Virginia Tech's at-times rocky relationship with Chester (Va.) Life Christian Academy has been no secret. One of the region's top producers of football talent is positioning itself as an answer to the IMG and St. Frances Academies of the world, and it's practically right around the corner from Blacksburg in the Richmond area. Despite that, the Hokies have had trouble landing players from the program.
That changed when defensive tackle D'Andre Martin committed this Summer, but one player can not change the whole vibe. That is unless, of course, the Hokies take advantage. There seems to be a more-cohesive plan to actually leveraging success of relationships (and particularly closer to home, rather than in places like California and Texas, which are obviously loaded with talent but haven't had an effort-to-results payoff for VT recruiting in recent classes). Martin is also a popular kid among his teammates, and has been in the ear of many of them about the Orange and Maroon.
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"I've been talking to all the guys about VT," Martin said after his team's game at Brentwood (Tenn.) Ravenwood on Friday evening. "A lot of them are listening. Some are
really listening, but they want their identities to remain a secret for now."
The Hokies have offered a number of players from the program, including members of the 2022 and 2023 classes (and a number of underclassmen, as well). The one whose recruitment is most-relevant is the lone 2022 still on the board, linebacker Reid Pulliam. The Hokies obviously have a need at his position after losing a pledge from North Carolina three-star Xavier Simmons, and I came away from an in-person viewing of Pulliam
very impressed with what he can provide to a scheme like VT runs.
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Pulliam plans to make his college commitment later this month between Duke and Virginia Tech (Maryland, a member of his previous top three,
has been eliminated). He visited Blacksburg for the season-opening game against North Carolina, and had an outstanding trip. He plans to see Duke this weekend to get his final look at the other suitor. However, he told me that the trip to Durham is up in the air - and you can very much read into that what you will. He has no plans to push back his timeline, so one could fairly assume he feels like he basically has his mind made up, whether or not he makes it to the visit.
There are also underclassmen very interest in the Hokies, and one underclassman who
seems interested in the Hokies, but maintains that he really isn't. I'll cover a couple guys, starting with the one in the latter category. 2023 offensive lineman Joshua Miller was in Blacksburg for the opener as well (you've surely noticed by now that a number of LCA players were in tow), but he excluded the Hokies from his list
when he narrowed it earlier this Summer. I asked him straight-up how interested he truly is in VT, and he was pretty honest in saying that the Hokies are on the periphery, at best. My read is that the situation can improve, particularly if VT continues recruiting LCA well, but that's a question that won't be resolved until later in the process - much later in the process for a guy who plans to take his time.
A junior who
is legitimately interested in VT is defensive back Antonio Cotman. His trip for the UNC game was his third since the long emergency Dead Period ended, and he remains high on the Orange and Maroon.
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He has a bunch of programs in the mix, and he's interested in some of the bigtime names, whether or not they've made the move on a scholarship offer. He specifically mentioned Clemson to me as the school he may be vibing with the most (along with UNC, which has offered). But Virginia Tech is right in the thick of it, and he mentioned that the gameday atmosphere for the UNC contest was incredible - and of course, it doesn't hurt that VT's defense dominated one of his other favorites during the game.
In the long run, the Hokies won't want to recruit
exclusively from LCA, or recruit
every FBS kid from the school. Ohio State doesn't do it with Cleveland Glenville, USC doesn't do it from Long Beach Poly, Miami doesn't do it from Miami Northwestern, etc. But having a strong enough reputation and the connections built up from showing legitimate and sincere attention when the prospects' level of talent and interest calls for it should help the Hokies be a realistic contender for many of these kids who represent the cream of the crop.
