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Tunnel Talk: Sept. 11, 2020

Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with the latest on Hokies recruiting.

Tray Curry

With 2021 commit Tray Curry all settled at North Cobb High School in Georgia, any worry about his being dropped from the Hokies' class (which wasn't in the plans, but when a kid doesn't have a senior year of high school - to say nothing of senior season on the field - you have to keep it in the back of your mind) can be forgotten. The staff likes his talent, and with his academic and football plans squared away for this year - in this unconventional year for high schoolers around the country - he's solid in their eyes.

That raises another potential worry, though: at a higher-profile program just outside the Atlanta area, there's a greater likelihood that he is heavily scouted and late suitors try to steal him away. He's already spurned Tennessee (which was then his local program) once, pulling back from a silent commitment to flip to the Hokies. The VT staff will certainly make sure they do everything in their power to continue beating back SEC programs for a kid who's in the thick of SEC Country. For the time being, the confidence that they'll be able to do so is high.

I think - have long thought - that Curry is a four-star talent (at least), and holding onto him is important for this class.

Ben Stewart

Touched base with Class of 2021 long-snapper Ben Stewart about his recent trip to Blacksburg, where he checked out campus (but couldn't meet with coaches due to the emergency Dead Period). That's become something of a regular process now for a lot of kids with the means and motivation to take those types of visits, while others are understandably waiting until they can get an actual visit experience before gong out-of-pocket to travel to the programs they're interested in.

For a player whose offer is as a preferred walk-on, there's not even really the promise of a payoff (in terms of a scholarship to more-than offset the costs of taking such a visit), and that indicates serious interest on his part. I'd have a hard time seeing him end up elsewhere, unless big programs closer to home in Texas get seriously involved, or even go for scholarship opportunities to pull him away from the PWO spot at VT that is clearly separating itself atop his list.

With Stewart highly interested in the Hokies and his Dickinson (Texas) teammate Canon Boone committed as a scholarship member of the 2021 class, I touched base with another Class of 2021 player for the Gators, three-star linebacker Keith Cooper. At this point, it doesn't sound like the Hokies have seriously ramped up attention for him, despite the growing connections. There simply isn't a ton of need at the OLB position, especially given the uncertainty of scholarship numbers going forward, etc. etc. He is one player who could be primed to become very interested if VT changes course and goes after him full-bore down the road, though.

Chris Adams

While I do expect that the Hokies still want him (and that should mean good news when his decision date comes), I haven't been able to nail down just how much the staff is really pushing for Hagerstown (Md.) South 2021 offensive lineman Christopher Adams. With some of his finalists hailing from the mid-major or even FCS ranks, a Hokies team that truly wants him should be able to seal the deal relatively simply, but a kid with James Madison and FIU among his finalists is often the type of kid that a program with Virginia Tech's stature sort of goes after lukewarmly in the end. Again, my expectation is that VT considers him a take and will do enough to seal the deal, but not getting a solid answer on that question will leave the uncertainty open just a bit - enough that I'm holding off on a FutureCast pick.

From my perspective, he - like Curry mentioned above - is severely underrated both by coaches in the Mid-Atlantic region (in part because they're wary of offering a kid who had a knee injury late last year when they won't be able to see him play this Fall, and there are simply enough fish in the sea that pushing the chips in on a kid with a recent injury history isn't necessary), and even by Rivals. If the Hokies land him, this isn't quite a Darrisaw-like prospect in terms of obvious potential, but he's a kid who should outperform the expectations and be a multi-year starter at the Power-5 level.

It will be interesting to see how the final month of his recruitment plays out, and what decisions the Hokies make over the course of these final weeks.

As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread to discuss the topics herein, or anything else Hokies recruiting-related.
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Film room on Shawn Asbury

He's so hard to break down, because the aspects of his game that are weakest are the ones that you don't know if that's sort of just the state of affairs, or if he'll look completely different in terms of explosiveness with another year of recovery from the knee injury:

From the film room: Shawn Asbury

He reminds me a lot of a poor man's Greg Stroman (though obviously the burst of speed being part of what he lacks is not ideal).

Robbie Ouzts committed to Alabama yesterday

Somehow, I actually missed it despite being in the car (I.e. staring at my phone while my wife drove) all day.

https://virginiatech.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-robbie-ouzts-commits-to-alabama

That was a foregone conclusion - at this point, I don’t think cause or effect direction really matters - once the staff pushed for Gibble and then Hollifield. For what it’s worth, I know the staff likes Ouzts, but my personal evaluation is that they landed the best two out of those three (by a lot). Still think it was a mistake to not wait on Jordan Dingle, but that’s a choice they clearly made a ways back when the top three guys on the board really emerged as that group.
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Justin Fuente is frustrated, worried, all of it

Hokies practicing with an eye on COVID concerns

Easy to see how much this is weighing on him. Also interesting that - as Big Ten coaches begin to push back on their conference's decision not to play - Fuente gives the impression that he almost wishes he didn't feel forced into playing by the fact that the ACC will go on.

