Sorry if this is a duplicate (still kind of new to posting on here), but I thought this would be kind of fun to discuss on here. So here it goes, what was your biggest recruiting letdown (ex. Thought he was 100% a Hokie and then committed somewhere else) and then the opposite, what was your biggest committment suprise (thought no chance they were going to be a Hokie and ended up with the good guys). For me....
Biggest surprise: Kevin Jones; Thought he was PSU from day 1.
Biggest letdown: LeSean McCoy; I might be in the minority about this one, but I though for sure he was VT bound.
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Biggest surprise: Jones is a good one although he clearly was showing major interest in VT throughout his recruitment; I'll say Marcus Vick. He wrote VT off but somehow still signed here.
Biggest letdown: Michael Robinson-Not he was ever 100% Hokie but he loved VT and his Mom loved Paterno. Mom won.
Really? The QB who won the OB for PSU? What's the back story here?
Yes, he played QB for PSU. Same recruiting class as Bryan Randall. He went to Varina, in Eastern Henrico. Mike loved Coach Cav and VT. His stepfather wanted him to go to Maryland and his Mom told him that he was going to PSU following an in-home from Paterno. She loved Paterno. Paterno really knocked VT's graduation rates for black athletes (no idea if that was true at the time) and his Mom bought it. I have a friend who lived a few doors down from them at the time and I chatted with Robinson's Mom the Summer after he signed with PSU during a cookout.
For me it is Nnadi - I thought for SURE he would be a Hokie. Perfect size and skills for what we do. Immediate playing time available. Dad was a Hokie. Good family, raised to think independently - not one of the followers. That one hurt and shocked me. He was a really good one that i thought we had in the bag from the get go.
The best one we got that I didn't think we would was Vince Hall. He was all set to go to UNC until the entire cavalry came to his school to impress upon him how much he was wanted. A couple of years after he graduated, I was fortunate enough to ask him about that day. He told me that he was firm about UNC when the VT coaches arrived, which caused one of them to toss a desk across the room in frustration. He said he realized just how important he was to them, and switched to VT because of that. The rest is history - huge 4 year starter for us, and a huge cog in our success those years. I am still a big fan and hope he is well.
What I would give to have the 9/11 linebacking combo again...
Yeah, your comment actually gave me the chills. We've had some good ones, but that pair is the gold standard, IMO. Those guys just made plays all day long.
God, I want to beat OSU...Random? Maybe. But I just felt like expressing that thought right here.
Loved throwing up the X for Adibi. Was a man with a screw in his shoulder!
Biggest Surprise: Didn't follow recruiting much back then b/c I was still in HS but I'd guess that KJ was a huge surprise from all the reports of his recruitment.
Biggest Letdown: It might be because it was recent but I'd say Da'Shawn Hand would've been a huge game changer for VT, he would appear in so much VT stuff and said Bud Foster was his favorite recruiter. LeSean McCoy during his recruitment wasn't it because of the math requirement he didn't come to VT?
I know the math requirement got Knowshon Moreno. McCoy had to prep so he wasn't going anywhere straight out of high school.
Everyone thought Greg Stroman was UVA bound until he committed to us last year. Just go look at his 247 page. All the "experts" had him going to UVA. This one probably isn't on everyone's mind because he's not rated 5 stars, but he's one heck of an athlete. We'll get to see how he does the next 4-5 years.
Definitely glad we landed Stroman. I have a feeling that he is going to be a good one for us.
Old-school surprise: Cornell Brown
Old-school letdown: Herman Moore
Anyone who has been around VT footba long enough knows that Cornell Brown and Kevin Jones were really the biggest shockers for the Hokies.
Biggest letdowns? Recently, Austin Clark was a painful one for me, as well as Johnathan Allen. But, I bet if you asked Bud Foster, he would say Stephone Anthony. Even though Anthony picking Clemson opened the scholarship that lead to Luther Maddy joining VT, Bud visibly winced when he mentioned Anthony at the Nova Hokie Club Chalk Talk. It still hurts, and if Jack Tyler had not turned out to be so effective the impact of Bud missing on Anthony, Hughes, and Grant would have been felt for a long long time.
