Catch-All thread for news and twitter updates related to our big BBQ weekend before the August dead period begins.
These big cookout/BBQ whatever you want to call them weekends are usually a pretty big deal recruiting-wise. This has only increased in value in the last couple years with the early signing period as teams are trying to get the bulk of their classes shored up by the end of the summer.
We should expect to come away from this weekend and the days after with a much better idea about where we stand with some of our targets. Would be nice to a see a couple recruits join the class as well.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Flip candidate
Nice!
Is he really "hard commit" if he's attending another school's recruiting by event?
no lol. to answer your question in short. he almost committed to ECU a couple weeks back. I think he ends up being a hokie. was close to committing this weekend. his visit was cut short because he got caught in traffic on 77 and missed most of the event.
Does that mean he's 800% committed?
Glad to see you back, brother! We need some updates on the 904 boys.
ive been MIA man. ive been SWAMPEDDDDD lately! glad to get a chance to jump back on!
how 'bout updatin' that camp thread lol
haha see below 3 page essay. longest thing ive writing since school lol
I saw it after i commented this! thanks and legs all around
DOES TAVIEN LIKE BBQ????
tavien pls I'm even smoking a pork shoulder today
Who is the late 2019 wide receiver Va Tech is looking to add?
I really hope this turns into a real pipeline in Texas for us, but I am skeptical.
Same. But I'm loving that we are willing to actually go out to Texas and actually recruit and give offers while realizing that guys staying in state ain't what it used to be. Kids going out of Va to other schools why not TX2VT???
Yep, I'm glad we are out there, and regardless of how people feel about it, we can send out as many offers as we want. We can't take everyone, but it doesn't hurt to make a bunch of kids in Texas feel wanted. I'm all for trying, just have to be sure that if it isn't yielding results that we aren't committing too much time to recruiting those guys instead of areas where we have a better chance at landing recruits or building pipelines. Time will tell.
If we aren't building pipelines to TX, GA, and FL, as well as trying to keep the pipeline to NC open, we're screwing up. Population and talent-wise, our traditional recruiting locations aren't producing at the levels we need to compete. And the top talent is heading to places like Bama, FSU and Clemson.
I'm all for GA, FL, NC, Tenn, WV, SC pipelines etc. and IF we can actually land some guys from Texas that's great. I wasn't suggesting we focus all that TX recruiting time on VA or anything, just that if we don't see results we might be better off trying to establish a pipeline in Alabama or Miss, or another state. That was all I was saying.
Got it. Just looking at the Rivals state rankings for 2020, VA has 1 5*, 7 4*. TX has 2 5*, 48 4*. If our coaches can tap into that talent pool, I think it would be a big win for recruiting. I'm with you on getting the best return on the recruiting budget too.
I think it's also worth pointing out that if we have offensive QC assistant with major TX connections then VT would be silly to not expand their efforts in such a football hotbed. We'll see how many actual players buy-in to the program and may be willing to go further from home than SEC country, but I'm certainly on board with the approach and social media interactions thus far have seemed pretty solid.
one of our QC guys coach Davidson is from texas and apparently has a really good pipeline established there and is working really hard to establish it for us right now.
Former Houston area high schooler who now runs a Houston area QB academy.
Jahvaree Ritzie And Desmond Evans both went to the VT event in lieu of UNCs event.
I hope the coaches are telling Jahvaree Ritzie that he would immediately contribute as one of the best names on the roster and might even have what it takes to be an all time great.
These dudes are beasts.
First time I've heard these names since I'm not too plugged into recruiting until they commit to us. However, this makes me really happy because fuck UNC
They big boys.
Dey big big.
So what does them visiting mean in lieu of what it says on their 247 profiles of "100%" to NCST and UNC? Like, sure I guess I'll go to a BBQ for free.
It means that recruiting is extremely fickle and crystal balls are often premature projections based on regional geography and affliations with a program rather than an absolute. The 247 system rewards experts with more "points" based on how far out a projection is made yet still allows experts to switch their pick at any point without getting the commitment "wrong."
