Discuss and share any recruiting topics for January 2023 that don't warrant their own threads. Commits and decommits warrant their own threads.
This recruiting thread is used to share information regarding VT-specific targets, PWO offers, scholarship offers, visits, camps, and general news, in addition to larger trends. In the interests of limiting load times, favor post links to tweets rather than embedding. And if you want to embed, please check the thread to see if a tweet was already embedded prior to adding it yourself.
[0]. Please do some digging to share original content (e.g. embed the original tweet, not a link to another post/website with said tweet), add context / relevant information and respect the Community Guidelines.
[1] New commitments, decommitments, portal entries, etc... deserve their own thread. Please read the brief best-practice tips at the top of the recruiting forum
[2] Scared money don't make money.
[3] Pry Marve 2024
[4] We must ride on the wings of the Pry-beast
Comments
Still hot on the trail for William Spencer DL out of Indiana
He's from Kentucky and I expect that he will be theirs to lose.
That being said, I would not be too upset about big-dogging them for him.
🤔
Mark! Get that long lens out and get the scoop!
The portal giveth, the portal taketh away. Shit!
Fickell took him to Kollege Klub and on the Lake Monona booze cruise
Not panicking over this one. He had some injury issues that may have limited his ability to make an instant impact (it might not have, but it's not clear). We still have time to find another DL or two in the portal if we want, both in this current window and after Spring.
Agree. Some serious chatter that he may not have been ready for spring or even to play this fall. We need DL help now, people using a scholly and not contributing isn't what we need.
Kinda sorta related...Is Pheldarius Payne eligible and planning to play next year?
He's coming back and playing this year per Bitter a few weeks ago.
The fact that he's coming back from an Achilles injury is scary though, and I'm trying to temper any expectations. I still have sad memories of Jeremy Webb.
Ugh well this sucks ass...
Like the Dr. Pepper commercial, "It's just a bunch of kids playing with a ball....." it frustrates me that I get so emotionally tied to recruiting moves. I need a better way to handle recruiting news. Ignore it maybe?
"Oh my God he's lost it!"
Read the fine details of the ACC TV deal. That was enough to cool my recruiting cares. Honestly, after D. Davis decommitted, I didn't sleep that night, because I was disappointed. I woke up the next day trying to make sense of it. I finally came to the conclusion that I cared way too much about things out of my control. I have continued to follow VT, and recruiting, but have tried very had to lower my expectations. 'Expectations are resentments waiting to happen'. That's my new motto.
Exactly
D Davis is also when I stopped really caring about recruiting too
I guess I'd just add on, that most cannot ever understand what kids are going through during the recruiting process. I remember when Ryan Williams was being recruited and knew his family well.
I'll just say, thank goodness there wasn't social media then. Not reflecting on him, but I remember seeing the pressure on a kid. They're still kids and will do what kids do.
Please don't be a grown up hinging your daily life on a kids decision of what they think is best for them no matter the sport. It sucks if they don't choose the alma mater of choice, but in the grand scheme it doesn't impact your daily life.
Elite comment.
Maybe not ignore it entirely, but just hold it at a distance. Even a 5* isn't guaranteed to be a savior of a team. I definitely got too tied up in recruiting feelings for a bit, but then I realized how much of a mess and disappointing it always ends up being if a highly recruited guy flips away, or doesn't become the stud that was expected. It's about what's best for the player and hopefully when they choose us, it's about their contribution to their team.
I've found those disappointments much easier to bear when you're in the 'you win some and you lose some' zone. Seems like it's been a while since we were in that zone.
BAT SIGNAL IS UP
https://247sports.com/player/asaad-brown-46113107/
Named first team all state db recently, we made his top-10 in september with the other usual suspects: psu, clemson, unc, ncst, fsu and four sec teams (ark, miss st, lsu, ole miss)
This is the kind of recruit we've been losing out on. Need to see Pry & Co demonstrate strong progress in the 24 class. Lino retweeted the above -- someone we're at least continuing to engage with
What is he saying here? The eyeballs and question marks are concerning.
Likely just looking for engagement from the fan base - likes, follows, etc
bUt We'Re NoT sUpPoSeD tO tWeEt At ReCrUiTs!