Athony has been on-off from the little I follow Clemson -- is he doing well there?
I go to Clemson, he is doing really well, but it took longer to develop him. He would be flourishing at VT.
Do you think Curtis Grant, now of anOSU, would have flourished in Blacksburg as well?
You do WHAT?!
I think Curtis Grant would have flourished as well, although I guess I can't say that for certain about either he or Anthony. Some people just never get Bud's gap fit, regardless of talent, like Nick Dew for example. However, if I remember correctly, those were both 5 star guys and probably would have been able to get away with a less than perfect systematic understanding.
Hokiefish, I'm from South Carolina so staying in state, even with scholarships from VT, was way cheaper. That said, I do NOT pull for Clemson, and I make at least one trip up to Blacksburg every year for a game.
I hope you wear your VT gear all over that campus. ;-)
Very understandable Chris. Student loans suck. Out of curiosity, what made you a Hokie fan growing up in SC? Do you have family that went to VT?
I had no connection to the in state schools except Furman, where my parents went, and when I got into football in late elementary school I loved VT's style of play, the lunchpail D, Beamer, etc. and next thing I knew I was a die hard Hokie and always will be.
damn straight!
I'd go with Jones for one and either Anthony to Clemson or Nnadi to FSU.
Biggest let down : Koerven & Hand to Bama
Biggest surprise: Shai & KJ to the Hokies
In recent memory...I would say losing Nnadi and getting Durkin. Durkin came out of nowhere to flip to the good guys.
Biggest letdown recently has got to be Stephone Anthony. Dude was a huge recruit and I think his cousin was Barquell Rivers so we had a big advantage with that. He ended up committing to Clemson on signing day and putting an exclamation point on one of the worst recruiting classes we've had since Vick.
And I knowwww that it led to us getting Maddy, but still; the 2010 and 2011 classes were very mediocre.
Just to not keep repeating everyone else, I'll say:
Both from the 2009 class:
Biggest surprise: Jayron Hosley. Came out of no where on Signing Day and signed with the good guys.
Biggest let down: Kevin Newsome. He was supposed to be the guy to take over after Tyrod left, but a visit from Paterno got him to go to Penn St. I'm still bitter about that one. Unfortunately for him, he didn't pan out at the college level and we did just fine with Logan Thomas.
But imagine if we got Newsome and he turn out as good as he was rated. TE Logan Thomas with one handed TD catches every Saturday would had been the norm for us!
All reports from up here are that Newsome had no chance at being a college quarterback. He was marooned behind a few other guys on the depth chart, and even though they never had even the smallest amount of success as PSU quarterbacks, Newsome didn't have what it took to overtake them. They tried to move him to safety, I think, then he bailed for...Delaware?
Temple
While at Temple he was switched from the QB position and eventually left the team.
Biggest letdown, Late Version: Justin London. That recruiting year, with Kai Parham, Ahmad Brooks and Justin London....in a year when we were desperate for LB's, was brutal. We really felt good about Brooks for a long time but he pulled towards UVA in the last month. We always thought, at least we'll get London. Brooks (and Parham) gave Groh's new staff a lot of legitimacy but London really made us look bad. There was a backstory there, I think London had a friend die and wanted to get (far) away from Roanoke or something like that. But losing London was heartbreaking.
Biggest letdown, Early Version: DaShawn Hand. We really, really, really felt good about Hand last spring. To have him cut us, out of the blue, in early summer was brutal.
Biggest Surprises: George Bell picking VT was a huge surprise. From NC, I believe most thought he was going to NCSU the entire time, even up to his announcement. Everyone mentioned KJ, but I believe we got Fred Lee that same year from PA and he was just as much of a surprise. Wyatt Teller had become a big uva lean before picking us. Bruce Taylor was a surprise commitment from Myrtle Beach.