Ritzie is completely wide open from an area where VT has had recent success pulling talent, Evans is a current UNC commit who skipped an event at his committed school to go to VT.
I have the feeling the Evans will decommit at some point before the start of the season. Ritzie hasn't named a favorite, so it was important to get him on campus and VT did.
Take the 100% with a grain of salt. 247 gives points to different recruiting experts based on how long their crystal ball has been in and the accuracy. Some people try to boost their stats by putting in a commit early. With only one or two CBs in, it looks like 100% but a sample size of 1 does that.
I think you mean 800% with a grain of salt- we are talking recruiting after all.
Does anyone know if we stand a chance with either of these guys?
I
Yes, we have some chance.
we have a VERY good chance with tyree. he hinted at committing last weekend. 247 has 100 CBs to him. I expect him to commit if not by the end of the month then at the ODU game.
Ever since you originally mentioned taking a group up for the ODU game I've been thinking that might actually be a pretty solid atmosphere for them to take in. Given that we lost to them, I imagine the crowd will be pretty amped up for revenge, especially if we get off to a solid start. Hopefully it's a good showing for the recruits. Hopefully we'll get some commits out of it.
I knew ODU was good for recruiting \s
I think its interesting that with each announcement of a commitment after the bbq bash on 247 the articles keep mentioning "public commitment" which leads me to believe there may be a silent or two as well. Anyone with any sauces?
I got buffalo, mustard, some cocktail, and a little bit of yum-yum left. What you want?
I've got some Texas Pete Siracha, Kumana Avocado Hot Sauce, Tattoo Scotch Bonnet Curry, and various Reaper sauces if you wanna spice up your life
Every time I see anything about a reaper..I think about this video...
There are still other possible commitments to come because it's only Monday, but for me Derrell Bailey and Stephen Sings already have the Blacksburg Bash as a very successful recruiting event.
Andrew Canelas was in attendance, a 6'8", 290 lb OT; 3 star with a .86 rating
sounds like he enjoyed it
Canelas
I was lucky enough to get to attend this event. I brought up a group of kids from jacksonville for the event. some that hold VT offers and some that don't. listed below.
3* '21 WR Patrick Bryant Atlantic coast HS
3* '20 DB keanta jenkings rebault HS
3* '20 WR Tyree Saunders first coach HS (was originally riding up with me, parents decided last min that they wanted to meet with the coaching staff so rode with them)
unrated '21 WR Malcolm Seaborn atlantic coast HS
unrated '22 LB/RB Arthur Walker university Christian HS
unrated '23 WR Marcus Smithey university Christian HS
heres my run down of the weekend of how it went, who I saw, and what I learned. ill start by just giving a run down of the days activities and then ill give some thoughts.
arrived in Blacksburg at 8am, went down to the indoor for a little camp session/ workout as we were arriving the current team was just getting done with workouts. the workout session they put the team through is the exact same work out they put the recruits through. coaches seemed to have the same intensity with the cruits as they do the team. bud was getting on guys in warm ups. hilgart was pushing them. Fuente gave a little pre workout speech about attacking it and working hard etc. it was really an inside candid look into these guys one I didn't expect for just a work out. the work out lasted about 2 hours. it was a hard intense good workout. all the coaches were very active and involved. keante didn't work out he has a tweeked hammy from school workouts. so I was hanging with him and all of the staff was very active in speaking to him and introducing themselves and telling him how glad they were to have him on campus.
the workouts were followed up with a presentation by our student athletes head for the football team, she gave a lot of info on the academics side of things, expectations, how they support the student athletes, advantages of VT vs other institutions, things like that. then coach Fuente introduced the football staff and picked out some people to speak on why they chose VT and what it mean to them. there was some really great stuff in here and it really reinforced the this is home. the list of speakers were from all aspects of VT football and included Justin Hamilton, Pierson Prioleau, brock Hoffman, dax, bud foster, and then Fuente talked about why he chose VT and what it mean to him. it was pretty awesome to hear from all different aspects of it from guys who were former players, now coaches, current players, and current coaches. there was some really unique stuff and things that hopefully caught some of the recruits in the rooms eyes as to what VT is.
