schools play regionally , I think that's more of a regional recruiting thing.
So we should just focus on specific schools in the DMV?
Makes sense to me.
It's not just a UMD thing - there are downstream effects. When UMD gets 5* RB, MarShawn Lloyd (who's CBs are flipping from PSU to UMD), who do you think PSU is going to go harder at? They're 2nd RB on their board is Chris Tyree
If they can get a commit from another blue chip guy like Rakim Jarrett, everyone (Clemson, FSU, Alabama) is going to move down to their next target, which only bumps VT further down the list.
UMD or UNC recruiting better doesn't just make it harder for us to compete with directly them, but also harder across the board. They're just more schools that are getting talented players over us, which they have no business doing.
We're a 6-6 team that lost to ODU but somehow have the 32nd ranked recruiting class with 5 4*s and people think our recruiting sucks. I know that ranking might change before the end of the year, but its a miracle it's there now after the lows of this season and the embarrassment of the first 10 games. For us to think we should be in the business of landing top recruits after this year and after how many times it's been pointed out we don't bring in the money to recruit top classes, I don't get it. What about the last 8 seasons of Tech football make you think we should be outrecruiting those schools? Also, if a kid is going to UNC after this past season then football is obviously not their primary concern.
So we shouldn't expect to get anyone good because we are a bad team.. But we also shouldn't want to get players willing to go to a bad team because that makes them bad football players?
I was just saying if a kid wants to go to UNC after this season then maybe it's because that kid really wanted to go to UNC and isn't because of something we didn't do. My main point is I think our recruiting accurately reflects how our program has done recently. We're getting a handful of really good guys each year and then getting a lot of guys that develop nicely into our system. And for us to do that after a season like this, I think shows that our guys can recruit.
I guess they're going for the fake classes?
I largely agree with you about expectations, but its worth pointing out that the thread you're commenting on is about VT vs UMD recruiting... and UMD was 5-7 on the year, oh, and they had a player die and went into a total freefall... so also fair to expect us to outrecruit them.
The comment I replied to referenced UNC so I was just rolling with that.
Region plays a big role in recruiting, and most of the guys Maryland goes after are from local schools near College Park. We shouldn't be losing 757 guys to UMD, but I don't expect many DC or Maryland players to prefer VT over UMD. Blacksburg is a really far ways from the DMV.
Saying they had a player die makes it sound like an unfortunate accident, THEY KILLED A PLAYER and still are pulling recruits.
The staff associated with McNair's death has been fired and it's completely false to say they were "still pulling in recruits." You can see for yourself how poorly they were doing.
Maryland's 2019 Football Recruiting Class
Are we really losing our minds over Hazel flipping from WVU and an offer to Eugene Asante? God help us all on these recruiting threads when something of actual significance happens.
I didn't say the last staff was pulling recruits, I said the new staff are pulling recruits only months after representatives of the university over-exercised a player to death. I know staff turnover and all, but I would think this would still be a weight on their program and from the sound of it (and the part people here are concerned about) is the implication by several people on the inside of the recruiting world that we should expect several flips in the near future.
I'm in Arkansas and am watching coach Morris, who literally had the worst season in Arkansas history with 2 wins (only beat Tulsa and eastern Illinois) and losses to Texas state, vanderbilt, and Colorado state, and their last two losses were outscored 90-6, get recruiting wins all over. Arkansas had zero sec wins this year. Since Bobby Petrino wrecked his motorcycle with a young lass on the back, Arkansas football has been a dumpster fire. 7 years of awful. Arkansas currently has the 18th ranked class in the country with 8 four stars.....this with about an avg of 7 d1 caliber football players in state a year compared to the dozens in Virginia. He's selling something and it isn't "look at our wins". So the 32nd ranked class being a miracle is just a silly statement. I'm not saying we aren't recruiting well, but I'm also not going to say it couldn't be better. Chad Morris is recruiting at a higher level than any coach that I can remember at Arkansas, and by quite a bit, and doing so while having a historically awful season.
I'm not saying we haven't had misses. We have. I'm not saying we couldn't be doing better. I'm moreso calling out the people acting like the sky is falling in recruiting for us. Also, of course SEC schools are going to be able to recruit better during rough times. Kids want to play in the SEC. Arkansas also made a bowl game in 2016 out of the SEC, so not sure i'd say 7 years of awful is accurate. And really? a silly statement? Out of all the crap posted on here, that's what gets called a silly statement? I really don't think people understand the effect of every team recruiting against us being able to just roll clips of us losing to ODU.