I don't think he'd say it's irresponsible from a pandemic perspective (nor that he wouldn't say it), but it's adding a lot of stress, worry about his kids, and injury risk to his program. He'll do the job because it's the job, but the ancillary stuff is making this really tough for everyone.
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Chris Adams names finalists and sets a decision date

If the Hokies continue to want him, I have a hard time seeing them beaten out:

Chris Adams names favorites, sets decision date

He certainly feels wanted right now, so that's a good sign. I haven't received enough "will definitely be a take" information from the VT end of things to be confident enough for a FutureCast prediction, but it's certainly a situation I'm keeping plenty of persistent attention on.

Quite frankly, with the dearth of realistic OT tackle prospects still on the board, it'd be unwise not to at least seriously entertain accepting a commitment.

Tunnel Talk EXTRA: A weekend scrimmage

The Hokies were scheduled to have a scrimmage yesterday - and for a given definition of the term, they did - but it was very limited because there simply aren't a lot of healthy bodies available right now.

With over a dozen players out due to positive tests for the novel coronavirus (or contact tracing related to that with roommates, etc.), the staff doesn't want to risk being full-go with a very limited roster available. Add in the typical short-term bumps and bruises that you deal with during fall camp - and an extended "game week" with the NC State game pushed back - and there's just no need to risk things.

In terms of individual performances, keep in mind that (with fall camp closed to outsiders for obvious reasons) we'll only hear what those inside the program want us to hear, even if a "full" "box score" is released - quotation marks very much intentional and meaningful there - after a couple days. That said: Raheem Blackshear is the real deal, and has No. 1 RB talent... the issue, as much as you can call it one, is that he's so good at other parts of the game that there's almost a sense of guilt in making him the tailback, when other players can perform close to his level carrying the ball (but not replicate what he provides in other phases of the game).

I have been told that there was a scary-looking injury to an offensive skill player - not Blackshear or Khalil Herbert - but it remains to be seen exactly how significant it is. I've been told it could impact the quality of the 2020 team, but obviously a younger guy missing the season (when his eligibility will be frozen due to the coronavirus decision by the NCAA anyway) stinks for the kid, but it's not the end of the world, either.

Hendon Hooker hasn't done anything to lose his starting quarterback position, but there is a sense that a guy who's a bigger risk-taker could add some ceiling to this offense (my take - not what I've been told - is that they went with that philosophy to start last season, and it cost them a few games because Ryan Willis's risks weren't worth the positives gleaned from his risk-taking).

Will continue touching base to get more, but as I said at the top, sounds like it wasn't as formalized a scrimmage as you'd expect in other preseasons because of the personnel limitations.
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Some of the recruiting material the coaches sent out at midnight

Honestly, not as much hype as I would have expected (from the VT end of things, as least), but part of that is already having existing relationships with a lot of the active recruits. Still, when you're trying to get back on top of the recruiting world, squeezing every 1% of value you can out of every opportunity helps.

An organized approach... is still a work in progress.

VT picked fifth in the ACC

I tend to think that's a little on the conservative side (for example, North Carolina was a lot worse than VT least year, even though the records and head-to-head game were close, and lost more-important pieces), but it would have been interesting to see where the pick was in a world where Caleb Farley plays. I would guess second behind Clemson.

Hokies picked fifth in ACC, Ashby preseason all-league

Tunnel Talk: Sept. 6, 2020

Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with the latest in the world of Virginia Tech recruiting.

Long-snapper on deck?

He wouldn't take up a scholarship slot - special teams players who enter college on scholarship are pretty rare - but Ben Stewart is trending toward becoming a Hokie nonetheless. The 2021 long-snapper from Kemah (Texas) Dickinson took a visit to Blacksburg this week (with the now-familiar inability to make in-person contact with athletics personnel, but a chance to see what campus is all about), and reports back that all went well.

Stewart is a high school classmate and friend of offensive line commit Canon Boone, and picked up his PWO offer from the Virginia Tech coaching staff even before the three-star committed to become a Hokie. At the time - late July - it looked like a deal-sweetener for Boone as much as anything, but the interest in Stewart is legitimate. He's not one of the highest-regarded long-snappers in the class, but he's in a range where there's not a lot differentiating the guys who are worthy of a walk-on slot (separated from the scholarship guys at the very top of the rankings, and those who wouldn't be able to make it at the Power-5 level below them).

