Hey everyone!

In the insider chat last week there were a few questions/comments about the flipping of recruits. I found an article that talks about exactly that - how some coaches like it, while others have a strong distaste for it.

Coach Fuente was specifically mentioned in the article. I've copied and pasted the excerpt with Fuente below:

Here's the link to the full article, which also explains why it doesn't happen nearly as often in basketball:

College coaches explain why and how they recruit players committed elsewhere

I do find it interesting that Fuente has this policy, especially considering that Rick Wells (who took his official yesterday) is a Florida commit.

Now that the schedule is out, here are my way too early predictions for the Hokies:

Sat., Sep 3, 2016: at home versus Liberty. The Hokies should win this game as long as they aren't looking ahead to September 10th. This game serves purely as a warm up for the Hokies before they take on Tennessee the following week. This is the time for whoever quarterbacks the Hokies to get used to running the offense before facing the Volunteers. 52-14 Virginia Tech.

Sat., Sep 10, 2016: Battle at Bristol versus Tennessee. This was the game that former Coach Frank Beamer could not wait to happen. This will be the biggest game in college football history (attendance-wise). Coach Fuente will lead the Hokies against Tennessee, a team they last played in the 2009 Chick-fil-a Bowl (the Tyrod-led Hokies won 37-14). Virginia Tech will need a strong effort rushing the ball if they want to win this game, but in all likelihood the Hokies will fall short against the Volunteers. Tennessee wins 34-31.

Sat., Sep 17, 2016: at home against Boston College. The Hokies will put the tough loss behind them and start off the home-stand strong against a struggling Boston College team. A solid effort of both offense and defense wins this one for Tech. Hokies win 38-21.

Sat., Sep 24, 2016: at home versus East Carolina. This is a team that has had VT's number of late. The Hokies are playing the Pirates for the foreseeable future, but Virginia Tech won't let ECU get the 2016 game against the Hokies. Virginia Tech and Coach Fuente put on a show and make a statement against East Carolina. Hokies win 34-13.

Sat., Oct 1, 2016: Bye week. If it's possible for Tech to lose a bye week, it's happening here. The bye comes way too early this season, and it could come back to hurt the Hokies later in 2016.

Sat., Oct 8, 2016: at North Carolina. This is one of the tougher games for the Hokies. UNC had a potent offense last season, which resulted in UNC winning 11 straight games before falling to Clemson and Baylor. Tech will play hard against the Tar Heels, who stole Beamer's final home game. With revenge on their minds, they keep it close against the talented Tar Heels. Foster finds a way to confuse the UNC offense, but the Tech offense just can't score enough points to win this one. UNC finds a way to win the game on its final drive, though. Tar Heels win 28-24.

Sat., Oct 15, 2016: at Syracuse. VT's return to the Carrier Dome may bring up some bad memories and struggles. When the Hokies played there with quarterback Michael Vick, they struggled before finally putting the game away. Will the Hokies see shades of Orange in New York? I see the Hokies winning a low scoring affair against the Orange. Hokies win Fuente's first ACC road game 17-14.

Thu., Oct 20, 2016: at home against Miami. This game is one that ESPN really wanted to broadcast: Fuente versus Richt (and his first Thursday Night game in Lane Stadium). The short turnaround is tough for both teams here - but Miami probably got the worst of it with their schedule. The atmosphere in Lane on Thursday is second-to-none, which propels the Hokies to a big win over rival Miami. Hokies win 38-34.

Thu., Oct 27, 2016: at Pittsburgh. Virginia Tech hasn't played well in NFL stadiums - which is where Pittsburgh plays (Heinz Field). Virginia Tech struggled mightily the last time they visited Pitt (scored 16 points), which is something they don't want to repeat. Tech will need to place a heavy focus on running the ball if they want to win this game on the road (ideally around 180 yards on the ground to come out with a victory). I just don't see that happening for the Hokies. Pittsburgh wins another close game against the Hokies 21-17.

Sat., Nov 5, 2016: at Duke. The last meeting against the Blue Devils resulted in a 4OT marathon of a game, which the Hokies eventually lost. Duke had a solid team last year, but faded after the victory of Virginia Tech. Duke is a well-coached team; one that doesn't make many mistakes. The Hokies will need to force Duke into a couple turnovers here, but VT shouldn't struggle against Duke this season. Hokies don't let the Blue Devils get a winning streak against them. VT wins 34-21.

