Welcome to Tunnel Talk here on the first full day of Summer, with the latest in the world of Hokie recruiting.
Shawn Asbury
In-state defensive back Shawn Asbury will be making his commitment tonight, with the Hokies' primary competition for his signature... uh... let's just say the expectation is positive news. I guess Pitt would be the other contender, but in all honesty, you couldn't even really call the Panthers that.
The staff has been pursuing the 5-11, 175-pounder as a combo DB, capable of playing a deep safety position as well as some nickel and corner. That's in part because they don't want to spook other safety targets: the plan has been to take four safeties (and the depth chart necessitates it), but it's easier for a recruit to look at a class with two other safeties - Jalen Hoyle and Jalen Stroman - and a multi-position guy, and still think about committing, than it is to become the fourth true safety in the class. There's also something to be said for Hoyle's likelihood of being a hybrid LB in the long run, while Stroman has some ability to be a corner.
Either way, the staff is much higher on this kid than the rankings experts are, so that's a good thing. Another positive, should he pick the Hokies? In touching base with coaches and other recruits around the area, he's much more of a popular potential pied-piper type than I had realized. There's a long way to go in rebuilding the staff's reputation in the broader DC area (though certainly that won't stop a particular staffer from talking smack to area high school coaches on Twitter - you know, a ridiculously counter-productive thing - when Asbury becomes a Hokie), but Asbury could serve as a fairly big step in that direction.
Markevious Brown
With the secondary picture starting to clarify a bit, the staff can definitely be a little selective going forward. That's because the numbers are made up by now, and because the expectation of a stronger year on-field will allow that selectiveness to be focused on top prospects.
One such player is Florida four-star Markevious Brown, who's a little more interested in VT than previously expected. The Pahokee-turned-IMG standout has been pretty open to programs around the nation (as guys who transfer to IMG tend to be), and doesn't want to rule anyone out on the basis of geography. The staff has taken that opportunity and run with it, showing the most attention of any program in the mix, with a few middle-tier ACC and SEC schools not far off from that standard.
Brown had loosely narrowed to a top seven before VT even was a glimmer in his eye, but it's clear that there's going to be a shot here, especially if things go well on the field for the Hokies.
Admissions issue?
Those who listened to my spot on ESPN Blacksburg last Wednesday (sorry for no link - they've gotten pretty inconsistent about posting the podcasts in a timely fashion, if at all), heard Paul Van Wagoner and I talk a little bit about a potential admissions issue for the Hokies from a recruiting perspective.
I've done a bit of digging, and honestly have turned up little. Seems like the coaching staff either isn't worried about it (which would obviously be best-case scenario), or they want to keep the bad news quiet until it's unavoidable. I'll continue to monitor the situation, but for the time being I'm leaning toward the former.
My operating assumption is that we're talking about a 2020 signee here, and potentially one that's not going to be a game changer if he can't make it to campus. The VT athletic department and admissions work together pretty hard to find solutions to these situations, as well - there's really no benefit to the admissions department or university when it comes to trying to get players into school through some past academic issues as long as they're still expected to be bright enough to graduate, so hopefully it ends up being resolved in such a fashion that we never really need to hear the full details anyway.
Shawn Asbury
In-state defensive back Shawn Asbury will be making his commitment tonight, with the Hokies' primary competition for his signature... uh... let's just say the expectation is positive news. I guess Pitt would be the other contender, but in all honesty, you couldn't even really call the Panthers that.
The staff has been pursuing the 5-11, 175-pounder as a combo DB, capable of playing a deep safety position as well as some nickel and corner. That's in part because they don't want to spook other safety targets: the plan has been to take four safeties (and the depth chart necessitates it), but it's easier for a recruit to look at a class with two other safeties - Jalen Hoyle and Jalen Stroman - and a multi-position guy, and still think about committing, than it is to become the fourth true safety in the class. There's also something to be said for Hoyle's likelihood of being a hybrid LB in the long run, while Stroman has some ability to be a corner.
Either way, the staff is much higher on this kid than the rankings experts are, so that's a good thing. Another positive, should he pick the Hokies? In touching base with coaches and other recruits around the area, he's much more of a popular potential pied-piper type than I had realized. There's a long way to go in rebuilding the staff's reputation in the broader DC area (though certainly that won't stop a particular staffer from talking smack to area high school coaches on Twitter - you know, a ridiculously counter-productive thing - when Asbury becomes a Hokie), but Asbury could serve as a fairly big step in that direction.
Markevious Brown
With the secondary picture starting to clarify a bit, the staff can definitely be a little selective going forward. That's because the numbers are made up by now, and because the expectation of a stronger year on-field will allow that selectiveness to be focused on top prospects.
One such player is Florida four-star Markevious Brown, who's a little more interested in VT than previously expected. The Pahokee-turned-IMG standout has been pretty open to programs around the nation (as guys who transfer to IMG tend to be), and doesn't want to rule anyone out on the basis of geography. The staff has taken that opportunity and run with it, showing the most attention of any program in the mix, with a few middle-tier ACC and SEC schools not far off from that standard.
Brown had loosely narrowed to a top seven before VT even was a glimmer in his eye, but it's clear that there's going to be a shot here, especially if things go well on the field for the Hokies.
Admissions issue?
Those who listened to my spot on ESPN Blacksburg last Wednesday (sorry for no link - they've gotten pretty inconsistent about posting the podcasts in a timely fashion, if at all), heard Paul Van Wagoner and I talk a little bit about a potential admissions issue for the Hokies from a recruiting perspective.
I've done a bit of digging, and honestly have turned up little. Seems like the coaching staff either isn't worried about it (which would obviously be best-case scenario), or they want to keep the bad news quiet until it's unavoidable. I'll continue to monitor the situation, but for the time being I'm leaning toward the former.
My operating assumption is that we're talking about a 2020 signee here, and potentially one that's not going to be a game changer if he can't make it to campus. The VT athletic department and admissions work together pretty hard to find solutions to these situations, as well - there's really no benefit to the admissions department or university when it comes to trying to get players into school through some past academic issues as long as they're still expected to be bright enough to graduate, so hopefully it ends up being resolved in such a fashion that we never really need to hear the full details anyway.