Likes n follows is ok 🙂
This would be a huge dub for Pry if we won this crootin' battle, particularly against three programs that have really eaten our lunch in the state the last several years in Penn State, Clemson, and UNC.
When was the last time we got one of these (.9+ recruit with legit interest from the top 30 P5 schools)? Feels like it was before Stephone Anthony? Maybe Devon Hunter?
Dax, Tre, Nester, Payoute, Hudson, Quincy, Gunner, Brown, Hunter, Harvey? Probably more but that's off the top of my head in the last ~3-4 years or so.
Givens in '22 and then before that Hudson/Nester in '19. Everyone else on your list either wasnt 90+ rated or was more than 4 years ago. The top end of our recruiting classes has been not good bob dot gif for a few years running
Nester played well for WVU. He was what I thought he would be. The UNLV OL coach did a shitty job with him, IMO.
Nester and Hudson are examples of how college football coaching responsibilities extend way beyond on-field productivity/performance. We sure could have used them this year, and the man-management aspect of position coaches + head coach in this age of the portal can't be overstated. Get your guys to buy in and work hard to keep your guys bought in.
100% agree. As the rumors go, Fuente let a beef between a few offensive linemen escalate until their parents got involved and two blue chip recruits ultimately transferred out of the program and found success elsewhere. Coaches should have gotten involved and treated the issue before it festered.
Got it. I said ~4 years in my comment but was mentally thinking of anyone 4+ stars from the Fuente era (I thought a rating of 4 stars meant you were .90+, but I guess that's not true?).
247 in-house rating is 90+, but composite 4* starts at .8900
DJ Harvey (90 4*, 0.8978 composite 4*), Tayvion Robinson (89 3*, 0.8939 composite 4*) are some examples of how it's a weird distinction and an easy thing to get confused
Maybe JR Walker in 2019 also fits the bill -- we flipped him from NCST and he had a few other solid P5 programs interested.
anyhow, payoute blew up ratings wise his senior season but didn't draw a ton of recruiting interest from "top-30"programs.
Dax, Tre, QP were 2018, Devon Hunter was 2017 (as were Tyjuan Garbutt and Dylan Rivers who had strong P5 interest), idk who "Brown" is -- if it's Ramon then we didn't wind up winning that recruiting battle ultimately but it could be argued he would've signed if Fuente didn't get canned so it kinda makes sense to include him.
Agreed - I forgot about Givens/Hudson/Nester, but 10 years ago, we would have been the favorite for most similar level recruits from the Mid-atlantic, down to the carolinas. Need to get back to that.
last year -- Gunner Givens
Givens sure but he also was a VT fan lifer. Great to get him, but he wanted to be a Hokie the whole way. It's like if you or I were a 5 star recruit
We've built the program on those type of guys, so I'm ok with it
Givens was still a huge win IMO. We've missed out on plenty of "VT fan lifers" in recent years to programs that are currently more relevant or successful.
Not to get anyone's hopes too high since this is all Twitter banter for engagement but.......this is great to see from 2 guys way up high on our list
I try to suppress my excitement about receiving a BJ because I don't like being let down.
Also Matej Sis retweeting Brown's original tweet (the one I shared) with some eyeballs of his own
In news that should impact our 757 recruiting, Dre Bly is no longer with UNC. They "mutually" parted ways after kids signed their NLI's. I'm assuming Mack got tired of DB regression and all around bad defense.
Guessing that explains a lot of attrition in that room
Yup, those were the rumors when we saw that entire room empty out at the end of the season
Pour one out for "The Rude Boyz"
Damn wasn't he head coach in waiting or something?
Has that concept/thing ever worked out? I can't recall it ever working
Jimbo won a natty at FSU
No cap we should sign him as a recruiting analyst. Nothing closer to the field than that, but having him involved in recruiting would a huge asset
no cap?
I am shocked that unc didn't do this. Maybe he wants to be a coach?
Have him coach RBs and move Holt off field/assign STs to someone else. Always put an ace recruiter at RB coach.
Off Topic recruiting news:
That's, um... That's certainly something.
Though at first read, I thought Deion was doing an in-home on the Marshall campus, which would REALLY have been something.
Ugh. Just start an NFL G league and field a club team from the student population.
NFL won't do that bc currently they don't have to pay for player development
Looking at a map, VT, WVU, UK, Cincy, and OSU are all similar-ish distance from Marshall.
Yea... part of me hopes it was VT. Part of me hopes it was not us.
"didn't name the player" ..................... meanwhile Marshall only has one committed incoming transfer player this offseason........................
https://247sports.com/Player/JJ-Roberts-46080894/
formerly of wake, don't think he got regraded as a transfer yet.
Since it seems there are no rules, I hope that coaches will call out other coaches by name like this every time they hear that another coach is tampering
You expect this to happen in back channels (eg; Recruiting Analyst calls players high school coach who calls players). It's pretty bold for a head coach to reach out directly to a recruit. That said, bold is what Deion is going for.
I am guessing what Deion did is technically not tampering because classes had not yet begun. He would still be considered "in the portal" until that date (or at least that's my understanding based on the discussion around the Varner flip).
That said, it would be an extraordinary result if a coach flipped a transfer on campus at a University the day before classes begun. Imagine the chaos.
Not sure where else to put this but Dre Bly out at UNCheat. Gotta help us in the 757.
Drinky drinky
UNC buddy just said speculation is he is headed to ODU. This could continue to suck for us...
Well at least we'll know their pass D will suck at ODU when we play them
More likely their pass D will suck against everyone else, but they'll look like all-Americans against the Hokies.
If Dre Bly steals a little depth from us at ODU, so be it. If he starts pulling our top targets to ODU we're cooked as a program. We can't just big dig them on the field anymore but we absolutely should big dog them off the field.
I thi k the bigger issue is that if ODU had a good DB coach then they find a gem that wants to play P5 ball their coaching staff might help guide some one to one of their friends like Brent Pry.
Now they aren't going to play well to get p5 looks cause they are poorly coached
PRY SIGNAL IS UP!
This is a pretty good haul, especially on offense.
Still, the O Line is going to cap our ceiling at 5-6 wins no matter how much better we get everywhere else. If we could get 1 even 2 solid OL starters from the portal I would get very excited about this team's potential to compete in the league
I would say 5, with the defense having the capacity to win 1 or 2 more.
I think at this point with the OL, we really have to hope for development or someone new emerges. That being said they have made one helluva effort of improving the skill positions.
How about just reverting to '21 form?
If you listen to any football podcasts that talk recruiting, they've all talked about how difficult it is to get transfer OL, especially tackles. Bud Elliot I think referenced coaches were joking about it at the recent big post season coaching convention. Lots of skilled position players looking to find places to get the ball
More, but way less non skilled, especially proven ones, players in the portal
Yeah, Bud is very emphatic that OL is not accessible in the portal. You need to develop those dudes. The good thing for us is that I think we have the horses if they get developed. We don't have it for next year necessarily, but long term I'm definitely positive.
Expanding on this - by week 2, over 1600 D1 football players had entered the portal. Let's just say that in the month since ESPN reported that number, the count has gone up to 2000. Per 247, I counted about 375 linemen (~200 OT, ~175 IOL) in the portal.
So, while this position group makes up nearly half of your starting 11, less than 25% of the players in the portal are offensive linemen.
It's clear that supply is low and demand is high.
Sorry if I'm missing something - but doesn't the 1600 count defensive players too? If so, here are my backhand calculations...
So assuming 375/2000 = 19% of players in portal are OL.
And 5/22 = 22% of your starting 22 are OL.
No you're not missing anything. I just math bad and didn't think good... damn it
I think your point stands though. 5/11 is offensive starters. Compare that to the number of offensive players in the portal. The calculation of 375/2000, if I'm thinking correctly about this (and the 5/22 number) is based on an even distribution of offensive and defensive players in the portal. If it's skewed toward the offense (and that might be the case), your calculation might be closer to reality.
Edit: and you both forgot about ST players in the start players (if using 11 or 22) when using the full 2000 number. So doing your 5/11 calculation and comparing it to offensive players in the portal is probably the best number, if they have portal entries by Offense, Defense, and ST.
