Virginia Tech ran off the rails on the recruiting trail Wednesday afternoon when defensive end Tyjuan Garbutt announced his decommitment from the Hokies. The 4-star Riverbend HS product was previously the highest rated member of a Hokies' 2017 recruiting class already lacking in star power. Garbutt's decision to open his recruitment comes after a recent visit to Pittsburgh.
VT is still my leader!! pic.twitter.com/mLHejnxnv2— 4 (@tyjuangarbutt4) July 6, 2016
Let's overreact.
There is no way to sugarcoat this. Garbutt was the headliner for Tech's #STATEment17 efforts. As it currently stands according to the 247Sports Composite, Tech doesn't have a commitment from a top-20 Virginia recruit. The Hokies are No. 40 nationally (Virginia is No. 35). Garbutt's departure also leaves Tech without a defensive end commitment this cycle; a position of need again this year due to misses in classes past.
Justin Fuente has made it clear he recruits based off of staff evaluations, not star rankings. I respect the due diligence and agree with the approach. However, given that Tech offered Garbutt last June and pushed hard for his commitment, there's no doubt he was a blue-chipper in Hokies' eyes. He's just happens to be a 4-star recruit too.
Of the top 20 recruits in Virginia, all but three report a Virginia Tech offer. Offers are fluid and transition from committable to non-committable and vice versa as national signing day approaches. Therefore, round 17/20 to 75%. Virginia Tech has offered three-quarters of the Commonwealth's top 20 recruits and is zero-for. For a program that's emphasized recruiting Virginia as its top priority, well, Frank can best summarize the result.
Let's provide a rational response too.
It's July. National signing day is seven months away.
Fuente built his staff around coaches adept at teaching on the field, not recruiting off it. Tech can't boast an ace recruiter among its assistants. Although, the Hokies do have proven tacticians in command on both sides of the ball flanked by position coaches intimately familiar with the schemes Tech will employ.
At the moment, that strategy is not paying off on the recruiting front. Keep in mind, it was a long-term plan out of the gates, and Fuente hasn't coached his first game in maroon and orange. (If a spring game is played, but is not broadcast on ESPN3, does it constitute a game?) The Head Hokie may not be the savvy salesman who can overflow the cash register by pushing sand in the dessert. However, Fuente may be able to bundle on-the-field results to market and sell his vision. Time will tell.
Again, it's July. National signing day is seven months away.
Excuses are intolerable.
"See, I've always been the type of person where, if I give somebody my word, I give somebody my word," Garbutt told The Key Play after he committed to Virginia Tech in February. "My commitment is my commitment, and I committed to Blacksburg, the Hokies and Virginia Tech."
"I already told (Fuente) 'We're going to get Virginia Tech back to national contenders,'" Garbutt added. "I said I'm gonna help recruit all the best players around me. A couple players follow me and we talk on Twitter, some of the best players in the state, and some players in my area also. I'm trying to make it well known that Virginia Tech is going to rise and we're ready to get back to where we once were: a top-25 team."
Read all the quotes from Garbutt after his commitment to the Hokies and come away perplexed. Garbutt went from actively recruiting for Virginia Tech, to not being a member of its 2017 class in less than five months.
This is seemingly the scuttlebutt associated with Garbutt's U-turn.
So.... High School Coaches telling players where they should attend college. Damn! That's still happening. SMH— Dwight Vick (@vick757) July 6, 2016
Whether true or false, unfortunately that is recruiting. Tech's charge is to overcome any obstacles and obtain a signature on national signing day. It will be a tall order to now sign Garbutt, and would go against the national norm of ultimately inking a former (de)commitment.
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