Edit: We're now the 29th ranked class. #anythingispossible
Yes, I personally thought it was a silly statement. I live 10 minutes from the University of Arkansas and see the shit show they put on the field every week, yet they are currently 18th in recruiting this year. If you think being 29th ranked after making it to a bowl game 26 years in a row is a "miracle", then I'm not sure of the word/s to describe the job Chad Morris has done on the recruiting trail when Arkansas has had two winning records in the last 7 years and had the fewest wins in program history (2) this year.
And yes, I would call the last 7 years awful for Arkansas. They are 13-43 in SEC play in that time. 5 out of 7 of those seasons featured 2 wins or less in SEC play (including 0 wins twice). The one year you referenced (2016) was a decent year record wise (7-6), but the way it ended was the epitome of awful. The last game of the regular season they blew a 17 point halftime lead to a (4-8) Missouri team. Arkansas fans thought it couldn't get much worse at that point, but the Razorbacks said, "hold my beer" and then blew a 24 point halftime lead to the good guys in the Belk Bowl...........that was awesome for Tech, but about as awful as it gets for Arkansas.
Did he commit to UMD? I'm confused. I thought they just made him an offer 10 days after we did.
"Recruiting Thread" needs to be retitled to "Everyone Panic and Bitch Thread"
Lol chill dude they just offered. Save your indignation for if they land him
Thank you for not using "when".
Does Manny Diaz at Temple now hurt our chances of flipping Fuga?
Frankly it shouldn't matter who the coach of Temple is. If we can't flip anyone we want from Temple Fuente & Co have some serious explaining to do.
So what's OSU's reason for letting a 5 star Ohio kid go to LOLUVA? /s
1) Briggs is not a 5 star via composite, he's even lower rated than his composite score by his 247 score, which most people believe is the most reliable at this point.
2) As much as we rip on LOLUVA, it's not a 1 to 1 comparison to Temple in any facet of comparison.
I'd take a Temple HC last 15 years over one from LOLUVA every day of the week. Why yes there is the P5 vs G5 level anOSU letting a top kid go to a bottom tier P5 team is pretty close to same comparison.
OSU wouldn't have taken him. UVA and Purdue were probably his two best committable offers.
Still, makes you wonder how Purdue whiffed on it.
Watch his tape
Meh... Kids have lots of reasons to choose the schools they do.
Another JUCO headed to visit.
https://247sports.com/Player/Amare-Barno-46076558/
6'6" 220? Yes, please!
OK, I'm calling photoshop on that picture.
/s in case you haven't picked that up.
I come here for the aviation safety humor.
that's not aiming at foxridge, though
Yeah that's the opposite direction. It's definitely heading for the driverless car testing facility.
Margaret Beeks Elementary (or Gucci Kroger).
Crawford commits to the good guys!
Glad we got Crawford. He will make the DT situation better immediately. I would like to get Fuga as well.
Hopefully the JUCO(S) we pull in help to bridge the gap while we build further depth with Kendricks, Pollard, and anyone else who commits this year and next.
Just seen on Facebook Juco DT Crawford committed. So that's cool.
Does anyone know (or can do the research) on the decommits from Miami in the wake of the Def Coordinator leaving and see if we either A. had tried to recruit them in the past and just got beat by UM or B. if we didnt recruit them at first but now we should give them a look?
I didn't have time to scan the thread, but Joshua Fuga (6-1, 301 DT Freedom HS) is taking an official visit to Tech this weekend. I spoke to a contact this morning and feel good about where the Hokies stand in his recruitment.
That's Fuga'n awesome!
My man! Feel good about him as a development prospect. Apparently, he was a late bloomer.
🧐
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.roanoke.com/sports/high_schools/maxx-ca...
Interesting angle.
Very cool name. Maxx Philpott.
Hopefully he fills pots with running-back and quarterback souls
Fills pots to the MAXX!!!!!
When I first read a headline about him I thought his name was Glenvar Philpott which is somehow 1000x more awesome than his already cool name.
Excited about 285lb tailback Maxx Philpott.
300 lbs per the article. 285 is just the highest weight class in VHSL wrestling. 220 is the next closest.