this ended around 1pm from there they split the recruits up into 2 groups. one group took a tour of the campus on the golf carts lead by coaches and current players, wasn't much to share here as ive been to the campus about 1k times in my life lol and know everything there is to know but a good chance for the recruits to see the campus and the weather was absolutely complimentary of our campus for the day. sunshine and cool breeze and about 85 degrees I mean you couldn't ask for me. While one group was touring the campus the other was touring the facilities. When the tour was over we came back and hopped on assigned busses that bussed us over to the frank centerplex (bowling alley, movie theater, arcade place for those that don't know).
the whole "BBQ" bash needs a new name lol. I was there for the spring game and they had mission BBQ that was more of a BBQ bash. anyways they had a buffet style line at the bowling alley with all you can eat food. food was OK. but I'm not here for my food reviews anyways. the current team was for the most part all at the bowling alley bowling and hanging out and having a good time along with the coaches. everything was covered and it was a good time for everyone to just relax and be themselves .
after the "BBQ" event we bussed back and the group that went on the campus tour was now on the facilities tour. this started with hilgart and the weight room area which is about to go through a HUGE upgrade, hilgart talked about the changes coming to that area, did a short presentation of what VTs expectations are in the weight room and what separated us from other programs in that department and what hilgart was all about. showed some videos of how they work out, how the whole team supports each player and how they try and bring an excitement and intensity to attacking the weight room everyday. also we are in addition to the upgrades to the weight room adding a 350k wellness center onto a portion of the weight room (basically an expensive as heck topical smoothie) where they will provide shakes and health snacks etc for the players and monitor and provide meal plans etc. followed that up with a tour of the offices, the stadium, locker room, etc. talked about some more of the upgrades going on.
after this the recruits all broke into positions and went with the position coaches and sat in on a personnel meeting and go the run down of the expectations from that specific coach, broke down some practice film from the players, and got coached up on some of the techniques and things they did in practice to get better. while this was going on Fuente was speaking to the parents. being a coach and spending most of the day with jafar Williams and 1/2 of the kids with me were WRs I chose to go with the WRs group instead of the parents meeting. so I'm not sure what was said in there lol.
after that we all came back together and Fuente spoke again about why we were there and his expectations for the upcoming season, his expectations for the kids coming into VT, thanked everyone for coming etc you know all the little tidying up you can do at the end of an event like this. coaches through out the day took recruits aside and into their office to talk to them one on one. keonta was with Jham for a good portion of the day and they broke down some film one on one of our past guys, what they did well that they think he does as well, stuff like that.
ok so to keep this post from getting to long winded. Heres some of my thoughts from it all. (trying to knock this out as quick as possible while I work I haven't been able to TKP in about a month things have been crazy for me as of late with work, coaching, scouting and recruiting) Fuente seemed to TRY really really hard to be personable, relaxed, and show a lot more of himself this weekend. the emphasis on recruiting seemed to come 2nd. seemed like he was trying to work on his image and maybe that's just me because I've paid attention to him a lot more than a normal parent would, if you are coming in knowing nothing about VT or coach fu you wouldn't notice something like that. But I did.
Jham and jefar Williams are going to be absolute BEAST in the recruiting game when they get their feet wet and get comfortable. both are also going to be dynamic coaches. I think we can lock JHam in for the long hall I'm really afraid Williams gets a bigger and better before we get a chance to experience his full potential. I
ill start with Justin Hamilton, the things we already know about him- he played in the NFL, he played 3 positions while at VT, hes young, hes energetic, and he can relate to these kids. Now something maybe you dont- hes persistent, when he likes a kid he doesn't hesitate to say so, he goes after them hard. but hes not pushy. he does a great job of showing how bad he wants you and what is in it for you to come here. he does his homework. hes thorough. hes covering all aspects of these kids. hes a great guy. hes fun for the kids to be around. I really really think he has a bright future at VT.