I remember the JL one well, and believe everyone was pretty shocked with how that played out. I believe he played as a true freshman at UCLA, but I never really followed his career there. Any idea how he turned out for them?
I knew/know Wyatt Teller personally and he was going to end up at VT from day one, he was just trolling with everybody.
Just another reason to like the kid.
The kid is going to be an absolute beast, crushed in in the weight room and the field. But even more impressive? Crushed 2 burritos in 30 seconds. Yea get pumped.
#TeamBurrito
Jayron Hosley was a beautiful last minute surprise for us a few years back. I dont want to talk about disappointments.
Biggest recruiting disappointment: Marcus Vick
Biggest recruiting win: JaWand Blue
What you did there, I see it.
I was waiting for this response. Leg.
Hey, hey. Easy there. He departed with a winning bowl record and at least he beat JMfU.
He also departed with a list of criminal charges.
Still, this isn't a Marcus Vick hatethread, plus we haven't even clarified if the surprise are recruits we've landed or the recruiting surprise are recruits that weren't expected to do much by the "experts" and ended up proving them wrong. Not to mention, regardless of the charges, he left with a superior bowl record to both. Randall and LT3 (both 1-2).
He was one heck of an athlete. Possibly a better overall QB than MV7, just not the type of game changer. He was a letdown in my opinion because his play was overshadowed by his off the field actions. He was a letdown because he pissed away his future and embarrassed our university, bowl record aside.
no such thing as hatethread when it comes to Marcus Vick, hate follows him because he creates it everywhere he goes, but if it makes you feel better to use specific wording...
biggest waste of a recruitment offer: Marcus Vick
biggest douchebag ever to put on Hokie uniform: Marcus Vick
biggest detriment to the Hokie name by a former VT football player: Marcus Vick
Was wondering when you were going to show up with your Marcus Vick hate propaganda. Maybe I should send this and your username to his mom.
Sure, go for it if that makes you feel better. I'm a big believer in individuals taking responsibility for their own actions. Since he takes none himself I feel safe in my accurate description of him.
I'm not trying to start any debate but stating the Marcus somehow did something good for VT is just wrong. No matter what physical gifts he had at playing the game nor any winning record he had his behavior on and off the field far overshadow them. While he was at VT he represented everything that is wrong with entitled young athletes and gave VT a bad name in practically every way possible. Beamer put his own reputation on the line giving him chance after chance just to watch him piss it all away. And since "taking it to the next level" predictably never panned out for him he continually proves to be of the lowest moral fiber which drags VT through the mud every time through loose affiliation when he is described as "former VT QB". He's the gift that won't stop giving
Well unfortunately your claim that he "contributed nothing good" to Tech is incorrect. Even the idiots at $ec$pn would disagree and point that out.
As always I am rapt for one cogent reason to prove your point. name one positive thing that he did that outweighs his negatives.
Ah, but you see I wasn't arguing the positives outweighing negs. I was simply going against the argument that he contributed "nothing good" to Tech.
Honestly man, if you can't come up with a single reason why Marcus was a positive for VT then stop bringing it up. You keep attempting to avoid the question. Try to form a defensible argument to support your point of view.
How about the Ws?
So for arguments sake let's say Famous Jameis really did rape that girl. You're saying his winning a national championship is something you consider a positive no matter what he did? Seriously dude, you need to reconsider your priorities.
I love football and I love the Hokies but if the guy that won us a national championship was guilty of rape then I would never feel comfortable or satisfied that we "won." Because we didn't. We lost. I like to think that being a Hokie means more than a W. That we win the right way.
As such, Marcus didn't win anything for VT. He lost for VT. Every W he had was experience some other QB desperately needed for when he all too predictably flamed out into dumbassland. I was never more proud of Beamer and the Hokies, and to be a Hokie, as when they kicked him off the team. Fortunately for every Marcus Vick we seem to have 5 Sam Rogers, Cody Grimms and Jack Tylers. Guys who's talent comes from hard work, blue collar attitude of putting 100% into everything, or what I like to call being a phucking Hokie.
