A few updates from behind the scenes in the world of Hokie recruiting...
One of the top targets left on Virginia Tech's board is in-state OL/DL Elijah Hughes. The three-star out of Alexandria (Va.) Washington-Liberty plays a position of need in the class (one of few positions of true remaining need). However, he's seemed to be leaning to Stanford in recent weeks. The Hokies are keeping up with him, but he may be the Cardinal's to lose.
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So, if he's so high on Stanford, why no commit? I touched base with some sources on the West Coast, and the reasoning is pretty typical for that school: they haven't received word from their admissions department that he's been accepted, so they can't take a pledge from him (in the not-so-distant past, Stanford didn't even have the opportunity to
offer guys until they had provisional acceptance from the admissions department). It's one of the few remaining Power-5 programs with stringent academic requirements like that. But if and when that acceptance letter does come through, there's confidence in Palo Alto that they'll be reeling in a commitment.
That said, the Hokies aren't giving up. First and foremost, there isn't a
guarantee that he gets accepted to Stanford early enough to make his decision in favor of the Cardinal. Secondly, there's enough to like about Virginia Tech that there's still a chance to win the recruitment straight-up, regardless of whether he gets into Stanford. The proximity to home (and the ability that provides him to make campus visits - the VT staff is expecting him this weekend, though Elijah himself has yet to confirm with me) is a major selling point, and VT has improved its academic reputation in recent years - more a PR change to promote already-good programs than major academic changes in Blacksburg.
He's going to continue to be one to watch. If he makes it to town tomorrow, the Hokies can continue to chip away at a Stanford lead.
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A prospect that the Hokies already missed on is Maiden (N.C.) wide receiver Chris Culliver. He picked UNC over the Orange and Maroon back in August, and those were really the only two major competitors by the time decision day rolled around.
He'd been on campus a
ton of times before picking UNC, though... and
will be back this weekend. His quarterback, Wesley Thompson, has been a repeat visitor to Blacksburg as well. Thompson is a preferred walk-on candidate at this point (and if the Hokies end up with room late in the cycle, it wouldn't surprise me if he were a late-offer candidate - more on that big-picture item in a moment). He's very high on VT, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him end up a Hokie through one mechanism or another. He also happens to be extremely close friends with Culliver.
The Hokies are almost certainly in need of another WR in this class - though the positional flexibility for a few of the guys is obviously able to diminish the urgency there - and Culliver was one of the top targets. He does not describe himself as a flip candidate at this point (and he's always been honest behind-the-scenes with me to the extent that I believe him), but if the connections to Blacksburg continue to grow, that could change down the road. If North Carolina continues to slump and possibly ends up making a coaching change after this season, or even if he simply really enjoys himself this weekend and is reminded what he likes about VT, the chances get better.
For now, not a hot situation, even though he'll be in town. But it's one to monitor.
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Kids out of Baltimore St. Frances Academy sometimes have strange recruitments. A lot of guys make very early commitments and stick it out the whole way (even if they visit other programs). Some of them make early commitments, then ultimately flip to some of the usual suspects when it comes to success recruiting the program - namely Alabama and Michigan, but there are a few "program favorites" other than those, as well. But most importantly, a
lot of them tend to take group visits with their high school teammates, so visits to campus for any individual kid don't necessarily mean that he has specific interest, but rather that he's tagging along for the ride.
So with that preamble out of the way, I've poked around with a couple of the kids at that school (and some of their coaches), and it does not seem like Blacksburg is an option for this weekend, even though SFA has a rare bye week. But don't read too negatively into the Hokies' chances with 2023 RB Durell Robinson.
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He's continued to show interest in VT and Boston College (which look like the top two), along with his other "finalist" (the final three may not be set in stone at this point, since he stepped back from an August decision date) Maryland. Right now he's taking his time before ending his recruitment, though of course the Hokies wouldn't mind his making it to town this weekend... but only if they're going to end up with a win against the program that's presumed to be his favorite.
Visits for SFA kids pop up out of nowhere and can be last-minute, so stay tuned on him (the Panthers also have a Thursday game next week, so a Saturday game visit isn't out of the question).
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As for the existing recruiting board... some of the other guys who have been on and off it over the course of the process (for example, Philly DE Ronel Nukah and Life Christian CB Kenneth Lowery II) are telling me they're hopeful for an invite to a game in Blacksburg at some point this Fall... so not exactly guys that seem like locks to remain in the picture from the coaching staff's perspective. We'll see how it plays out, but for now, it seems the rumblings that a focus on
new names after evaluating senior film, and possibly leaving some slots open specifically for the Transfer Portal are most likely at this stage.
As always, thanks for visiting Hokie Haven. Stay tuned for the latest on VT recruiting.
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