Don't want to leave it in the title, but the subhead may as well be "who's up next on the board?" Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth tight end JayVontay Conner will make his choice tomorrow, and it's not gonna be for the Hokies.
The Orange and Maroon are in contention - and there was a brief time that they were No. 1 with a bullet on his list - but on the heels of visits to the Sunshine State contenders, UCF and Florida State have pulled way ahead for him. His time in Florida over Spring Break was enough time to believe he wants to head there for his college ball.
The issue is which of those two he ultimately picks. He gave extremely positive vibes to the UCF staff (you'll note I put in a FutureCast to UCF yesterday after touching base with a number of sources). However, a source extremely close to his decision-making process told me that everyone thinks it's going to be UCF, but Conner is ready to pull a shock-the-world move. Regardless, with Maryland, Mississippi State, and South Carolina looking poised to finish 4-6 in some order, what's important for us is that I'm not picking Hokies.
So what's next if and when Conner does the expected (if he's trolling me individually, I'll be pretty annoyed about it!) and picks Florida State - fwiw I have a hard time believing the Noles would bother taking him at this stage in the process, which may be another tea leaf in UCF's favor, but folks in Tallahassee haven't ruled definitively one way or the other - who's next?
The Orange and Maroon have re-opened serious lines of communication with another Greensboro-area tight end, Vance Bolyard. You'l recall that he eliminated Virginia Tech from the running, but that was largely due to a slow-play from the Hokies (which to be fair is partially among the factors for Conner's about-face). Now that they've slowed down on Conner and don't believe they'll get him - in part due to their own preferences (not that there's an obvious TE ready to commit at this stage to replace him on the board) - Bolyard is the next one up for a regeneration of his pursuit from the Hokies.
He's not the same style of TE - ini some ways a blocker-who-can-catch like Nick Gallo, rather than a more well-rounded receiving threat a la Drake DeIuliis, but at a position of strong need in the class (particularly with the departure of Jared Gibble after just one year in Blacksburg). We shall see how this all plays out: for better or worse, one of the staff's guiding principles at this stage in the cycle is to not push for a commitment unless they really know a kid is sold and high-caliber enough - Antonio Cotman? Sure, they'd love to see him commit. Farther down the board? Patience is the name of the game.
Could that mean a signee come December or February is someone we're not even considering as a potential future Hokie right now? It does. This is a long process, and a staff operating through a coaching change and trying to build new relationships is taking a slow-and-steady approach for now.
The Orange and Maroon are in contention - and there was a brief time that they were No. 1 with a bullet on his list - but on the heels of visits to the Sunshine State contenders, UCF and Florida State have pulled way ahead for him. His time in Florida over Spring Break was enough time to believe he wants to head there for his college ball.
The issue is which of those two he ultimately picks. He gave extremely positive vibes to the UCF staff (you'll note I put in a FutureCast to UCF yesterday after touching base with a number of sources). However, a source extremely close to his decision-making process told me that everyone thinks it's going to be UCF, but Conner is ready to pull a shock-the-world move. Regardless, with Maryland, Mississippi State, and South Carolina looking poised to finish 4-6 in some order, what's important for us is that I'm not picking Hokies.
So what's next if and when Conner does the expected (if he's trolling me individually, I'll be pretty annoyed about it!) and picks Florida State - fwiw I have a hard time believing the Noles would bother taking him at this stage in the process, which may be another tea leaf in UCF's favor, but folks in Tallahassee haven't ruled definitively one way or the other - who's next?
The Orange and Maroon have re-opened serious lines of communication with another Greensboro-area tight end, Vance Bolyard. You'l recall that he eliminated Virginia Tech from the running, but that was largely due to a slow-play from the Hokies (which to be fair is partially among the factors for Conner's about-face). Now that they've slowed down on Conner and don't believe they'll get him - in part due to their own preferences (not that there's an obvious TE ready to commit at this stage to replace him on the board) - Bolyard is the next one up for a regeneration of his pursuit from the Hokies.
He's not the same style of TE - ini some ways a blocker-who-can-catch like Nick Gallo, rather than a more well-rounded receiving threat a la Drake DeIuliis, but at a position of strong need in the class (particularly with the departure of Jared Gibble after just one year in Blacksburg). We shall see how this all plays out: for better or worse, one of the staff's guiding principles at this stage in the cycle is to not push for a commitment unless they really know a kid is sold and high-caliber enough - Antonio Cotman? Sure, they'd love to see him commit. Farther down the board? Patience is the name of the game.
Could that mean a signee come December or February is someone we're not even considering as a potential future Hokie right now? It does. This is a long process, and a staff operating through a coaching change and trying to build new relationships is taking a slow-and-steady approach for now.
