Tomorrow, three players will announce college commitments, with Virginia Tech among the finalists (and another, offensive lineman Kahlil House, technically has VT in the running, but will pick from programs that he took officials to in June, and that doesn't include a stop in Blacksburg). There's a crucial one the following day too - that might have an impact on one of tomorrow's. Will the Orange and Maroon win out with each of them? My predictions are in...
Highland Springs (Va.) cornerback Noah Jenkins (4 p.m.)
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Jenkins's recruitment has also been a bit of a weird one, not because of tons of twists and turns or a rising and fading star in terms of who wanted him... but rather because the endpoint has seemed obvious for a little while, and he's moved around his commitment date with seemingly nothing changing in his process. He had planned a commitment in March, and that would have been a pledge to Virginia Tech. He then set a date for July 4,
only took an official to VT, and bumped his timeline up to tomorrow while he was still on campus for that visit. In the end, nothing has changed in my view, and I won't be taking my futurecast off the Hokies, to say the least.
From a playstyle perspective, he's a slightly bigger, perhaps a little smoother version of current commit Joshua Clarke. Because of his size, he could project more readily to safety, but because of the ability to fluidly change directions
with that size, it still makes sense to give him a shot at corner. He's even versatile enough that growing into a hybrid player isn't out of the question as his body develops. His senior year will be extremely intriguing to monitor in terms of how he's going to fill out both from a physical and skillset perspective.
Midlothian (Va.) Manchester defensive end Makai Byerson (4 p.m.)
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Byerson's recruitment has been fairly straightforward: Virginia Tech has been on top for most of it, and the plurality of his campus visits have been to Blacksburg, including the final one this past weekend.
However, it has also seemed throughout like the Hokies weren't in a hurry to see him commit, and in the process, his dad's alma mater (Brad Byerson played hoops at West Virginia) became more serious about recruiting him, and he also took official visits to Rutgers and Kentucky. If the Hokies didn't feel so good about Johnson at this stage (both from an attainability perspective and in terms of talent), I think they'd still be pushing to land Byerson. As it stands, I think they've made the choice to let him go elsewhere for numbers reasons.
Byerson is a more-developed version of Johnson, but also one with a bit less of a high ceiling (unless he can get heavy enough to hold up on the interior). He's a nice player, and frankly one that the previous coaching staff may have worked to have committed right now, rather than letting it play out the way it has. He's OK with edge explosiveness, but it would be more notable from the interior. Two similar players, one not quite as explosive? That's not slight to Byerson, but rather an endorsement of Johnson, imo. And a fair conclusion.
Roanoke (Va.) North Cross School offensive lineman Moritz Schmoranzer (6:30 p.m.)
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This is perhaps the toughest pick of the bunch but not for a similar reason that any of the others would be. Simply put, Schmoranzer's favorite has long been Virginia Tech, and the question in his mind has been whether the feeling is reciprocated from the Hokies. He'd planned to make a commitment between VT and Wake Forest in May, but pushed back when he didn't feel that his choice (the Hokies) would take a pledge from him. He expanded the list to include Miami, Pitt, and West Virginia - eliminating Wake Forest in the process - and took officials to each of his finalists. It seems like the two that he wanted most in May are no longer the strongest options, but the Hokies have filled out the OL room a bit and can perhaps aim for a more finished product (Schmoranzer was a wide receiver as a sophomore(!)) with any remaining spots. If they change their mind about that later, there may be a chance to make another late run at the native of Germany, even if I project that they don't the first time through. It's also totally up in the air for potential changes if the staff gives him warm-fuzzy feelings in the next 24 hours.
As for the player... the recent conversion from WR tells the story: he's a good athlete with a long, lean frame (this seems to be fairly typical of Deutschlanders who try to head to the US to finish their college ball) but one who has a lot to learn about the nuances of offensive line play, and a lot of filling-out to do. That's not to say he can't do it, but his connections to Virginia Tech (not only location, but also the fact that 2023 signee Hannes Hammer is also a German who played at North Cross School - that's a solid mentor for a kid's college career in another country, should Schmoranzer end up a Hokie) could mean that the staff has the chance to make a run
if and only if they see the correct developmental milestones.
Virginia Beach Cox defensive lineman Gerard Johnson (1 p.m. - Saturday)
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Johnson's recruitment was sort of a weird one. He was relatively quiet for months, though he did manage to make a number of stops at UVa and one at Virginia Tech before announcing those were his final two... in advance of his official visit to Blacksburg over the weekend. The Hoos have long been considered the top option here, but rumblings around the Merryman Center (and importantly - among the commits in VT's 2024 class) are that the Hokies did enough to make up the ground over the weekend. I've placed my FutureCast in favor of the Orange and Maroon.
Johnson is a big-bodied defensive end who likely grows into a strongside anchor at the next level. He's got solid pass-rushing skills but doesn't have the immediate burst to be a pure terror around the edge. If he can become a fully-rounded version of that, he's a great complement to Deric Dandy, who is of the "basically a linebacker" body type at the high school level. There are sites that have him as the top player in the state, and I'm
extremely skeptical of that (to the point of almost calling it credibility-destroying), but he may be underrated as a 5.6 three-star.
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