Tailback? With our DL line needs, I see no way he flips to offense......Pretty sure its a redshirt showing up in four games (appearances probably geared around injuries) and getting buff and fit and then scholarship/starter in year two....leastways that"s my hope, because have to love his attitude, etc........
Like Willis, this seems to be our new secret development plan - redshirt walkon year one, starter year two.
I could see him on offense in special situations - I was particularly struck by Cutcliffe's line up three gorillas behind the big quarterback and have the three gorillas push the qb forward for a first down/touchdown plays this season. I gotta believe that play is gonna spread like wildfire next season given the rules that allow it and Philpott seems like a fit for that role.
It was a joke
no p sure he is a tailback
Defensive Tailback
He reminds me of...Sam Rogers
If so, I / we want him!
Final results:
61% Hokie, 39% Bearcat
Edit: Sorry, wrong thread
ok, so who are the guys in the group shot? 71 - Hudson, 63 - Pritchard, 72 - Hanson, back right is Fuga, middle is T. Robinson?, 4 - King
Hudson Pritchard Hanson Gallo
Gary Robinson Pinckney
Payoute King
Only one I'm not sure of is #18 but I think it's Pinckney
Lol Fu looks like the little guy wanting to get in the picture with the big kids.
Gallo, Pritchard, Hanson, Gary, Fuente, Barno, Pinckney, Payoute, (Robinson?), Ferguson, Hudson, Fuga
King, Kendricks, Pollard, Hawkins, Asante
If that's Fuga on the far right standing up then he is a large human. He should attend Virginia Tech and play foosball on the school's squad.
To the right of Fu is Amare Barno. 16 is Pollard. To the right of Hawkins is Asante. JR Walker is at the Shrine Bowl tonight.
Got it fixed, thx.
Classic camera trick, Fuga is standing in the front row making him look way bigger than the back row. Look at his feet.
"Look at his feet"
Perv 😳
Obviously this was a big weekend for the future in Blacksburg. Honestly if we didn't have the pressing concerns at DT and CB, I think we'd be looking at this class as one of the most talented and well rounded we've ever signed.
19 is the Exit Light class correct?
It's fitting cause this group looks like soul takers. I like this class a lot.
Exit Light was 18 we are in the Enter19 class.
Soooo....TakeMyHand20?
If we don't get a kid named Michael Jackson in #Neverland21...
https://247sports.com/Player/Michael-Jackson-46076603/
It has already been said but is worth saying again: Fuga is a big boy!
Fuga is no longer committed to Temple.
This is good for us, right?
Saw VT Scoop say that he tweeted this out while he was on campus in Blacksburg for an official visit. I'd think that was good for us.
COMMIT!
Yes! He's looking BIGGER now. Welcome to the family Fuga!
Boom.
Did it scare the crap out of anyone else to see a tweet with Eric Kumah and the phrase "Respect my decision" before realizing what the tweet was about? I did not need that
Yes. My heart sank before it sang.
why do we allow someone to commit who's gonna bring our star average down /s
I'm proud with how the coaches have moved with a purpose on recruiting DTs. Three commits in the past few days!
With the additions Crawford, Fuga, and Maxx, and the possibility of Brown, are we still in the market for Cunningham or has the DL been settled for this cycle?
Who is Brown?
OL Aiden Brown r-Fr. If I remember, he's been working out as a DT late this season
Might want to watch signing day carefully.
THIS IS THE GIF IVE BEEN WAITING FOR
Still one of my favorite gifs, especially with the way he licks his lips after he sucks his words back in.
The stars come out
Here's hoping its a 4* or maybe even 5*!!!
Lol
Edit: Oh and welcome to TKP, have a leg! And don't worry, you're recruiting optimism will wane with time, haha.
He cancelled is visit to Texas Tech, so this is my guess.
Maybe Amare Barno too. I can't speak to how talented either guy is but if they are ready to rock in 2019 I'm all for it.
Amare Barno, 6' 6" 220, OLB, JUCO Highlights:
Full Season
Looks to be well coaches and gap sound. Enough quickness to shed blocks and make open field tackles. Also has a good amount of tape in coverage, which is a big plus (played strong safety in high school where he seemed to be lethal on pass breakups). With that frame and rangey athletic ability, could have a good career in Sacksburg. Should be able to enroll in January and appears to have 3 years of eligibility? Decision coming Wednesday between VT and Nebraska. All signs point to the Good Guys! Get him on campus now!