Actually yeah it would (and still is) a positive (in the case of infamous jameis). They're still landing top notch recruits (and from VA noless). The Ws that MV5 were so instrumental in achieving in our sophomore season were instrumental in landing recruits like T-Mobile, LT3, RMFW, etc.
You have issues son. Winning the wrong way is not a positive. At some point you should have been taught that.
And I seriously doubt that anyone you listed (Tyrod, Logan, Ryan Williams, etc) would say that the reason they came to VT was because Marcus had one winning season. That's ridiculous.
Misconstruing my statement. I never said that Marcus was the sole purpose for them coming here. I meant that his instrumental contributions to the success and Ws of the '05-'06 season with the collective were instrumental in landing top notch recruits.
Also, I'm not endorsing his alleged illegal activities or the negative aspects of his personality and behavior. I along with everyone believe that he shouldn't have stomped on Dumervil's leg (even if Dumervil might have deserved it).
If you're arguing that the negs outweigh the pos, then I'm inclined (though disappointedly) to agree. But if you're saying he contributed absolutely NOTHING positive to Tech, then you are sadly incorrect.
Yet, when someone else makes the same point, it's a "hatethread." Seriously man, come on. This is precisely why Marcus was a huge disappointment, and you're ultimately agreeing with the post that started this whole tangent. All the athletic gifts in the world, may have even been better than his brother, and all he produced was a single good season (with ONE career bowl win, not much to hang your hat on, especially when he assaulted a player in the middle of it) and a multitude (at least a dozen) criminal charges and/or convictions. When criminal charges > number of wins, the guy goes down in history as a huge detriment to the program and a massive disappointment, not to mention the fact that it threw our QB succession out of whack for a good five years after his sudden dismissal.
precisely. take away all the criminal activity and focus just on impact to football and this is what you have. I would argue we really only are just recovering this past year when Lefty brought in Ford, Durkin and Brewer. Since Marcus' time we have been going from 1 critical starter to the next with a huge drop-off behind them.
Actually I'm not agreeing with the op. I don't think he was the biggest recruiting letdown.
Not to ruin a great back and forth but he DID flip off the WVU fans. That was pretty solid.
Well, they were calling him the n-word throughout the pregame, so it was more than a little justified, even if MV5 was a prick.
Oh I was being serious. I think that was a positive. I can't stand WVU fans, although they've been more quiet recently...
I wonder if he had any retort about burning couches and such.
Send it to his mom? Isn't Marcus in his mid 20s now? We're not talking about a 12 year old here.
Edit: he's 29
and... I feel old.
Biggest Disappointment - Every kid who declares to LOLUVa... I mean, you just hate to see a career ruined like that
Biggest Win - Thats like asking who your favorite kid is. Each and every one of them is the biggest win.
eh, I would say any kid who fooled enough to committ to LOLUVA over VT just don't have it up there.
Its funny you say that, I was just wondering today what the combined IQ of UVA recruits would be?
The same amount of fans they had at their spring game...
My biggest surprise year was 2003, the year after Groh dominated instate recruiting. We bounced back with a commanding instate haul, including Adibi, Hall, Ellis and Brown.
My biggest disappointment year was 2006, in which we offered more 4-5 star talent than ever but struck out in a big way. Also, that class produced an amazingly shallow pool of solid contributors and leaders - despite two being Worilds and Chancellor.
Just thought of a huge letdown.... "Big" Jimmy Williams. Highly recruited, large JuCo defensive tackle who didn't make it through one semester at VT before getting booted off the team.
Biggest Surprise: anyone who doesn't come, because, we are, Va. Tech!
Biggest Disaapointment: anyone who doesn't come, because, we are, Va. Tech!
Biggest Win: Josh Sweat
*****I come from the future!!!!!!!!!!