Could Virginia Tech reignite the recruitment of a play who made a commitment elsewhere?

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Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Riverdale 2024 corner Jaylen Thompson eliminated Virginia Tech from his recruitment nearly a year ago - and almost eight months before he made his commitment to Michigan State. However, with the Spartans' situation both in terms of coaching staff (most are expected to leave the program after the season with head coach Mel Tucker already being fired) and season (the Spartans are 2-2, but they've been blown out in both games since Tucker was first placed on administrative leave and then axed), he's going to look around a little bit.

"After talking with my parents, I have decided to reopen my recruiting," he told Rivals's @Adam Gorney. "Although other schools have been taking with me, I am still committed to Michigan State. I am just weighing my options. I will also be enrolling early."

Virginia Tech is one of the programs reaching out (Indiana, Louisville, and Missouri are the others at this point), and the connections make sense. He plays in the Nashville suburbs, and much of VT's coaching staff has a link there, including head coach Brent Pry and defensive coordinator Chris Marve, who were at Vanderbilt together. VT also should have a few spots worth of wiggle-room in the 2024 class, with only a few realistic targets on the board and space to fill (though the Transfer Portal is more likely to be the route to filling those slots if the staff doesn't attract the caliber of prospect they think they need to improve the program long-term).

How much Thompson weighs "I am still committed to Michigan State" versus "weighing my options" will be a major factor here, as will the Hokies' season - it's not like VT has been a clear upgrade over Michigan State for a kid who's watching scoreboards so far this Fall. I would project that even if he does decommit from Michigan State, the Hokies have an uphill battle without an on-field turnaround, but this will remain a situation to keep an eye on nonetheless.

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I really like this kid, a Fredericksburg native who plays at IMG:

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Won't be a massive visitors list, but some key guys in, too. Stay tuned here.

Head Hokie just getting under way.

Running down whose redshirts are officially burned, who is close to using it up, and what that means going forward.


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Snap counts and grades from PFF:

Times announced for that weekend. It'll air on ACCN:

Running visit list back! Will be tracking all the planned (and taken) visits for games this Fall.

Old Dominion (Sept. 2)
2024 QB commit Davi Belfort
2024 RB commit Tyler Mason
2024 OL Commit Aidan Lynch
2024 OL commit Tommy Ricard
2024 OL/DL commit Andrew Hanchuk
2024 DE commit Deric Dandy
2024 DE commit Gerard Johnson
2024 S commit Noah Jenkins
2024 S commit Quentin Reddish
2024 CB commit Marcellus Barnes
2024 DE Amontrae Bradford
2025 QB commit Kelden Ryan
2025 QB Jack Callaghan
2025 QB Mic'Khari Tatum
2025 QB Malik Washington
2025 RB Bud Combs
2025 RB Javon Ford
2025 RB John Forster
2025 RB Brandon Nesbit
2025 RB/WR Jeffrey Overton
2025 WR Jayden Anderson
2025 WR Dez Jones
2025 WR Quincy Porter
2025 WR Luke Stuewe
2025 TE Eli Owens
2025 OL Tyler Barrett
2025 OL Eidan Buchanan
2025 OL Jayden Elijah
2025 OL Jaylen Gilchrist
2025 OL Jayvon McFadden
2025 OL Carter Stallard
2025 OL Kahlil Stewart
2025 DT Delano Brown
2025 DT Christopher Isaiah Campbell
2025 DE Zaqq Strange
2025 LB Kamar Archie
2025 LB Markel Dabney
2025 LB Brennan Johnson
2025 S Ben Chandler
2025 S Faheem Delane
2025 S Sheldon Robinson
2025 S Chris Spence
2025 CB Devenchi Arnold
2025 CB Tariq Hayer
2025 CB Saimire Locks
2025 CB Jayden Shipps
2025 CB Deshawn Stewart
2026 QB Noah Grubbs

Purdue (Sept. 9)
2025 QB Brady Carmical
2025 WR Isaiah Kay Johnson
2025 DE DeMario Moore
2025 CB Jordan Crim
2026 WR Jordon Gidron
2026 CB Damon Ferguson

Pitt (Sept. 30)

Wake Forest (Oct. 14)
2025 Ath Malakhi Lewis

Syracuse (Oct. 26)

NC State (Nov. 18)

Planned, not scheduled yet
2025 QB/Ath Nahshon Wilson
2025 DE Barron Sholl
2025 LB Jackson Thorne
2025 S Faheem Delane
2025 CB RJ Bufford

Y'all. The Hokies have emerged victorious in a contest of intercollegiate football.

A festival of text may commence herein.

With Jim Hammett of our Pitt site:

Thanks to all who asked questions! Had a lot of fun with them:

2026 WR Quali Price, a teammate of Keylen Adams at Green Run: