Two-Way athlete who lined up primarily at receiver as a junior. Played some linebacker as a sophomore but projects as a receiver at the next level and that's also his desired position. Not a burner, more quick than fast but a smooth route runner with strong hands. Does show the ability to get deep occasionally and stretch the field and even shows the ability to line up in the backfield and looks comfortable with the ball in his hands. Has a strong 6-2, 205 pound body that looks college ready right now. Uses his strong frame to create separation and catches the ball well through contact. Smooth and polished route runner and combined with his size and hands, should be a very dependable go-to type receiver, particularly on third down situations.
Link Here, the cherry on top of the 2025 recruiting class. Mines strikes again!
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Let's Go!!
HOKIES!!!
Welcome home, Mr. Sparks!
sparks and clatterbaugh are legit the youngest 35 year old men ever
awwwww yeahhhhh
Here's hoping he Sparks the hokies offense.
Don't worry, I'm leaving I'm leaving
I'm here for the bad puns
STAY!
A very good friend is extremely plugged in to TN HS football. Said Sparks is better suited to play defense, but wants to be a receiver, so several SEC schools backed away earlier in the process. I wouldn't be shocked to see him at STAR, but we will see him at wideout first.
Kind of a reverse Gunner Givens situation...I believe the ratings' sites actually ranked him higher as an athlete but dropped when he openly stated he only wanted to play WR.
I'm with French, a clear candidate to switch sides (or leave via transfer portal) if he can't get through a deep WR room.
Maybe he can be a STAR WR!
Please see yourself out.
Is WR the new RB for this staff? I'm glad we have a lot of talented WR's, but they can't all play, and it seems like this staff would like to run the ball more anyways.
Justin Fuente has entered the chat
I'm not sure that the staff WANTS to run the ball more. I mean, there is some of that, but some of it I think is the QBs we have not being the most accurate passers. And if you watched the playoffs, there are receivers who don't just let the ball come to them, but will go and get it. Having really good receivers can make up for a not great QB, similarly, having a great QB that can put the ball right in a receiver's hands can make up for some receiver limitations. I'm guessing they're looking for receivers who will go and get the ball until we can find a mobile QB that's more accurate. And that would probably be easier to do if we can demonstrate that we have a line that can actually protect a QB while they're making a pass.
An improved OL and a stacked WR room can't hurt QB recruiting.
The difference is you usually have at least 3 receivers on the field at a time, so you actually could use ~10 on your roster.
I get what you're saying though. I think it also feels like we have a ton of WRs because it's the probably the group we've recruited best, so each commitment stands out as there have been a lot of 4 stars.
3? 5 in some situations
To add to that, after QB and OL, WR might be the most important position on the team. I've heard some argue that DB is now a higher value position than DL because of the way some teams pass.
I think part of it is Mines is the WR coach and is kicking ass on recruiting.
Sparks is no longer with the program
That's disappointing, thought he showed a Spark.
As I always point out when DUIs/DWIs happen with athletes, Blacksburg building student housing outside of typical walking distance (walkshed is considered 0.25 mi to 0.5 mi, anything above that and people start to choose other options). A more densely built town with campus, housing, and downtown closer together would make this much less common.
What you say is true. But I'd say people really should learn to not drink and drive. Everyone makes mistakes and maybe this is just a one off, but it makes me worry about their maturity and what else they have already or will do.
Hopefully this is an isolated incident and he learns from it/is able to move on and make better decisions going forward.
Have you checked out the UGA football team lately.... ?
Yes. And that is exactly the type of thing I'm hoping we avoid here!
Exactly this. There is zero excuse for getting a DUI. I know it's not a malicious decision, but it is a careless, selfish decision.
Every football player gets some sort of NIL money. Uber / Lyft exists in Blacksburg, can't cost more than $10 to get back home safely.
If the program needs to get a team rideshare account for players to use when they go out, I think that's a smart investment. Can cap it at $100 / month / player which should be enough to get every player home safely when they can't drive home.
If I had football NIL coin when I was a student, I would be mashing the Uber black option just to ride one block downtown. Totally dumb to even get yourself in this situation.
The NFL has a taxi service for its players, you call a number and some oen picks you up, the players dont use it because they dont want the team to know they were out last night