He's looking at a number of schools that are interested in him, but I would expect that - especially with Boone headed top Blacksburg - the ball is in the staff's court for the time being. PWO prospects don't take visits halfway across the country for nothin'.

Jack Hollifield

The newest Hokie commit's recruitment played out somewhat similarly to his older brother's. While Dax Hollifield was going to have a scholarship waiting in Blacksburg as long as he wanted it - and waited until the end to make his pledge - Jack was also going to take things at his own pace, and make a decision when he was ready.

Virginia Tech wasn't always a foregone conclusion. He had other serious suitors that he was very interested in, and at times it looked like the stars simply wouldn't align in such a way that he ended up at VT. His desire to take his time was eventually beaten out by the simple fact of the matter that VT's Class of 2021 is filling up fast. The staff let him know that space was running out - not to artificially pressure him into a commitment, but rather to make sure he was well aware of the situation - and the younger Hollifield didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to join the fraternity of sibling pairs to play at VT.

He's not as highly-regarded as his older brother (hence the staff's letting him know about their numbers, rather than holding a spot to Signing Day like they did for Dax), and his future position is still up in the air. The staff has switched from pursuing him as a DE/LB prospect into primarily tight end, and for the time being, that's the plan - despite the fact that he hasn't contributed as a pass-catcher in any significant way for his high school. He's an "athlete" without a firmed-up position - and thus won't close the door on bringing in another linebacker or tight end if that's what the best-available prospect is - and the staff is happy to have him in the fold, with the rest figured out a little later.

Numbers getting tight

Speaking of the number of slots left in the class... there aren't many! The staff has looked at 26 as their target number for quite some time, and with 22 players in the fold, that means around four more commits (before taking into account the growth or shrinking of that number with the eligibility freeze implemented by the NCAA in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic).

A guy like Javon Nelson, for example, named Virginia Tech to his final five yesterday, but may find no room at the inn in Blacksburg (much like many of his other suitors, which is why a kid with every SEC offer is down to a final five that includes... not that). Simply put, at least one offensive tackle and two interior defensive linemen must end up in the class. Unless Nelson is a potential bulk-up, play-inside defensive end - and he may well be - the staff simply has to be very selective going forward.

It remains to be seen whether that stinginess applies to tight ends, too. The VT coaches have taken commitments from two players at the position (including Hollifield) with higher-regarded prospects will on the board.

In-state progress

Much has been made here and elsewhere about the staff's inability or unwillingness to recruit the Commonwealth of Virginia strongly. I'm of the opinion that it's not Priority Number One, but must also be done to a higher level than we've seen in the recent past. You're always going to miss on kids from your backyard: Alabama does it, Ohio State does it, Oklahoma does it. But you can't miss on every highly-regarded in-state player for several years in a row.

It does seem like the staff has started to mend some of the relationships in the state - with the caveat that we've experienced this song-and-dance before - with in-state prospects more willing than in the recent past to consider becoming Hokies. The proof will ultimately be in the pudding, but the level of effort is... well it's not "I'll let my reputation speak for itself, except with one or two guys each year that I'll really put effort into recruiting."

That's not to slam members of the coaching staff before the offseason shake-up, necessarily. But the proof was in the pudding in the DC area, the 757, and particularly Richmond (which compares to both of the other two hotbeds in quality and depth of talent, and should be much easier for VT to find success in). Ryan Smith, the Tapp/Teerlinck combo, and very importantly, the new non-coaching recruiting office staffers (Jeron Gouveia-Winslow and Corey Fuller) have made it clear to prospects and their high school/club coaches that the interest in recruiting them is genuine, and not just lip service.

Again, we've heard these narratives pushed from both the VT and high school ends before in the recent past, so don't take it for gospel until there are measurable results (though I do see even a lesser-regarded but five-man in-state group as a step forward). But the relationships are being presented in a much more positive light from the prospect end of things.
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VT in the top seven for Eric McAlister

Obviously, I wouldn't say there's room right now, but with Tray Curry yet to emerge at a new high school (the VT staff expected him to play at a high school in North Georgia, but that hasn't officially happened yet, at least), who knows if he sticks in the class:

Hokies in the top seven for Texas receiver

I think McAlister would be a good like-for-like replacement there, and may be currently underrated because he hasn't had a chance to put a ton on film.
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