Sat., Nov 12, 2016: at home against Georgia Tech. This is the game that used to decide the winner of the ACC Coastal, but both teams have had trouble of late. Georgia Tech failed to meet expectations last season - and eventually didn't even qualify for a bowl game. Virginia Tech has done a good job of stopping the triple-option. Ball control is always a factor when playing against the Yellow Jackets, and the Hokies will need to win the TOP battle. By now the Hokies will have long-since had a clear #1 rusher - so look for him to run the ball frequently. Hokies beat the Yellow Jackets 37-28.

Sat., Nov 19, 2016: at Notre Dame. This will be the first matchup between the Hokies and Fighting Irish since ND "joined" the ACC. This is rather late in the year for the Hokies to have a non-conference game, especially one of this magnitude. This will be a good test for the Hokies against a good (if healthy) ND team. Tech's bye-week was really early in the season, which comes back to bite the tired Hokies here. The Fighting Irish beat the Hokies. I see this game being Tech's biggest loss of the year, with ND a 34-21 winner.

Sat., Nov 26, 2016: at home against UVA. Beamer won the last twelve games of his career against the Wahoos, something that the team and new head coach Justin Fuente will not let come to a stop. The Commonwealth Cup will continue to reside in Blacksburg, with the Hokies winning big against UVA. The overwhelms the Cavaliers, winning by a comfortable margin of 41-21. Fuente starts off his Tech career 1-0 against his in-state rivals.

I see Tech a solid 8-4 (6-2 ACC) in Fuente's first season. This won't be quite good enough for the Hokies to win the Coastal, with the losses to UNC and Pitt being the difference. Fuente will continue the Hokies nation-leading bowl streak.

What are your thoughts on the schedule? Did the ACC do Tech any favors?

After a presumably long dinner at West End, all three of the recruits on their official visits have been spotted in Cassell. They've made it to what's been a close game between the Hokies and Cardinals.

Just days left before signing day, making this our final chat before the big day! At 12:30 pm ET tomorrow, I'll be here to talk anything about the Hokies, as we head into the big day. Of course, there will be a ton of updates before and after that date, but this is your chance to get the answers you're looking for. Come take advantage of and get the very most of your subscriptions and come chat with us!

Click here for this week's chat: http://bit.ly/1RPeoYO

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Guys, if you missed it, VT offered Camden Catholic (NJ) three-star athlete Tyree Rodgers this afternoon. Rodgers has been committed to Old Dominion in July, but Rutgers also offered, last weekend.

I haven't been able to get in touch with Rodgers yet, but for good reason. Our friend Adam Friedman just confirmed through Rodgers' trainer that Rodgers is on a plane right now to Roanoke. He's expected to get to Blacksburg in another hour or so. The plan is for him to visit VT through late Friday afternoon, then fly straight to Rutgers for an official visit there.

We'll know more about Rodgers in the next few days, but definitely good news for the Hokies.

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Guys, I spoke just a few minutes ago with Archbishop Wood Catholic (Pa.) 2017 four-star wide receiver Mark Webb. VT made an offer to him last week, his 13th offer.

Webb also has offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia among others. Still pretty early in this case, as he said he hasn't taken any visits anywhere yet. Some of the schools Webb said he's interested in seeing are UNC, Pitt, Syracuse, Ohio State, Penn State, West Virginia and VT.

With the Hokies, assistant coach Holmon Wiggins made the offer. Webb said they haven't talked a lot, but that he got a good feel from when they have talked. Webb said, "He’s someone I can relate to, get to know better and learn from in the future." So a good start. And Webb is also aware of the success on offense Justin Fuente has has as well.

Webb said he's planning to run outdoor track this spring. But aside from that, he'll be taking plenty of visits. He said he already plans to attend the Rivals Camp Series stop in New Jersey in April.

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Guys, I know we've had a long-running thread for over a while now on Marshall Long, but so this doesn't get lost, wanted to make a separate post.

First off, I'm sure you've seen the tweet that Long made just a little while ago:
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I haven't been able to get much out of Long so far. He not surprisingly hasn't wanted to answer my call. He did text me to tell me he had decommitted.

I spoke with our friend Radi Nabilsi, publisher at our Georgia Rivals site, UGASports.com about Long. Nabilsi said that new coach Kirby Smart has tasked assistant coach Shane Beamer (formerly of VT) to find a kicker, punter and long snapper. The Bulldogs have brought in a few handfuls of each the last few weeks to work them out.

So far, Georgia hasn't liked any it's seen enough to offer. And Nabilsi also says that it looks like UGA won't be making any full offers to any of those guys, Long included. So that might be one to think on, that Long is decommitting from a full offer from VT to try out for Georgia, likely this weekend. Long also had full offers from Syracuse, Army and The Citadel.