And Cunningham, and Asante, and Barno! Who said we didnt have enough spots!???
Damn where are all these players coming from now?
If I remember correctly, we have been on the opposite end of a Coffeyville connection in basketball.
Edit: Maurice Kirby.
I LIKE this guy. Everything I have read says he plays with a chip and is real mouthy. I think our defense could use a leader. If he can back up his smack talk and light some fires on defense, by all means........
I just want someone who can consistently defend wide receivers.
We were lucky so many times with wide open receivers from our opponents dropping passes this year in close games.
A quick guess on status:
18 verbals, 6 (?) remaining targets:
JUCO DT Cunningham
JUCO DE/OLB Barno
JUCO Murray
LB Asante
DB Hamm (no reported offer)
OL Nester
Cunningham may not sign until Feb.
Hamm may be a backup plan if someone (Carter?) doesn't sign. He may also commit to UVA this weekend where he has an offer.
Still in it for Nester but so are others if he doesn't sign with OSU.
Murray, Barno and maybe Asante seem likely to VT.
Which signing day?
Dec or feb?
Assuming he means December since it opens on the 19 th
Then it's not a 4 * or above
Kinda feel like whenever this gif is used I get my hopes up and then get disappointed when something awesome but not super awesome happens
I was going to say the same thing.
I can, in no way, control the excitement that this gif may cause you. It was a good weekend for the visit and #sauces say we haven't seen the end of positive things from this weekend
via GIPHY
1. We should show our appreciation to BAG and all the inside info he provides, complaining about how much excitement his inside information yields after each reveal, is a an empty pursuit and reeks of ungratefulness. #StepsDownFromHighHorse
2. Who were all the kids who visited this past weekend? Can we get a list. #AintTkpingHardEnough
So I think it means you can hope that we got our guys from this weekend
Asante, Fuga, Barno, murray maybe
I don't think we get all excited about stars because the only real target we have like that is Nester.. and he's not signing until Feb and I believe was at psu this weekend
I think it was raining all weekend at PSU, and I think we are getting another shot at Nester.
Yes, Nester was at PSU on an unofficial visit and plans to return to PSU in January for his official visit.
do big dogs like rain?
yes, but big cats do not
Bingo
I will always leg a Sam Axe gif. (I know this isn't from burn notice but I don't care)
Post senior Season Evaluations
Was this a reminder or a request?
Clemson's fans
One area where they are REALLY lagging behind other top teams is recruiting blue-chip OL. Mitch Hyatt was a 5 star (senior) and they got 5* Jackson Carman, but they rarely bring in multiple blue-chip OL. Everyone is also panicking right now because it looks like Putnam .96 OG they are after is trending away at the last second alongside high 4* Quavaris Crouch, who seemed all but a lock to Clemson for a few months but is now trending Tennessee.
Just goes to show everything is relative, but I promise I assure you I'm not upset about them missing on OL recruits. I'll take anything that makes them take a step back.
That and RB recruits. Hopefully we can take advantage when Etienne leaves after next year, need to have just average RB play if we want have a chance against Lawrence and his stable of 5* WR's.
I am sure there are rumors of Clemson coordinators getting HC offers and I wonder if it is making some recruits question their commitment.
It's funny because we often complain about worse teams recruiting better than us...
Reminds me of the meme of the beautiful woman that says "remember, right now someone is tired of putting up with her shit."
The version I've heard is much more offensive, "Next to every beautiful woman is a guy who's tired of..." well, I'll keep it PG around here
Can anyone tell me if the influx of DT recruits is based solely on need or if the staff thinks these are studs? Earlier in the cycle there were number issues and that certain players weren't "takes" because of that. I know that they always work out and there's been some transfer attrition, I just worry that need gets the better of us instead of trying to maximize talent.
Nothing to see here folks... Move along...
Good point- Smiley was not a take but some of the recent offers are?...
yup. And I'm fairly certain our coaches would still take Crawford and Fuga over Smiley
edit: double post
Barno to the good guys!
Amare Barno just committed to the good guys! Whirlwind few days for this recruiting staff but gotta love it!
edit: I double post for emphasis
According to 247 Barno has committed
https://247sports.com/Article/Hokies-land-athletic-JUCO-LB-126476951
Edit: Beaten by a few seconds haha
But he didn't say it, so are we not supposed to respect his decision? ;^)
*Edited* 16 secs late..