jafar Williams- I didn't know much about him at all coming in, I met him at the JU satellite camp but didn't speak to him much. after Saturday I walked away blown away with him. I think the thing that really made me say man this guy is going to get it done was the player personnel meeting, his knowledge is top to none, his coaching style seems to really work with the kids, all the wrs seemed to really respect and like him. you could just see it in the room, when he spoke everyone listed. he had everyones full attention and his intentions were only getting these guys better. his methods of coaching demand respect without having to yell at guy or get in his face or anything like that. hes cooler than the other side of the pillow. obviously he walked into the best room in on the team but expect to see them take another step this year and in the future. he seems to be a perfect fit for the staff. the school. and the position room. side note: he was ALLLLLL over tre turner lol you think tre was good last year. I think you will see him take another BIG step this year. Williams is really pushing him to learn more of the little things and hes ceiling is WAYYYYYY higher than where he is right now. hes so young he is really just making plays with athleticism.
Fuente and bud have a great relationship. I kind of feel like maybe there would be some people that thought this was going to have some ruffles especially after a year like last year but they seemed to really enjoy each others company. there wasn't many times through out the day that the 2 were in the same room and weren't next to each other smiling and joking, I was glad to see that. Fuente seems to be trying to loosen up some atleast in the public eye. I have a feeling bud may end up in the booth again this year. I know its been discussed but I hadn't heard is hed made a decision or not yet but he had a noticeable pretty heavy limp (didn't he just have knee surgery?) that I think will keep him off the sidelines if not for the season at least for some of the beginning of it.
ill finish with some of the recruits that I was on campus. and honestly it was hard to keep tract of I don't follow recruiting that closely especially guys who maybe don't have offers or aren't that big of names because I'm just to busy to focus on VT recruiting right now because I'm working on north florida and south GA recruiting and its my priority but I did see some really good sized OLINE and DLINE guys on campus. obviously we all saw the 2 DL commits. staff is really after keonta (the kid I brought up) and then we had baby stroman on campus (looks just like greg just with dreads lol) from everything I heard about him hes a dynamic athlete but just lacks size a lot like greg did. also had dax little brother on campus and I know its a huge deal the staff to get him too. another guy that is supposedly better than big bro. they made it a point to talk about brothers/ families that played for VT in the past and how we have had more brothers play for us than any other school in the country, it was def aimed at these 2 guys.
oh whew! if you read all that thanks! if you have any questions ill do my best to answer them. I'm sorry I completely bombed the JU satellite camp post. I tried to write it a couple times and just never got the time and then it wasn't fresh on my mind anymore.
a little bonus info.... expect a commitment from 2 of those jacksonville guys soon. ill have both of them up for the ODU game with me as well along with another jacksonville QB that holds and offer to see a RB from the school that he goes too that very soon will make you forget all about some feaster guy.
pic of my guys I brought with me. :)
Love this stuff man, thanks for the detailed write up!
That last part is extra exciting.
Also, this is plaid-level content right here.
edit: Keonta Jenkins looks like an absolute beast in that picture. He's got the look of P5 safety already.
yeah I thought one was going to pull the trigger this weekend. they both hinted at it being very soon though to one of my buds at 247 that interviewed them after this weekend, along with what I already knew, I'm really excited for those guys too. they are going to love hokie nation!
Me thinks he's bringing Walter Simmons III with him to watch his former teammate Keshawn King...
walter pls
Ok listen we have to keep this man off the lake!
Once you start wake surfing there is no stopping. It's a true addiction.
That said, it's one of the lowest impact water-sports. Even the more extreme people turn to it once they've blown out their knees or had a few concussions wakeboarding. I personally just enjoy it the most.
They're about to go double plaid
Thanks for the writeup! Is it possible that Jafar is an "upgrade" from Wiggins?
I never got the chance to interact with wiggins so I cant speak much on him other than what we've all heard but I will tell you I really love jafar. I think hes going to blossom in Blacksburg and people are going to come after him and try and hire him quickly. I really hope we can lock him up long term.
Yes
Man, thanks for this post. Awesome insight that we don't often get. If I could give Reddit Gold here, I would.
Interesting that you mentioned this. I saw Coach Fu in an Atlanta Hokie Club event recently, and thought something similar. He seems pretty down to earth and really good in one-on-one conversations, but he's not smooth talker like Spurrier by any stretch. Not a bad thing, just the way he is.