I would say the OL & QB situation combined. I like the transfer we got in, but we still don't know what we don't know. And if Wells ends up being the starter again this offense will not be very good.
Farrell and Bullock may be able to factor in as well. Farrell will be a r-fr with good knowledge of the offense and a year to get bigger.
Bullock was always a project with the physical tools. He was behind Farrell last year but Farrell had played a couple years more football if I'm not mistaken and Bullock was only here 6 months earlier studying a totally different offense. Him not transferring tells me he thinks he has at least an outside shot to win the job, which I would love to happen given his frame and athleticism
Bullock has been posted in a lot of videos of him working out. Definitely putting in work
Yeah, the cynic in me thinks he's softly showcasing himself prior to a portal entry
Yup, thats exactly what I thought as well. I think Farrell also posted at least one winter workout video. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they put it out there to see if there was anyone interested before officially entering. Hope one or both stays. Gotta develop these guys as much as possible
Tomorrow is the day that we should see a fair amount of entrants with classes starting, correct? We know that we're at least like 5-10 scholarships over where we need to be if I'm remembering correctly.
I would think it would be at the end of spring practice. I mean they can't go enroll somewhere else and practicing in spring with your name in the portal your probably not going to be getting a ton of serious looks from the coaches with a foot out the door.
But more so I think guys will try to work into a spot in the spring and the coaches will have a conversation about transferring with players again after spring practice so they can enter the portal and transfer in the summer to a new school.
Once class starts the school is on the hook for their scholarship. They won't be practicing with the team. They will enroll in summer at new team.
Yeah, I'm guessing there might be a few exceptions with guys that might get cut in spring, but other than that, I'm sure the coaches and players know where they stand for classes starting this week.
The portal closes Wednesday. No way anyone is announcing in the next two days and sitting out of practice reps and wasting a spring doing nothing.
If they think they are gonna transfer they go through spring practice to get more reps and keep up and in shape and then enter the portal when it opens again in the spring to transfer in summer.
New early enrollment players moved in and some are featured in Instagram. New OL recruit, Lance Williams puttingup a pancake flag is a good sign.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnYTkYPLFH-/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Some actual recruiting news here https://twitter.com/rwrightrivals/status/1615109871266930707?s=46&t=ghBNkvHrTIVVzeE4o_YCTA
Holy shit.
Composite 4⭐ top 25 QB
5-11, 185 QB - a little on the small side but he has a great arm and good mobility
high 3 / low 4 depending on the recruiting service. ESPN has him as a Top300 4-star which is a good sign. They arent as comprehensive as other services but generally their top300 are all high quality prospects
top 3 of Virginia Tech, A&M and Michigan State
(His top 7 from October were: Alabama, Florida, Michigan State, Penn State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.)
So you're saying we big dogged Alabama, Florida, Penn State, Ole Miss, and Tennessee?
I would be shocked if he is actually 5'11"!
Oh hell yeah, brother!
Also here's the embed:
This guy is definitely looking for a specific thing in the schools he's choosing, two of the three have corps of cadets, all three are their state's premier land grant universities, all three are in the rural parts of their respective states. Virginia tech has a very solid mix of both of the other choices. I think we have a solid chance if he's picking for things outside of just football. And all three are in stages of rebuilds in football so he's looking to build a legacy.
He is also the son of MMA fighter Vitor Belfort.
Nice. But signing day is a long way away. I've seen this movie before. I'm not excited until it's actually signing day.
A few days ago (when he cut to 3) it sounded like a decision was coming real soon. Does he have any more visits left? There's a good chance we seal the deal this weekend, even moreso if he isn't visiting anywhere else
On top of this kid's ability, the potential of having an absolute legend of MMA on campus for games is a huge plus.
Maybe his dad and Brandon Rechsteiner's dad can do some promos for us.
Wait..... What. This is serious. Let's F*cking Go!
Snaps added is self-explanatory, but what does WAA stand for? I assume upper right quadrant is where you want to be, Y-axis reflects rating improvement, and X-axis reflects experience added?