Where will Barno play in Bud's D?
DE with his hand in the ground? OLB/Whip type of spot (he moves well in space)?
Backer or DE probably.
DIETHORN JUST TWEETED
THERE ARE
22OR 21 (WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT) LETTERS IN HIS HANDWE HAVE 19 COMMITS
My guess is Murray, Asante, and Cunningham are the last three
This is next level investigative work. Well done!
I counted 21
Same...counted 3 times too
Toward the end of the stack (going left to right) there are 2-3 bunched together, I'm pretty sure I counted 3 but I could be wrong
See what you're talking about, count the bottom they're more distinct...not that it really matters.
Very interesting. I will say though I've counted over and over and only get 21.
im getting 21
Cunningham, Asante, Nester
I feel pretty confident we will want Murray given the decommitment of Sainristil and re-injury of Webb. I feel pretty uncertain about Asante because of Barno's commitment, his growing offer list, and that he "doesn't plan to sign anywhere during the Early Signing Period" per this 247 article. Also while I'm probably reading too much into a tweet, Asante's language seemed positive but just didn't come across as excited as you expect from recruits on the verge of committing.
Ultimately I have to think the staff would have had a much better chance of getting him to sign early if he hadn't added offers from Maryland, TCU, and UCLA in the last week. I hope I'm wrong but I could see his recruitment ending up similar to Javontae Jean-Baptiste from last year.
Asante will have a spot no matter what.
That's good to hear but also makes me wonder if Jahad Carter's timeline is related to Asante's decision.
Edit: Thanks to HokieFireman below I see that it's being reported that Carter's signing delay is academic related.
Some local kids already tweeting pictures of them holding their offers?
Im sure they got to hold them for photo ops during their visits this weekend.
I haven't seen this information mentioned on TKP yet but according to this article from Mike Niziolek of the Roanoke Times, every VT commit is expected to sign during the early signing period except for Jahad Carter.
I am not quite sure how to interpret that information regarding Carter at this point but that information coupled with the 21 letters in Diethorn's tweet above leaves open the possibility that we are expecting as many as 3 more commits to sign during the early signing period.
Grades.
The hold has to be coming from our end right? Him signing a sheet of paper shouldn't affect his academics. Either the staff wants to wait and see if he gets his grades up or he doesn't have the grades to be eligible right now and therefore there is no point in him signing as he couldn't enroll (not sure if there is any requirement to have the grades at the time of signing a NLI)
I gotta imagine that Fuente tells these kids that if you aren't ready to sign in December then don't commit.
With the early signing period if a kid that's committed doesn't sign that sends off alarm bells to me.
I agree and believe Fuente has stated as much ("if you're committed then we expect you to sign in December").
Unfortunately this all reminded of James Graham last year as he flipped and signed with GT since they were offering a shot at QB. And now Paul Johnson has retired. What a waste.
via GIPHY
I like this. BAG active in croot threads with these gifs make me happy (although also a bit nervous trying to figure out who's leaving)
Why does anyone have to be leaving? By my count we still have 2 spots open.
If what I've heard comes true we may see a few guys buried in the depth charts leave. Hard to stick around when Freshmen jump over you each year.
I've been waiting on Griffin to check out. Seems like we've recruited over him and he's been passed by a lot of folks. Has two brothers playing elsewhere. He has already redshirted, so that means a loss of a year if he leaves.
Cunningham could grad transfer and probably find an offense more to his liking.
Tyrell Smith is the only OL I see as having a good opportunity by leaving. All the others (non-freshmen) have redshirted and would have to sit and lose a year.
Fullwood??
Quillen is a Junior. Don't know if he could grad transfer, but he still has a redshirt year available.
As long as Hunter doesn't play in the bowl game, this will be his redshirt year.
Tyrell Smith is sometimes the first guy off the bench as a utility OL, and will be attending grad school at VT next year.
I don't really think we want even less experience at depth at corner. I would not like to see Quillen leave.
I'm not saying Smith leaving makes sense from a play standpoint. He's just the only one I see not losing time by leaving.
Same goes for Quillen.
Fullwood is graduating with one year of eligibility left, however Jimmie Taylor may be the better question having played more last year (2017) than he did this year (2018) and probably even further buried on the depth chart with the incoming DT class.
