Bill Connelly (who compiles the S&P+ Rankings) has just released his multi-year recruiting rankings. Here is the most important part as it regards Virginia Tech recruiting:
Largest positive change in two-year recruiting rankings (Power 5)
- Virginia Tech (14 spots, from 38th to 24th)
A lot of this is due to how bad we were recruiting in the latter days of the Beamer regime, but I do like seeing this immediate upward trajectory with Fuente at the helm.
Full article here: Updated multi-year recruiting rankings after 2018
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Embarrasing we were 38th
granted, but not nearly as embarassing as the guy jumping next to Hunter...
yeah, I wanted to find another VT recruiting related gif...
- kff17
This should douse those internal flames of unhappiness with how our 2018 class shaped up that we have seen around here.
Unfortunately, should does not mean will.
Who's unhappy?
Those on Twitter who think that top 15 recruiting classes happen overnight.
While it's always good to improve, that's the 2 year rankings. So last year's 2 year ranking included the 2016 coaching transition class. That class came in at around 42nd. Just moving back to our average recruiting class we were bound to jump up a good bit.
I really do think the 2018 class is an improvement compared to the standard VT baseline of recruiting. But, the reason that we had such a dramatic increase in ranking was because 2016's class was rather weak.
Though rankings are similar, it's hard not to feel like there has been and is continuing to be a shift in our recruiting. Not saying there aren't things to criticize or improve, but it definitely feels like we are working towards being a consistently better team on the recruiting trail.
I completely agree. I really do think our recruiting is improving. This class feels like it has more talent to it than classes in the past. I'm just pointing out that we had such a big increase in our 2-year recruiting ranking because it doesn't include a more mediocre class by our standards.
I agree with your point as well. Just thought I'd add my thoughts.
Agreed, our current rankings are around the same ballpark of what we were doing in the Beamer era. That one class is an outlier.
Foster has made a living recruiting a handful of blue chips and coaching up 2-3 * guys into reliable starters by getting the right guys into his system. My hope is Fuente/Cornelson will start doing the same on offense now that they have two full classes in.
You know what the funny part is?
As bad as we were with the 38th ranked class, imagine how horrid UVa is going to be with the 68th class.
UVA finished behind several G5 schools. I don't think they could have made a worse hire when it comes to recruiting with Bronco.
It is nice to see there is proof that recruiting is improving. It isn't where we want it but the reality is we are just coming back to some sort of national relevance (even regional relevance) the last year or 2. We had a handful of mediocre years on and off the field which left us with a hole to climb out of. Getting an upward trajectory was key and we have established that. 9 and 10 win seasons should remain the norm again. Combine that with a revamped recruiting approach versus the 2012-2015 years and we should continue to see the program progress towards where we want it.
Right now, we are recruiting similar to the best Beamer years. That actually is more of an improvement than what is easily seen on the surface considering that recruiting has become much less regionalized and we are now competing with big boys that are poaching off of the fertile in-state recruiting grounds.
There isn't much useful information you can take away from the change in 2-year recruiting rankings because the one from last year included an outlier. The more interesting comparison would be the last two Beamer classes and the first two Fuente classes, excluding 2016 from both. On a side note I think the average player rating can be more insightful than the recruiting ranking when looking at just Virginia Tech.
VT Recruiting Rankings, per 247 composite, for the last 10 years:
Year - Rank - Player Avg.
2018 - 24 - 87.46
2017 - 26 - 86.13
2016 - 42 - 84.85
2015 - 29 - 86.35
2014 - 28 - 85.99
2013 - 21 - 87.70
2012 - 21 - 86.46
2011 - 35 - 84.49
2010 - 28 - 87.20
2009 -25 - 86.00