2023 transfer portal additions graphs
Wins Above Average. Basically the likelihood a player will help create wins.
Two ways to view it;
1. The guys we got will help us significantly
2. The bar was so stupidly low it inflates the stat
When it says FBS additions only, does that mean it's only measuring players who are transferring from FBS to FBS or does that mean it's only measuring the improvement of the FBS schools?
Probably just TO FBS from the looks of it. Which is fair, FCS or SWAC talent to FBS would be much harder to compare.
I can't help but get Tate Martell vibes. Totally unfair of me. Completely profiling off of size and nothing else. The other comp that immediately came to mind was painful....Todd Reesing. Hopefully he picks the good guys, and kicks ass.
assuming it was supposed to be about Davi Belfort
The only issue I have is that Bud Elliott, who lives in Florida, is not high on Florida QBs. But, that doesn't mean he can't be successful. I don't think height matters that much in the ACC if you have athleticism, arm talent, and IQ.
While we're still in the running, his size should be compared to the successful members of the Lollipop Guild, Russ Wilson or Kyler Murray.
I'd take a Seneca Wallace
The Umansky signal is up. Davi Belfort is in town.
Make of it what you will....
WTF is happening right now?????
Like, i'm recruiting excited and I don't know what to do?
If it lasts over four hours, see a doctor.
Davi and Vitor were at the wrestling match 👀
Can we hire whoever does the cooking in his house? That ain't no 8th grade bod.
Yeah, I see it now
https://247sports.com/player/troy-stevenson-46128464/
PWO
https://247sports.com/player/jordan-tapscott-46138764/
https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/Article/Jordan-Tapscott-comm...
2nd most production in the history of vhsl and no p5 offers, wow. Also is HS air-raid too? 98 rec for 1800 is more than most HS WRs career. Shit we hardly threw the ball when I was in HS
Certainly looks like he could use some size but I like the pickup.
Kaleb Smith 2.0? 👀
Does Tech have any offers to linemen of note? Doesn't seem like they have many out there.
Looks like Our top high school recruit in the 2023 class is OL.
He's talking '24
Pretty sure we've offered the 4 highest ranked OL in VA for the 2024 class:
https://247sports.com/Player/Fletcher-Westphal-46116125/
https://247sports.com/Player/CamRon-Warren-46110181/
https://247sports.com/Player/DJ-Toliver-46104181/
https://247sports.com/Player/Mason-Wade-46131265/
Got a crystal ball for Mason Wade. We've definitely been after Westphal pretty heavily, and DJ Toliver is from Lord Botetourt. We've had success recruiting some beef from there recently (Hanson, McClain, and Givens).
Westphal the same high school as Bryce Duke
All of those are OTs. We don't have that many offers for IOL but one of them is 4* Washington Post All-Met Jordan Seaton currently the #1 IOL in the class
https://247sports.com/player/jordan-seaton-46111847/
A lot of times it's like high school QBs they play QB because they are the best athlete, but that's not there college position, OTs are often moved to OG when they aren't athletic enough for college OT. Some coaches recruit this way and will largely ignore HS OGs.
Yeah, but the rankings will usually separate that out. Ghannam played OT but was categorized as IOL by 247.
Thanks, I hadn't been following that close. Glad to see the Hokies going after some beef.
PWO QB
24/7 Page is a little sparse
A two-year starter at Mountain View, Sigler threw for 4,684 yards and 62 passing touchdowns to only nine interceptions. He added five touchdowns rushing. As a senior, Sigler was named a Second-Team All-Region selection.
"a little sparse" is right -- looks like it was created today
Same HS as the #1 recruit in VA for 2024, Kris Jones.
via GIPHY
He seems to be pleased about this too
Rooting for the walk-on QB. Bring it on Stetson, I mean Jackson!!
#JackClick4Heisman
Another unrated walkon from va who is excited to be here
https://247sports.com/player/jaricous-hairston-46125450/
Edit: listed at 6'4" 230 🥵
He might not be rated, but that's a 5* name for sure!
you know it's a 10/10 5* name when your twitter handle can just be @firstname and it's available
Pernicious JaRicous
JaRicous IPA
I would ask how to pronounce that first name, but I'm positive the response I get would be "Kevin".
