Regular readers shouldn't have been taken by surprise when Benji Gosnell committed to Virginia Tech publicly tonight. Savvy observers realize that he had been silently committed to the Orange and Maroon since his visit for the Notre Dame night game back in October.
Of course, a coaching change can impact those things - and when the Hokies were clearly on the path toward making one, he wanted to be patient with how he approached the endgame of his recruitment, because there was no need to hurry into anything. If he didn't click with a new coach, he didn't want to be a kid who committed under the Fuente regime and then had to change his mind. With one decommitment already under his belt during the process (albeit one that was more Ohio State's decision than his own), Gosnell didn't want to have to go back on his word yet again.
That said, it would have taken something catastrophic - or VT running out of scholarship space - for him not to end up a Hokie. Our colleague Deana King of CarolinaPreps has covered Gosnell longer than anyone - dating back to his time as an underclassman in the Tar Heel State, when his older brother Stephen went through the recruiting process and ultimately signed with UNC. She provided some insight as to not only how unlikely it was that Benji went anywhere other than VT, and why the timing was right.
"I’ve been covering him a long time and he told me that he has committed to VT," he said. "He will publicly announce next week. Just wanted to pass it along. He is a good kid. He just loves Blacksburg no matter who was coaching."
That was earlier today (he went public much sooner than "next week!"), and of course the recommitment to VT was almost a foregone conclusion, as noted at the top.
The endgame of his recruitment may have played out differently if not for the senior-year knee injury. Moving across the state border from NW North Carolina to SWVA meant he was going to have to start anew in getting attention from a wider range of schools. When he tore his ACL just three games into the year, that ended the likelihood of something like Ohio state getting back involved or other major programs getting involved. However, the Hokies had long been sold on the caliber of player Gosnell has historically been, and the faith that they've shown in him to recover from the injury is part of what gave him the faith that the decision he originally made earlier this Fall (and in all honesty, probably knew internally long before that) is the right one. Fortunately for both prospect and program, rehab is going extremely well.
“The leg's getting stronger," Gosnell explained. "And my knee flexion is improving daily.”
He's not sure when he'll be back to 100%, but he intends to have a serious chance to be a contributor as a true freshman if healthy. Even if it takes a little bit longer to get back to 100%, his long-term future is bright for VT.
Of course, a coaching change can impact those things - and when the Hokies were clearly on the path toward making one, he wanted to be patient with how he approached the endgame of his recruitment, because there was no need to hurry into anything. If he didn't click with a new coach, he didn't want to be a kid who committed under the Fuente regime and then had to change his mind. With one decommitment already under his belt during the process (albeit one that was more Ohio State's decision than his own), Gosnell didn't want to have to go back on his word yet again.
That said, it would have taken something catastrophic - or VT running out of scholarship space - for him not to end up a Hokie. Our colleague Deana King of CarolinaPreps has covered Gosnell longer than anyone - dating back to his time as an underclassman in the Tar Heel State, when his older brother Stephen went through the recruiting process and ultimately signed with UNC. She provided some insight as to not only how unlikely it was that Benji went anywhere other than VT, and why the timing was right.
"I’ve been covering him a long time and he told me that he has committed to VT," he said. "He will publicly announce next week. Just wanted to pass it along. He is a good kid. He just loves Blacksburg no matter who was coaching."
That was earlier today (he went public much sooner than "next week!"), and of course the recommitment to VT was almost a foregone conclusion, as noted at the top.
The endgame of his recruitment may have played out differently if not for the senior-year knee injury. Moving across the state border from NW North Carolina to SWVA meant he was going to have to start anew in getting attention from a wider range of schools. When he tore his ACL just three games into the year, that ended the likelihood of something like Ohio state getting back involved or other major programs getting involved. However, the Hokies had long been sold on the caliber of player Gosnell has historically been, and the faith that they've shown in him to recover from the injury is part of what gave him the faith that the decision he originally made earlier this Fall (and in all honesty, probably knew internally long before that) is the right one. Fortunately for both prospect and program, rehab is going extremely well.
“The leg's getting stronger," Gosnell explained. "And my knee flexion is improving daily.”
He's not sure when he'll be back to 100%, but he intends to have a serious chance to be a contributor as a true freshman if healthy. Even if it takes a little bit longer to get back to 100%, his long-term future is bright for VT.
