With Yulee de-committing from Bama, how do you like Va Tech's chances to land him?

VT is visiting TE Jovani Haskins today around 9:30am

Justin can flip some of the top instate recruits that are committed elsewhere? Not a single one of Rivals' top 15 recruits in the state are committed to VT (or UVa) for that matter. That really burns me. Gamecock fans tell me that their new coach has already flipped four of the top recruits in SC. I'd love to see the same happen in Virginia.

Great news. We have not seen everything he can do yet.

Guys, VT continues its strong start in ACC play with another win and already, the Hokies could add to it with a huge recruiting victory. We've got the latest there and with their push in football to finish the 2016 class strong. At 12:30 pm ET tomorrow (Friday), come get all the answers to your VT-related questions with our weekly INsider chat! Come take advantage of and get the very most out of your subscriptions!

Chat link: http://bit.ly/1URWlPe

Guys, anyone headed to the game tonight? I'll be there for our coverage, but what do you think about the matchup with Wake Forest?

2017 Rivals250 DE TyJuan Garbutt is visiting VT on Feb 6

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Guys, I spoke earlier with the newest Virginia Tech offer, Kathleen (Fla.) LB Ventrell Miller, who got the offer today. Miller now has three offers, from VT, Florida Atlantic and UMASS. He's also heard from Iowa and Tennessee.

First off, the offer is significant because Miller goes to the alma mater of assistant coach Torrian Gray, Kathleen. Miller said he's been talking to Gray since early last month, around the time that Gray found out that he was returning to the staff. Miller said Gray, coach Justin Fuente and defensive coordinator Bud Foster were all on the phone with his coach today when he got the offer. Miller said he's heard good things about the Hokies' defense and that he's been told he'd play mike or will linebacker.

Miller really likes that Gray is from his high school. He said Gray has "been in his shoes" and told him about the fan base and the school and program.

The only visit Miller has taken so far is to Florida Atlantic this past fall for a game. I will say, if any other Florida school comes in, even like a USF or UCF, I think they'd jump in the lead. Miller said he wants to visit VT and maybe the Hokies can change his mind, but he's already going into his recruitment with the mindset that he'd like to stay in-state and I get the sense that it's because of weather, proximity to home and also unknown. Miller has only been to Georgia, aside from his own state of Florida. He does want to get back to FAU.

VT and Gray will get a better sense after signing day just how bad they want Miller. But I can already say that they probably want to get him to visit in the summer and early in the season, weather-wise.

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Guys, I spoke just a few minutes ago with NE Oklahoma A&M (CC) three-star ATH Jordan Bonner, who's been committed to Kentucky last month after an official visit there Dec. 11.

Shortly after Justin Fuente was announced as VT's coach Nov. 30, the Hokies reached out. Assistant coach Vance Vice made Bonner an offer right before he committed to the Wildcats. Bonner had scheduled an official visit to VT for Jan. 22 and I'd seen that still reported elsewhere. But Bonner told me that he hasn't spoken to Vice since at least mid-December. And he recently made the decision not to go to VT any more.

The only visit he still is about 75% on taking is to Indiana, now on Jan. 22. But that isn't 100% because the Hoosiers still haven't offered. I think they're waiting to see if he visits before offering, to make sure he's interested.

So this one is about 95% Kentucky. VT had recruited him as a DE with looks at linebacker, but the Hokies can pretty well move on from here.

I Think he was a perfect hire and fit. He's not gonna compromise on doing it the right way which is his way. If he stays here as long as Beamer I think coach Fuentes will pass Beamer on the all-time wins list. With fosters d and if coach can install a high powered o,if they gel together perfectly one year we will be national champs in the near future.

Let's go Hokies beat duke!!!!!

Announced this morning by VT:

"Virginia Tech announced the hiring of Ben Hilgart as Associate Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning. Hilgart will oversee all aspects of performance training for varsity sports at Virginia Tech and will work directly with head coach Justin Fuente and the football program.

In his prior 14 seasons working in the profession, Hilgart has trained a total of 32 NFL players that came from New Mexico, Arizona State, Ohio State and UTEP. In his seven years with the Sun Devils, 10 football players earned first team all-conference recognition, which includes working with consensus All-America tight end Zach Miller in 2006.

“Ben will be a key member of our team at Virginia Tech,” Fuente said. “Mike Gentry and his staff established a great standard for strength and conditioning at Virginia Tech and Ben will help set our expectations and as he pushes as our student-athletes to reach their full potential.”