Here I fixed this for you because it was too logical and we have to assume there is a systematic problem when someone transfers.
Can I wait? Yes.
Will I wait?
Well... probably. I don't have much choice.
Over the last few months during a rough season filled with several losses both on and off the field, I just want to take the time to point out how this staff is working their back side off to plug holes by whatever means necessary. Yes this isn't 3-5 start talent across the board, but we are getting bodies in to help out immediately. I'm sure recruiting the JUCO ranks isn't the easiest evaluation to do either. These kids often are the ones who aren't the greatest in the classroom, trouble-makers as kids, or just not highly recruited out of high school (late bloomers). Kudos to the staff for finding talent in the most unlikeliest of places and filling our coffers with positions of need so that we don't heavily rely on underclassmen for yet another entire season.
TL;DR version: Props to the coaches for working their tails off to improve this team by any means necessary. I know the on the field product will prove whether these late signings were a success or not, but you certainly can't fault the staff for not trying to make our team better.
Even shorter TL;DR version: Go Hokies!!!
Man what a change since mid-season when Fu and company couldn't bring in decent talent....
I'm happy re: Barno, but can someone tell me why we're recruiting JUCO LBs? To give our other guys some separation? What am i missing?
We didn't have a true Backer this year, we probably want a stop gap to help Rivers develop so we can move Dax to Mike where we ultimately want him. While we have lots of LB'ers on the roster right now, it still makes sense.
Barno is 6-6 230 so my guess is he sticks out OLB or they bulk him for DE play or if his arms good maybe even QB /ducks
The kid could end up playing DE.
Looking at his film the kid has some good quickness and has good length . My bet is Bud wants to try him at DE I think we are missing that quick burst DE that Bud usually has . I think Dylan Rivers is under appreciated . Hes young and. injuries didn't help him this year . I think he will be a good backer for us .
Just beat me to it but hoping he likes some Hardee's coupons and ample amounts of playing time!
https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Michigan-Wolverines-football-news-Aubrey-Solomon-transfers-from-program-126482994/
We can dream.
This was the #2 overall prospect. Committed to UGA who had the #1 from 2 years ago.
It's a new world in college football, the players are getting some small amount of control back.
FTFY
I would guess B12 or FSU. Not Clemson. Probably not SEC. Definitely not PSU where he was originally committed.
There any potential of him coming here?
No
If he goes to Miami I will be so irked.
Something is up at Miami. Their class is ranked right about where we are- very mediocre. Esp compared to last year when they had a top 10 class.
I'm still shocked he ever flipped from Penn State to Georgia - you knew you just had to sit through one year of McSorley there and instead he flipped to the school that just had a phenomenal true freshman take them to the championship game.
Yeah didn't make any sense in the first place unless he was OK with sitting at least 2 years. I guess you could look at it as players exercising their options more often but in a lot of these cases (Khalan Laborn, Justin Fields, Devyn Ford) the choice made very little sense in the first place.
I actually brought that up to someone very close to DF recently. I asked how he, Sanders, Slade, and (likely) Noah Cain, could all tote the rock at the same time. The response was "TBH I dont think any of them have even talked about it., theyre just excited to play together." This blew my mind that a player wouldnt even consider the depth chart if there is a larger draw, whatever that might be. It points to just how important recruiting is, and knowing what will resonate with your consumer (player). Watching this process unfold has been really eye opening.
Good players want to play together. That's why recruiting momentum is very real. So many people, myself included, tend to forget that recruits think like emotional, optimistic 17 year old kids rather than (sometimes) more rationally thinking adults. The thought of playing in the same backfield with multiple other high level recruits excites them more than the idea of having a backfield all to themselves. Just a different perspective on things.
I remember being wondering about someone's logic when the #1 and #2 running backs signed up for the same team in the same year. Someone wasn't going to fit in the boat.
Eason and Fields didn't want to play with Fromm. Maybe this situation with Fields will open up recruits eyes 👀 , especially if the lawsuit goes badly for Fields
Fromm wasn't bothered by Eason's presence when he committed. Fields wasn't bothered by Fromm. If you back at Fields' comments when he committed, UGA sold him in the idea of playing special packages and split responsibilities with Fromm. When he got on campus it was a different reality. And I think that's what's most frustrating for fans. This outcome is an obvious one to anyone that knew UGA's QB situation, but a recruit got sold on a dream.