You've been here before haven't you?
I posted his announcement video, which was done at his basketball game during starter announcements. His name is pronounced phonetically as spelled.
Good to know. Can you pronounce the spelling for me?
Let's all be adults here for once...
the i is an ee sound
I'm stuck on the c. Hard or soft? I hate that letter.
Ja-REE-cuss
I thought Ja-rih-shus, so we should design a Hail Mary play for him and call it Magically Jaricous
I don't often laugh, but when I do, I laugh out loud. You got me.
That would be Ja'Ricious
I just picture the owner of City Wok on South Park saying "delicious"
6'4 230 is a big man. Wonder what position he is scoped for since he tagged Tyler Bowen directly.
Just saw that he'll play TE on Twitter. He played QB in high school
TKP prepping their TE/QB jokes
the pipeline is intact
Well we know he's athletic and he certainly has the frame to gain weight. Personally I'd put him on the OL, could potentially contribute there in a few years
That was my thought too... a 6'4" 230lb walk on with room to grow feels like a diamond in the rough. This is how VT rounds out a roster.
Oh snap, Andrew Miller and Martin Scale's high school (me too, but who gives a shit). Have heard the kid is pretty damn athletic for a big man. There was a picture of him dunking on a fast break in the Martinsville Bulletin a couple days ago.
Edit: and the lightening bolt that was Brandon Dillard.
did we ever have anyone who embodied "build like a fire hydrant" more than martin scales??? super nice guy too on top of it
Forget his commitment or football highlights video this highlight is all I need to see. Double handed block off the backboard that he gets control of to run the floor and dunk.
Edit: on a second watch it looks like he blocks it off the backboard then just straight takes it away from the next guy trying to go up with it then runs the floor and dunks, put 2 blocks down on the stat sheet.
Good lord. Some localities will press charges after a double mugging like that.
Yeah that's an athletic OL all the way
Before I watched the clip I was wondering if this was a sam Rogers situation where he just looked like a fullback in a basketball uniform, then I watched it and wow that guy had some impressive finesse for his size.
Quick someone post that jacked pic of Sam playing basketball that made him a legend before he even started at Blacksburg! Ha
I got you fam
Thanks fam 🙏
I'm not new enough to get my hopes up about this one but honestly I'm impressed we were able to get such highly rated recruits to come on an unofficial this past week
https://247sports.com/player/jordan-seaton-46111847/
https://247sports.com/player/jayvon-mcfadden-46127479/
Don't wanna rain on your parade, but Rashan Gary came to Junior Day in Blacksburg. Dashawn Hand came to campus multiple times. Yes we were bad last year and we're still able to get high rated guys to make the drive, but we've had #1 recruits on campus before.
To be fair (insert Letterkenny gif) I am hopeful about Seaton because of Rudolph's pedigree and St. Johns is very much in Hokie country.
Yeah I don't see us picking up the No 1 IOL in the class with the offers he has. He can go anywhere he wants. It would be a huge pull for Pry and Co if we could but I don't think we are there yet.
I don't really know what you say to a kid who has those offers.
Yeah I don't think it'll happen, but I'm not just gonna dismiss it like I would've years prior
You say some combination of:
Then, you need to back up each bulletpoint:
You need to get your Corey Moore - That one player who will buy into the vision. You may also need to get lucky. Maybe you get an unforced error from Mac Brown or James Franklin. Or maybe there's a position coach change at one of the other schools. Maybe they drop this kid for some other 5-star.
Whatever happens, you eventually have to deliver on your vision. Once that happens, you have proof of concept. And you can start selling that to other players of a similar stature.
Pry has said he sees us competing with PSU and UNC for recruits by 2025... we're 2 classes away from there... gotta start somewhere, somehow.
You have to love the effort and energy Pry is putting into recruiting, and he is setting some tangible goals for progress. Contrast that with the previous regime, where they would "do their own evaluations," and our goal was "championships." Neither of which worked out well.
Seems like it was a good weekend
Virginia Tech "Increasing the Gap" for Three-Star WR Lamar Booker Jr
https://247sports.com/player/lj-booker-46127895/