A few updates on a fine Friday morning. Look for full stories with some of these kids coming soon.
First of all, this is not expected to be a huge visit weekend in Blacksburg. There should be some recruits (as there are at every home game), but the priority kids are elsewhere, or have games on Saturday, or... quite frankly, don't care to make the trip to see the Hokies dominate an FCS opponent. I'll try to rustle up as many names for tomorrow as I can, but prepare to be underwhelmed.
One kid that's already seen the Hokies in action this season - and will have plenty of other opportunities - is local running back Cole Beck. The three-star out of Blacksburg High headed up to FedEx Field last weekend, and liked what he saw. It's an odd sort of calculus to determine just how he fits into the class, but VT is treating him like a priority for now, and he's returning the love.
Running backs from the next couple class were there as well, with Jordan Houston (2019), and Blake Corum (perhaps the top national RB in 2020 right now) also making the trip. Since it was a neutral-site game, they weren't allowed to sit down with the coaches, but VT was allowed to leave recruit tickets. Houston seems very likely to end up in the 2019 class, while any advantage they can build for Corum is going to help in the long run.
Popping back out to the 2018 class, I've mentioned a few times in the past that D.C. St. John's offensive lineman Josh Jefferson is a potential offer candidate, and my latest conversation with him indicates that the 6-4, 295-pounder could be very close. The hangup? Vance Vice wants to see him play in person, while his team (also DT commit Cam Goode's team) tends to play either on Saturdays or halfway across the country - they've already played in California and have one coming up in Florida. This is still a wait-and-see situation: "I want to see you play" when the coaches know there's no chance of that happening is a delay tactic, in a way. However, if VT can't really turn a corner with the likes of Rasheed Walker, an offer to Jefferson is likely, and he would be extremely likely to accept it.
A prospect that we haven't talked about in a while is Raleigh (N.C.) Sanderson defensive lineman Alim McNeill. While he was once a hot prospect - VT was among the first to offer, then a bunch of bigtime schools followed - the commitment of his teammate, running back Trent Pennix, to hometown NC State has most predicting he'll join the Wolfpack, as well. He still says he's in very regular contact with the Hokies' staff, though, and is hoping to take a trip up to campus this Fall. No date is set yet, but that could be interesting if it happens.
As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread for questions, comments, discussion, etc.
