Tomorrow evening (he's decided to announce at 6 instead of 3, not a significant change, obviously), the Hokies will get one of the longest-awaited answers for their 2024 recruiting class: will they land the state's No. 3 overall prospect, WR Keylen Adams?
To put it simply, my FutureCast has been locked on the Hokies since his official visit to Blacksburg, and I have no intention of changing it. If I were a little bolder (some may say reckless) with my 'Casts, I probably would have had it in for VT even before that visit based on tea leaves. In the wake of his official, I put it in based on more than just tea leaves.
I've been asked a couple different times whether we should read anything into a bit of confidence from the South Carolina end of things, and after asking around sources in the 757 and the 540, I don't think there's much of anything to worry about. The things Adams has said to certain individuals around his recruiting process don't seem to have changed - and nobody from the Gamecocks' end of things, including our well-placed folks in the media there, has said that he gave any sort of silent commitment or an indication that USCe was his favorite to the coaches in Columbia. It appears to just be a bit of a smokescreen at this stage.
So if VT does win out tomorrow evening, what does that mean for the rest of the recruiting class? Specifically, what does it mean at the WR position, where VT is in good shape for another four-star in Mekhai White - another kid who has not been particularly shy over the past month or so that VT is in outstanding position for him? That will be interesting to monitor. There's no question that Adams and Wiggins have been ahead of White on the staff's priority list for a long time, but there is a question about where the line is drawn in terms of how many receivers they want to land. That can depend on a number of different factors: whether the staff sees Wiggins growing into a TE (they do not at this time, but I'm increasingly talking myself into the concept), how they feel about development and attrition from the current roster (no worries in either department), and how many "best-available" slots are going to be open when all the needs are filled (still an open question and perhaps the most important one).
The staff has been hoping that White would have a longer timeline than the other two - get your top targets on-board, then worry about everything else after that - and at this stage, of course, they're going to get their way. The longer he waits, the better chance they have to see where their bigger recruiting picture fits him in (or if it does). I expressed some skepticism yesterday that they currently see room for all three, but settled on the concept that it'll eventually work out. If nothing else, this staff's in-state reputation has not been repaired enough after the Fuente disaster to be turning away four-stars who want to come. But there are no guarantees at this point, and if they had to make the decision today, it would be a tough one (leaning "no")... but as I just mentioned, today is not when White is making his decision, and by the time he's ready, my prediction (not based on inside info, and in fact the staff might not agree with the prediction at this point) is that there will be a spot waiting for him.
To put it simply, my FutureCast has been locked on the Hokies since his official visit to Blacksburg, and I have no intention of changing it. If I were a little bolder (some may say reckless) with my 'Casts, I probably would have had it in for VT even before that visit based on tea leaves. In the wake of his official, I put it in based on more than just tea leaves.
I've been asked a couple different times whether we should read anything into a bit of confidence from the South Carolina end of things, and after asking around sources in the 757 and the 540, I don't think there's much of anything to worry about. The things Adams has said to certain individuals around his recruiting process don't seem to have changed - and nobody from the Gamecocks' end of things, including our well-placed folks in the media there, has said that he gave any sort of silent commitment or an indication that USCe was his favorite to the coaches in Columbia. It appears to just be a bit of a smokescreen at this stage.
So if VT does win out tomorrow evening, what does that mean for the rest of the recruiting class? Specifically, what does it mean at the WR position, where VT is in good shape for another four-star in Mekhai White - another kid who has not been particularly shy over the past month or so that VT is in outstanding position for him? That will be interesting to monitor. There's no question that Adams and Wiggins have been ahead of White on the staff's priority list for a long time, but there is a question about where the line is drawn in terms of how many receivers they want to land. That can depend on a number of different factors: whether the staff sees Wiggins growing into a TE (they do not at this time, but I'm increasingly talking myself into the concept), how they feel about development and attrition from the current roster (no worries in either department), and how many "best-available" slots are going to be open when all the needs are filled (still an open question and perhaps the most important one).
The staff has been hoping that White would have a longer timeline than the other two - get your top targets on-board, then worry about everything else after that - and at this stage, of course, they're going to get their way. The longer he waits, the better chance they have to see where their bigger recruiting picture fits him in (or if it does). I expressed some skepticism yesterday that they currently see room for all three, but settled on the concept that it'll eventually work out. If nothing else, this staff's in-state reputation has not been repaired enough after the Fuente disaster to be turning away four-stars who want to come. But there are no guarantees at this point, and if they had to make the decision today, it would be a tough one (leaning "no")... but as I just mentioned, today is not when White is making his decision, and by the time he's ready, my prediction (not based on inside info, and in fact the staff might not agree with the prediction at this point) is that there will be a spot waiting for him.