Everyone was saying how easy it will be for OU to attract Fields but check out their 2019 class and you'll find a commitment from... the #1 ranked 5* dual threat QB. It will be kind of funny if he ends up going there and history repeats itself.
Looking at the QB situations of the listed teams, FSU might make the most sense. There are rumblings that Francois is looking to transfer for his graduate year, I don't believe they took a QB last cycle, and Sam Howell is likely to flip to UNC tomorrow. Fields could come in and only have to compete against Blackmon.
Yeah I think FSU would be one of the easier spots for him to lock down the starting spot in the shortest amount of time. Similar arguments could be made for Miami, but not sure he has any interest there, only basing that off the fact that he and Haselwood are very tight.
Also, I saw some stuff about that Howell flip on reddit recently. That's looking like a boss move from the Mack attack.
Miami has Perry though, who they are very high on.
I've been largely unimpressed with Perry in the few games of his I've watched. I've also heard Miami fans lamenting that he is apparently very erratic and sometimes downright awful in practice.
Agree. Perry didn't flash much. Miami is surely attractive to Fields given their supporting cast and the fact that the Coastal is ripe for the taking. Richt is a ruthless recruiter especially of QBs so I honestly think that's where Fields ends up.
I think Sam Howell will be a bust, didn't impress at Shrine bowl, and all the things I have read talk about his dad. Staying in North Carolina will probably make him worse,
Fields wants to play in Bowl games, he is not going to FSU
They were a win away from a bowl game this year. Show me a #1 recruit in a class (especially a QB) that thinks he isn't worth at least one win.
And if winning was his main concern, wouldn't he stay at UGA for another year before taking the reigns from Fromm? UGA is recruiting as well in anyone in the country and is set up to succeed for a long time. The kid wants to play.
Not sure if you just got whooshed
I agree this is a sign of the times and a more likely perspective from a 17 year old kid. I do think perspectives like this tend to be cyclical and a good sales pitch (not disingenuous) can help sway some kids to think differently. VT needs to think how to differentiate their pitch to kids who might lean towards playing with other great players at their respective position with the you are the main guy attitude (because that isn't selling to your point).
I don't have the answer, but I do think it's an opportunity to separate yourself if you are VT.
I'm not shocked by his decision. He was the #1 recruit in the nation. Regardless of who is there, you have to feel like you can beat them out. I was a recruit once and felt the same way, and I wasn't anywhere close to #1 in the country. Kudos to him for believing in himself to unseat Fromm. It didn't happen and he still hasn't officially filed to transfer. If he does transfer then Georgia is in a world of hurt as Fromm will be the only scholarship qb left on their roster. Say what you will about our DT situation, but having only a single qb on scholly this late in the game is silly (if he transfers).
OU is my guess.
They have to have the easiest pitch
And they have a Beamer
They literally wouldn't have to say a word. Just take him to the trophy case with back to back Heisman trophies of transfer QBs. It's too easy.
Surprise school I'm hearing is in it: Florida.
And that he's looking to sue the NCAA to waive the one year transfer penalty.
Ha. Good luck with that. It will be well over a year before that lawsuit goes anywhere and the only people who will get anything from it are the lawyers.
Ha seriously.
Ask Ed O'Bannon how quick and easy suing the NCAA is.
Wow UGA must have a terrible support staff and culture. Looks like they lost the locker room.
I laughed so hard at this. +1
Ja'Had Carter just received a bump in the 247 ratings, from .8527 to .8646.
Do you have any idea where he is expected to contribute? I've asked several times but never seen a response...
My guess would be in the secondary and my #sauces say we don't have to worry about any decommitment from him.
I think he, himself was quoted on twitter yesterday saying he wasn't signing in December due to some academic issues, and would be signing to VT in Feb.
He will be a safety
Could definitely see whip too. Corner is most doubtful to me, but he is a good enough athlete to play in a pinch.
So we took three safeties in this class, or can Hawkins play corner?
That's just because there is speculation he won't come to VT
Once he signs they'll readjust
Lol
Oregon is now the frontrunner for Brandon Dorlus? Just shows you how all over the place and unpredictable kids can be in this
I may end up being wrong and the consensus right now is definitely Oregon, but I just can't see his mom letting him go anywhere other than UF. Look at the shirt she was wearing wearing to his announcement to VT for god's sake.