...taking a look at the home and out-of-town scoreboard for some big visit weekends just a couple days before National Signing Day:
First, it was a disappointment that Virginia Beach Bishop Sullivan five-star RB Khalan Laborn, after telling the coaching staff he was going to visit, didn't make it. That's happened a couple times since he committed to Florida State, so it certainly wasn't a surprise, disappointing though it was. That he's in Florida for an all-star game and clearly didn't have any serious intention of making it to Blacksburg is more annoying, but so be it with a kid who isn't going to be wearing Maroon and Orange either way.
Elsewhere out of town, Oregon did a good job with four-star offensive lineman Mekhi Becton, but the feeling in Blacksburg is that the trip was not a game-changer. There's cautious optimism from the Hokie coaching staff, and this is apparently a Michigan-VT battle still, with the Ducks not doing enough (again, from the Hokies' perspective) to swoop in and steal him away.
Finally, commit Tahj Capehart took an official visit to Maryland, which wouldn't be super-controversial except the four-star athlete is committed to Virginia Tech and didn't give the VT coaches a heads-up. They aren't the type of staff to completely cut a kid loose for taking other visits, but a little forewarning would have been nice. Fortunately, it appears that the trip, which he billed as being just for fun, turned out to be just that, and the Hokies aren't worried about losing his pledge to the Terps.
Back with local news, the two visitors to VT who seemed to get the most out of the trip were Spencer (N.C.) North Rowan defensive end Zion Debose and Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes wide receiver Sean Nelson. The Hokies have been in pretty good shape with Debose, and his plan to wait a couple days after Signing Day to make his commitment plays into their hand, timing-wise: they can find out if they have room pending the decision from Brad Johnson (higher on their board at the position) before knowing how much full-court press they need to put on in the end.
Nelson is committed to Maryland but has been looking around at a few schools through much of January. He was effusively positive about the trip, but as a relatively recent addition to the board, it's tough to shake out the balance of how much that indicates what his final decision will be, and how much his personality just makes him seem excited about everything. The coaching staff feels slightly positive (but as I've said in the past, they seem a littttle over-optimistic at times, so it could be one of those).
Wrapping up with a new commitment of the preferred walk-on variety, local Blacksburg High defensive tackle Brad Shelton will stick in town to play for the Hokies. He's huge - 6-3, 360 pounds - and not in great shape right now. However, the feeling among the coaches is that he has great potential if he can mold his body a bit better, it's just about making that happen. When a kid's a preferred walk-on, just hope that it happens, and if it doesn't, there's no lost opportunity.