Other takeaways/random comments:
What would be really exciting is if Dax's little brother is better at trolling LOLUVA than Dax is.
He's learning real time from one of the best. My guess is he will be good at it... Real Good.
This is great. There is always a lot of talk on facilities and uniforms and their impact on recruits. What did the players think?
Is there interest with the new weight room and nutrition center? Was the locker room impressive to them or does it already seem out of date?
Do they like the VT uniforms? It looks like the orange jerseys were the only jerseys the kids were wearing last weekend.
Great to hear about Jafar. I know fans were not excited about him because he coached at Rutgers. I also think that Hamilton is going to be awesome.
as far as the uniforms I wish we did a little more with them for the recruits, weve worn so many different some really awesome and some are hit and miss but I just wish we showcased them a little more and all the options. those things may not make a recruit pick the school over another school but the end of the day its a part of the day that makes it a great time and puts a smile on their face and THAT is the part that leaves a lasting impression. both keonte and tyree have USF offers and tyree is committed there. when they went to USF they took pics in a all black and neon green uniform something that USF will maybe wear once. I want us to let the kids wear something that they get super excited about. and I want them to know all the different stuff we wear, kids like hype.
surprisingly yes the kids are interested in the weight room maybe more than the wellness center but youd be surprised to see the kids walk in and want to start throwing weight around as soon as they walk in the room. the presentation put together by hilgart was top notch though and really showcased the brother hood atmosphere and energy and intensity at which they work out and made it look like the weight room is all fun. we all know its not lol.
Cool. I still think we missed with the current uniforms and I'm hoping that the next round will be better.
I'm sure the kids being able to put on the Hokie Stone uniforms would be exciting.
The following jerseys should be on display, and preferably give the recruits the ability to try on:
Honestly wish our regular jerseys were those plain orange jerseys we wore against UNC, except in maroon. Get rid of the stripes, get rid of the extra shit. Just straight clean look. Rock those with white, maroon, and orange pant combos and use that orange top sometimes.
In a proper Burnt Orange. Not this crap we moved to to appease the apparel companies.
If Tennessee can have their god-awful shit orange, we should get to have our proper one.
Amen, brother. Make those our regular jerseys and sprinkle a pro-combat like concept once a season. Was there ever a concept created of what these would look like in maroon and orange?
Agreed, those jerseys were great. We don't need stripes on everything, we already have the tapered helmet triple stripe. Maroon/orange/white versions of that jersey plus keep the Hokie Stone one in the rotation.
I don't know what it is but with all those edgy/modern tapered stripes all over our helmet/jerseys and a dark visor on the helmet, it almost looks like the power rangers to me.
God yes. Make a slightly more modern version of the 99 unis.
Make the '99 jerseys great again.
I would say if we are letting them try these on or others, we have to have AME displayed but you can't put it on. AME is for when you become a Hokie.
Honestly I would love to have the recruits be able to try on any combination of uniform that we have worn. You never know they may come up with something that everyone wants to wear.
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us, this is a really cool and rare glimpse into something like this that we don't often get to see. Plus I came away from it feeling pretty good about the future.
This was an amazing write up, thank you.
Coach
The son of some friends of mine transferred in to UC this year...played at Menendez last year as a Fr. Is "Mark" B. going to play any football this year or just basketball?
I know mark! he played under me when I was the middle school coach at UC then he left and now hes back. he was at football practice this morning lol. so looks like he is doing both. I know hes a baller in basketball but hes a pretty good football player too. a bit of a tweener, not quite big enough for LB and not quite fast enough for safety/ DB, he plays tiger for us (our version of whip tweedy!!) what he lacks in size and speed he makes up for by being a really smart football player! played both ways for me at RB and LB. great kid! glad to have him back over here!
Mom and dad are both friends and really great people. D says he's getting taller...go Mom!
I checked his Hudl and saw he had a couple nice little TD runs and few sacks/tfl's sneaking up off the edge for Menendez.
Hope he finds a role and y'all do well this year.
This is unbelievable content. Thank you SO much for the detailed write up. Go Hokies!