Highly regarded by his peers across the country and in the football community, Hilgart spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, the last two as the Director of Athletic Performance. He was in charge of the entire Athletic Performance initiative for the Lobos, which included all phases of strength, conditioning, rehabilitation and injury prevention. He was also responsible for a redesign of the Athletic Performance Center, revamping UNM’s area into one of the top performance centers in the West.

Prior to working at New Mexico, Hilgart spent seven years at Arizona State, which included the final four seasons as the Head Sports Performance Coach. He worked directly with the Sun Devils’ football program, in addition to overseeing the sports performance programs for all 20 ASU sports.

Before arriving at ASU, Hilgart spent two seasons at the Ohio State University. He started as the assistant strength and conditioning coach before being promoted to associate strength and conditioning coach. Hilgart also spent two years at UTEP as the graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. He served as the head strength coach and assistant defensive line coach at his alma mater, Western Illinois, in 2001.

Hilgart was a two-year letterman at Western Illinois, earning his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. He earned his master’s degree in Kinesiology from UTEP in 2003. Hilgart has also served as the head strength coach at Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona.

Hilgart and his wife Jamie have two daughters, Riley and Reagan."

Tony Bennett holds his team back, He has Dean Smith syndrome.

Dean Smith was the only person that held Michael Jordan to a college scoring average during his 3 years at UNC to 17.7 pts per game.

Yes he was a good coach (and great humanitarian), but he was a better recruiter.

When you got to UNC you played controlled and at a pace within the system. When Smith's teams got up by 8-10 pts, he put it in cruise control and got conservative and ate clock. The 4 corners was used in the last 2 minutes.

By doing this he allowed other teams to stay within reach. Yes UNC won a lot of games doing it Smith's way, but he also had to turn his athletes loose in the last few minutes of lots of games. They won most of them, but they lost a few they should have won.

Like Smith, Bennett allows teams to stay close, and only turns his kids loose at the end when the games are close. Usually they win, but occasionally a VT comes along.

Against VT recently, UVA's great little guard scored four 3's in a hurry when he got turned loose. Then VT had a run, then Bennett's team erased a 10 pt VT lead within seconds when they got a green light to play full speed. Everybody was shooting 3's and making then. But this time, it didn't work out.

If I was coach at UNC in the past, and now was coach at UVA with their talent and depth, I'd cut the players loose at the tip off and leave teams in the dust.

Guys, I created a widget so you can follow all the VT coaches on Twitter. If you'd like me to create one for any other groups, let me know and I can compile those here.
<a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/Hokie_Haven/lists/vt-coaches" data-widget-id="686709948600958977">Tweets from https://twitter.com/Hokie_Haven/lists/vt-coaches</a>
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>

Guys, this from our friend Paul Fortenberry at our Tennessee site, VolQuest.com, but WR Latrell Williams has set three officials. He'll be at Miami this weekend, Tennessee Jan. 22 and VT Jan. 29. So while I still think the Canes are the leader because of his relationship with WRs coach Ron Dugans, who just joined that staff, the Hokies could get the last crack at him.

Full story: http://bit.ly/22XM9dY

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Guys, got another basketball recruiting update. I spoke earlier with Concord (NC) 2018 four-star guard Rechon Black. He's ranked No. 15 in the 2018 class.

Coach Buzz Williams is in on some big time guys, but this one could be the biggest and without question is in the top two or three. Black is the real deal. Only a sophomore in high school, he already has eight offers, from VT, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Clemson, Charlotte, Georgia Southern and Western Carolina.

Black said the three schools "showing me the most love" right now are VT, Ohio State and North Carolina. Buzz went to see Black play on Thursday and Black said that Buzz has been to see him play about three or four times, too. Black said Buzz and the Hokies have shown his mom love and "He’s a great guy, a real cool guy, real down to earth. I don’t know how to explain it." Black even told me that "They’re the reason I’m blowing up, really, since my freshman year, when I went to campus on an unofficial."

Black was also on hand at VT for a football game last year, though he can't remember which game it was. Black said he went through open gym with the players and called VT a "Beautiful place."

With Ohio State and UNC, Black said both have been coming to his games. He hasn't been to Ohio State, but has already visited UNC twice this season for games against Georgia Tech and Davidson. So right now, this one is between UNC and VT, but there's a LOOOOOOONG way to go. Buzz is doing an excellent job here, but he's gotta stay on it.

Can I get your e-mail address? Have a question for you.

Guys, with sadness that I share the news that VTSmitty, who posted on here for years, has passed away.
https://virginiatech.forums.rivals.com/threads/rip-vtsmitty.7500/
https://forums.rivals.com/threads/today-we-are-all-hokies-rip-vtsmitty.383406/#post-9809133

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Guys, I spoke a little while ago with 2017 LC Bird (Va.) three-star guard Mario Haskett, who VT offered about two weeks ago. Haskett was also on hand for the Hokies' win over Virginia last week.