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Guys, lots going on with VT recruiting right now and I wanted to share a few good tidbits for tonight.

First off, VT will have three official visitors tomorrow. The thinking was to get these guys on campus for the Louisville basketball game tomorrow night and to also get them in so they could get another visit this weekend. The three visitors will be Raines (Fla.) four-star WR Rick Wells, Hannibal (Mo.) three-star OL Dylan Powell and Clay-Chalkville (Ala.) three-star ATH Ty Pigrome.

Pigrome is the latest addition. I posted earlier that he was considering visiting VT tomorrow or Thursday, after talking with him earlier tonight. He text me a little while ago that he has a flight out of Birmingham in the morning that leaves at 10:06 am local (central) time. That contradicts what he told our Maryland site over the last few days, that he would visit Maryland this week and VT this weekend. The Hokies want to get him up ASAP, plus take him to the basketball game. I'm told that the Terps have promised him a shot at the starting QB spot and that right now, they arguably have only one FBS QB on the roster, so they desperately need help. But Pigrome has a very deep and strong relationship with assistant coach Holmon Wiggins from when Wiggins was at Memphis. In some ways, this will come down to whether or not Pigrome wants to play QB or do-it-all offensive skill guy, but also on relationships. As far as the latter, that's by far with VT. Tulane also the third of his finalists.

With Powell, he's still between VT, Stanford and Iowa State. Virginia for whatever reason offered today, but I'm told that it's far too late. Just not enough time for him to really consider the Hoos. He'll visit VT tomorrow through Friday and fly home Friday, then turn around and fly out to Stanford for a Saturday through Monday visit. He wants to announce Monday night when he gets home and I've gotta think the Cardinal have the edge here, coming off that visit.

Wells will visit VT tomorrow through Friday then turn around and visit Florida this weekend. He's been committed to the Gators for a year, but he really likes the idea of playing in coach Justin Fuente's offense with the Hokies. Honestly, I think this one could go either way, but our Florida site seems to think that he'll stick, as the Gators have fallen out with a lot of receiver targets. VT is reminding Wells that he's a fallback option at Florida but has been the Hokies' top receiver choice for a while.

Just confirmed literally a few minutes ago that assistant coach Charley Wiles and coach Fuente are having an in-home visit right now with Trinity Christian (Fla.) three-star linebacker Dominique Ross. He's slated to visit VT this weekend and I've gotta think the Hokies have definitely crept into the lead here. We'll see how the visit goes, but fantastic odds here for VT. I don't think Ross sticks with North Carolina at this point.

Another bit of a surprise came tonight via our friend Chris Peak at PantherLair.com, our Pitt site. Peak confirmed that though Lafayette (Va.) three-star LB Chase Pine told the Pitt coaches he was fully onboard, he now has a pair of official visits planned. He'll be at Maryland Thursday and Friday and then fly down to VT to officially visit in Blacksburg Friday through Sunday night. If Pine does follow through on all of this, the odds for the Hokies will definitely have gone up.

I've also been told my multiple sources close to the situation that four-star linebacker Keith Simms could announce as soon as Saturday. Maryland looks to have dropped out. That said, it looks like it's between VT and Oregon. Defensive coordinator Bud Foster has probably worked Simms harder than just about anyone else I've seen in the four years I've been here, save for Da'Shawn Hand. Wyatt Teller was up there, too, but Simms is in that group. And right now, I think the Hokies are clearly in the lead.

Finally, wanted to pass on that Raines (Fla.) three-star DE Jaquan Bailey will be officially visiting VT this weekend. After I spoke with him on Saturday, he decided to visit Iowa State officially the next day with his brother, three-star DT Josh Bailey. Jaquan has said that Tennessee is also in the mix, but it sounds like Josh wouldn't be a take for the Vols. That said, this is basically between Iowa State, VT and loosely, Central Florida. Iowa State is the furthest away, but the one that would for sure take both Bailey brothers. That's what the Hokies are contending with. They still don't think Josh is good enough to offer, so it's Jaquan or nothing.

Former VT basketball star guard Erick Green has signed with the Utah Jazz, marking his return to the NBA.

His previous experience in the NBA was with the Denver Nuggets, the team that drafted him in the second round after his senior year. Before signing with the Jazz, Green was playing in the D-League. He became the NBA's 13th player called up from the D-League this season.

After being waived by the Nuggets in November, he briefly played with an Itialian Pro team before moving to the developmental league.

Financial terms of Green's contract with the Jazz have not been disclosed.

