When Virginia Tech football director of high school relations Thomas Guerry throws up the commit signal, you pay attention.
The #Hokies just got better! #VTFamily #Sandman16 757 pic.twitter.com/o5VcEm22xP— Thomas Guerry (@thomasguerry) March 28, 2015
Offensive lineman Thomas Jarrett Hopple verballed to the Hokies this evening, according to 247Sports. The 6-6, 280 pound Nansemond River standout is Tech's first o-line commit of the 2016 cycle. He's rated as a 3-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite and held scholarship offers from Virginia, Pitt and West Virginia among other schools.
Andy Hilton of Recruit757 wrote a nice account of how Hopple went from tweener to regional commodity.
My first exposure to Nansemond River offensive tackle Thomas Hopple was noteworthy. Hopple was a lanky, big man who was a little out of place at on a 7 on 7 team. He was not quite a tight end, and not yet an offensive tackle. That was 13 months ago. Flash forward to today and it's a different story.
Then, Hopple looked more like an slow-footed tight end. His 6-6 frame with 240 pounds dropped on it was not yet ready for prime time. He was finishing his freshman year. Ninth graders are supposed to be a little awkward.
Now, Hopple is an impressive 6-6 and 260, with more muscle packed on. He's looking like a college-ready prospect who's just now finishing his sophomore year. There will be a lot of progress coming, but in the meantime, college coaches have already started paying attention. Nansemond River assistant coach Justin Conyers gave us the scoop.
"NC State, UVA, Virginia Tech, and VMI all love him," stated the coach. "They're waiting on him to come to a one-day camp so they can pull the trigger (on a scholarship offer)."
Koma is going to do his best to catch up with Hopple for an interview later this week.
Comments
Outstanding! I love a lineman commit!
Offensive lineman? Welcome aboard! Excited for how this 2016 class has been progressing.
Welcome, Thomas! I love the continued push (pun intended) in O-line recruiting!
Any O-lineman with an offer from Pitt is good it seems.
Great news! I love when we get Big Uglies!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I am more impressed with his pass protection than run blocking. That's not saying he doesn't have the ability to push downfield, but it seems more often that you see issues with pass protection out of high school prospects. He seems to have great leverage on nearly every play. Welcome to the best place on earth big man!
Where is the love button? Welcome Thomas to VT! You know I love the OL recruiting! I agree with Matt on the blocking.
Love it. Hopefully Dickerson and Leota follow and we get a great oline class
I am so glad these last couple of years we are getting o-line recruits that look the part. Coverting players from other positions to play o-line was a disaster.
It's just getting betterer and betterer!
VERY EXCITE!
TJH hasn't even signed his LOI yet he's already 1-0 against UVA. A mammoth get for the Hokies! Welcome to Hokieland Thomas.
I love seeing us recruiting depth. Lots of O-lineman. I know coach Sereals is going to love a full film room.
Welcome to Hokie Nation Mr. Hopple!
BTW, the legendary Joe Hoppel of WCMS (also from Suffolk) DJ'd my wedding.
Would he have been active in the '80s? That's when I remember listening to WCMS, and the name sounds familiar.
Oh yeah, he was on in the '80s.
Joe Hoppel was the morning DJ for WCMS (#1 Channel in Hampton Roads, #1 country station in the US for a while) from something like 1955 to 2003.
http://countryradioseminar.com/joe-hoppel
This is not a kid. This is a man. Good lord.
Pancakes, Pancakes, get your red hot pancakes here! Wow
Needs to work on his facial hair.
This is one guy who I really want to see perform well in the bench press when he gets here. A lot of times he lets defenders get into his body because he doesn't have the technique or upper body strength to keep them off. Also, his pass-blocking footwork needs some significant improvement, to put it mildly. He's definitely a kid who we could hear nothing about until he absolutely explodes up the depth chart as a r-sophomore or so, once he puts everything together. Looking forward to seeing how Searels develops him.