This has more and more become a top target in Virginia for the 2017 class, along with Dajour Dickens and Aamir Simms. Coach Buzz Williams has been to see Haskett three times now for games. Assistant coach Isaac Chew has also been to see him. And Haskett said he also likes the Hokies a lot, especially after he visited in July and went through an open gym.

Haskett is a smart kid. He has a 4.2 GPA and offers from Harvard and Yale. Coach Tommy Amaker at Harvard has been to see Haskett three times already this season and that's where Haskett said he wants to visit next.

But what works in VT's favor is that Haskett said he wants to go into mechanical engineering, which we all know VT is a good place for. But Haskett said he also likes the system that the Hokies run, with all the down and ball screens. And when he visited VT last week, he toured the engineering department and with the game itself, said he loved the atmosphere.

Aside from Vanderbilt, Haskett said the others standing out a bit early to him so far are VCU, Vanderbilt and Providence. He told me he talks to Buzz and Chew on a daily basis. Right now, it sounds like the Hokies are in excellent position. Without question one to watch in the 2017 class.

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Guys, I just got off the phone with Klein Oak (TX) two-star CB Nygel King, whom Virginia Tech offered last week. That offer came shortly after he decommitted from Houston.

King said he didn't want to get in any details about Houston, only that he's done with the Cougars and ready to go somewhere outside of Houston. He lives in the metro area. And right now, the two at the top are Utah and VT, though he's also considering Colorado and a few others, including Minnesota, Illinois and SMU.

With the Hokies, King said he was offered by assistant coach Torrian Gray. King told me, "I like his morals and his plan. He's done really good planning. He said he likes to play freshmen and If you can play, he’ll play you." King will be officially visiting Jan. 22, his first trip to Blacksburg and said he wants to check out the campus, the coaches and how the players are. King said he's well aware of DBU and is a big fan of Kam Chancellor. That's one of the players he tries to play like.

But it's not a definite that King will even make it to VT for that visit. He told me flat out that Utah is his front-runner. He said the Utes have been there since early in the spring and were the second to offer. He's visiting there Jan. 15 and it sounds like there's a chance he could commit there or after that visit. He likes his relationship with the coaches there. He told me he actually regrets choosing Houston over them initially.

There's a chance Colorado could get a visit on the final weekend if he hasn't made a commitment by the final visit weekend. Jan. 29, but I think he'll have his mind made up by then. VT likes King a lot, but I think if he enjoys his Utah visit like he think he will, he'll commit there. Otherwise, the Hokies will get a crack the next weekend. I don't get the sense that he's a kid who would commit, then visit VT anyway, but we'll see.

Full story coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, I spoke earlier with Clearwater (Fla.) 2017 four-star running back Adarius Lemons, the Hokies' most recent offer, which came Thursday. Lemons is ranked No. 148 in the 2017 Rivals250.

Lemons told me he's now up to 15 offers, after VT offered and Colorado just before that. He told me he's looking for a coach who really wants him, but here's the kicker, he doesn't want to play in a spread offense. Lemons told me he wants to play in a pro style offense that lets him run the ball 20-25 times per game. He also told me that the only school he's visited is Florida but that, "I’m one of those guys trying to get out of Florida." Lemons said he visited Florida just because of proximity, for the Gators' season-opener in September.

Assistant coach Zohn Burden made the offer for the Hokies and told Lemons that he'll be dropping by his school next week. So far, Lemons said they've only talked on Twitter. He likes Burden, but said he doesn't like the offense VT will be running under Justin Fuente at first glance. The only thing Lemons said he knows for sure about the Hokies is that Michael Vick, his favorite player as a kid, played there.

Right now, the one school that stands out to Lemons is Kentucky. He's yet to visit, but Lemons said that's one of the first schools he plans to see this spring and possibly summer. Long way to go here, but the early chances don't sound great. It'll be tough to sell Lemons at the moment on the offense, but things change and if VT really wants him, it will have to stay on him.

Guys, i did a story on Latrell Williams a few weeks ago, as he's become a big target of VT. Last night, he decommitted from South Florida, after the announcement that WRs coach Ron Dugans was going to Miami. According to our friends at CaneSport.com, it's now between Miami and VT, with the Canes in the lead:
http://bit.ly/1JCfDaG
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Guys, Max Esterhuizen was on hand today for the Hokies' loss at Duke. Here's his game story: http://bit.ly/1Rsi6aO

As well as story, with video from Buzz Williams:http://bit.ly/1SaU2Jf

Great news!!! Bet Bud will be licking his chops whenever we play them..