In baseball, Florida is #1, Louisville #2, UVA #4, Miami #6, NC State #19.

In softball, Florida is #1, LSU #3, Alabama #5, Auburn #6. Virginia Tech received votes.

this mean a commit??

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Guys, I just got off the phone with Clay-Chalkville (Ala.) three-star athlete Ty Pigrome. I know a few of you have asked about him, but there just hasn't been anything solid to report on.

Pigrome said he will definitely be visiting VT, but he's not sure if he's going tomorrow or Thursday for his official. He'll know for sure later tonight after he works things out with his family and the Hokies' coaches. And this weekend, he'll officially visit Maryland.

Pigrome said he's down to VT, Maryland and Tulane, where he officially visited Jan. 15. As far as with VT, Pigrome had planned to visit this past weekend before that got cancelled. Pigrome told me nothing has changed with him and the Hokies and he's stayed in contact with assistant coach Holmon Wiggins. The plan is if he chose VT, he would be a pure offensive athlete. He'd play wildcat, receiver, running back and other packages. Whereas with the other two finalists, he'd be recruited primarily as a quarterback. So that's a big part of Pigrome's decision, which would he rather play?

I'll post any updates when he has things sorted out better. For now, he still plans to announce on signing day and I think it's still too early to predict, until he takes his officials.

Guys, just a heads up, I'll be doing three radio appearances on Wednesday to talk about VT football, basketball and recruiting. Here's the rundown:

At 8:45 am ET, I'll be on Fox Sports Radio 910 AM in Richmond with Wes McElroy. Click here to listen online: http://www.iheart.com/live/fox-spor...rue&pname=1248&campid=play_bar&cid=index.html

At 10:15 am ET, I'll be on ESPN 93.9 FM in Louisville, KY with Howie Lindsey. Click here to listen online: http://player.listenlive.co/40521

And at 5 pm ET I'll be on ESPN1430 in Blacksburg. Click here to listen if you're not in the NRV: http://www.espnblacksburg.com/listen-live.html

Along with Malcolm Delaney and Perry Young, one of my all time favorite Hokie basketball players...

"The Utah Jazz will sign guard Erick Green of the Reno Bighorns to a 10-day contract, league sources told Yahoo Sports."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--jazz-to-sign-guard-erick-green-140454146.html

Sewn where he was making his choice this weekend. Have seen where people think it's between Oregon and VT any news jason/dm4vtdu would be a huge get.

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Guys, just wanted to pass on that I confirmed that Collins Hill (Ga.) three-star linebacker Emmanuel Belmar and his teammate, four-star DE Tomon Fox have rescheduled to visit VT officially this weekend. Both were originally scheduled for this past weekend. And as mentioned before, Fox is currently committed to North Carolina. Belmar text me the news earlier tonight.

Link to the Hokiesports schedule

Quick thoughts:
1) The September schedule kind of screwed VT late. 3 home games + the UVA games means just 2 home games between Sept. 24 and Nov. 26

2) Hokies play at Syracuse and then host Miami 5 days later on Miami. (good thing is Miami has FSU, UNC and VT in a 12 day stretch)

3) Bye week Oct. 1 - not great. After a home-stand.

The ACC will release the 2016 schedule at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Should be some fun discussions and I'll be writing an analysis piece afterward.

Virginia Tech has offered 2016 OL Silas Dzansi. He is currently committed to Delaware State but there is a strong possibility that he commits during his official visit to Virginia Tech this weekend. Dzansi will likely have to go to prep school but he is fine with doing that to make it to Virginia Tech.

UPDATE: I'm told Dzansi just committed to Virginia Tech.

Guys, for those of you who asked for some women's basketball coverage here's a column by our own Doug Bowman on how far the program has come to gain respectability back this season: http://bit.ly/1Nxt8DG

Guys, just wanted to share this story from our Auburn site: http://auburn.n.rivals.com/news/character-pretty-solid-to-auburn-after-weekend-visit-to-plains

Rivals250 DB Marlon Character will be visiting VT officially this coming weekend after rescheduling from this past weekend. He's saying all the right things to Auburn, but HUGE that the Hokies will get him last. Also of note, he was originally supposed to visit Auburn this weekend, but switched with VT in order to get to Blacksburg.

For those interested, the game will actually be tape-delayed on ESPNU at 6:30, but here's our post game coverage. More to come:
Buzz Williams story/video: http://bit.ly/1TjE27i
Full post game recap/highlights: http://bit.ly/1OQxJTx

6'5" and 260 lbs and a 5.1 forty and can take 1 step and dunk a basketball.

He needs to prep a year.