I'll have stories with some of the key visitors from yesterday rolling out over the course of today, but wanted to provide a few updates on key visitors. We'll start with the biggest.
Yesterday afternoon, I mentioned that I wasn't sure if Daleville (Va.) Lord Botetourt four-star OL/Ath Gunner Givens had changed his plans for an official. He had been scheduled to take one this weekend, but popping just down I-81 yesterday, only to return a few days later, might not have seemed likely. When he showed up for yesterday's elite visit day, the possibility of pushing back the visit to take a little more time to let things digest and get a second, fresher look at campus was possible.
However, I've confirmed with folks close to Givens that the visit this weekend is still on. That's huge news for the Hokies, including for some of the reasons I mentioned above: there's not much reason from a learning-about-the-program perspective to need visits in such close succession. Making it back to town this weekend (his official was originally supposed to start tomorrow, a day earlier than the typical Friday beginning, but the source indicated that it's on a normal timeframe now) is more about just wanting to be in Blacksburg. For obvious reasons, that's a positive sign in the recruitment of the state's No. 5 player. Making it back for a recruiting visit for the first time in over a year reminded him of a lot of the things he really likes about the program in the first place.
I've been pretty clear that I think the Hokies' continued pursuit as some of his other top programs have scaled back their efforts a little bit is both cause and effect of the same thing: the Hokies are building a lead in his recruitment. I wouldn't say he commits this weekend and cancels his other scheduled official visit (Penn State is the only other program in his final six he's slated to see: the weekend of June 18 is when that'll happen), but I certainly wouldn't rule it out, either. And if that doesn't happen, the approach that VT has taken will make them tough to beat.
Givens also had a chance to bond with another top prospect who'll be back this week.
Flanked by many of his underclassman teammates at Highland Springs (Va.) High School, in-state DE Rashaud Pernell is another who's been trending the Hokies' way for some time. He's also scheduled to return for his official visit along the same schedule as Givens: in just a couple days, immediately on the heels of this unofficial. That some of those teammates either picked up offers (2023 DE/LB Miles Greene) or have made it clear that a VT commitment is probably just a matter of time and seeing the world first (Braylon Johnson) added to the positive vibes for Pernell.
As with Givens, he has one other official visit planned: he's slated to see Minnesota at the end of the month. He's far less-traveled than Givens over the course of the process, and may very well take that trip just to get a little bit of experience on the trail. However, he seems even less likely to take his time with a commitment - and even if he does see a couple of his other favorites (Boston College, Coastal Carolina, and Wake Forest are the other finalists), less likely to see those visits impact the fact that the Hokies have a massive lead.
With a big June on the way, the Hokie coaching staff seems poised to push for (and accept) a commitment from Pernell - a status that has not always been the case during his recruitment, but is well worth it at this point.
One other key visitor came as a bit of a surprise to me, because I'd just talked to him a couple weeks ago, and such a trip wasn't even on his radar.
Midlothian (Va.) Manchester four-star running back Ramon Brown still plans to take his official visit at the end of the month, so taking this unofficial didn't impact whether the Hokies get to host him on a school-paid visit. That's particularly positive since he has seven finalists and can only take officials to five of them. He'll start the official visit trail with West Virginia this weekend.
The trip went a long way with Brown (whose brother, RJ, was on-campus too - RJ holds a Marshall offer, but doesn't seem like a scholarship option for the Hokies any time soon), as well. He's less in the "confirm VT as No. 1" category than Givens and Pernell entered the day with, but shuffling VT to reach the top of his favorites list is possible, and major strides were made in that department, as well. Indeed, getting to spend time with other in-state prospects who are high on VT like those two helped him see some of the value in potentially sticking close to home and starting a trend of top Virginia talent becoming Hokies. That trend has been gone for far too long, as I don't need to tell anyone here.
I still feel like Penn State has the slight edge on Virginia Tech, but things are now setting up well for the Orange and Maroon to make the pass. The other finalists (Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, UVa, and West Virginia) will have to truly alter his thought process on visits - always possible - to really alter that overarching status.
Stay tuned today for updates from some of the visitors who made their way to campus, and over the course of the month for much, much more on the developments in Hokies recruiting with an important visit stretch upcoming.
Yesterday afternoon, I mentioned that I wasn't sure if Daleville (Va.) Lord Botetourt four-star OL/Ath Gunner Givens had changed his plans for an official. He had been scheduled to take one this weekend, but popping just down I-81 yesterday, only to return a few days later, might not have seemed likely. When he showed up for yesterday's elite visit day, the possibility of pushing back the visit to take a little more time to let things digest and get a second, fresher look at campus was possible.
However, I've confirmed with folks close to Givens that the visit this weekend is still on. That's huge news for the Hokies, including for some of the reasons I mentioned above: there's not much reason from a learning-about-the-program perspective to need visits in such close succession. Making it back to town this weekend (his official was originally supposed to start tomorrow, a day earlier than the typical Friday beginning, but the source indicated that it's on a normal timeframe now) is more about just wanting to be in Blacksburg. For obvious reasons, that's a positive sign in the recruitment of the state's No. 5 player. Making it back for a recruiting visit for the first time in over a year reminded him of a lot of the things he really likes about the program in the first place.
I've been pretty clear that I think the Hokies' continued pursuit as some of his other top programs have scaled back their efforts a little bit is both cause and effect of the same thing: the Hokies are building a lead in his recruitment. I wouldn't say he commits this weekend and cancels his other scheduled official visit (Penn State is the only other program in his final six he's slated to see: the weekend of June 18 is when that'll happen), but I certainly wouldn't rule it out, either. And if that doesn't happen, the approach that VT has taken will make them tough to beat.
Givens also had a chance to bond with another top prospect who'll be back this week.
Flanked by many of his underclassman teammates at Highland Springs (Va.) High School, in-state DE Rashaud Pernell is another who's been trending the Hokies' way for some time. He's also scheduled to return for his official visit along the same schedule as Givens: in just a couple days, immediately on the heels of this unofficial. That some of those teammates either picked up offers (2023 DE/LB Miles Greene) or have made it clear that a VT commitment is probably just a matter of time and seeing the world first (Braylon Johnson) added to the positive vibes for Pernell.
As with Givens, he has one other official visit planned: he's slated to see Minnesota at the end of the month. He's far less-traveled than Givens over the course of the process, and may very well take that trip just to get a little bit of experience on the trail. However, he seems even less likely to take his time with a commitment - and even if he does see a couple of his other favorites (Boston College, Coastal Carolina, and Wake Forest are the other finalists), less likely to see those visits impact the fact that the Hokies have a massive lead.
With a big June on the way, the Hokie coaching staff seems poised to push for (and accept) a commitment from Pernell - a status that has not always been the case during his recruitment, but is well worth it at this point.
One other key visitor came as a bit of a surprise to me, because I'd just talked to him a couple weeks ago, and such a trip wasn't even on his radar.
Midlothian (Va.) Manchester four-star running back Ramon Brown still plans to take his official visit at the end of the month, so taking this unofficial didn't impact whether the Hokies get to host him on a school-paid visit. That's particularly positive since he has seven finalists and can only take officials to five of them. He'll start the official visit trail with West Virginia this weekend.
The trip went a long way with Brown (whose brother, RJ, was on-campus too - RJ holds a Marshall offer, but doesn't seem like a scholarship option for the Hokies any time soon), as well. He's less in the "confirm VT as No. 1" category than Givens and Pernell entered the day with, but shuffling VT to reach the top of his favorites list is possible, and major strides were made in that department, as well. Indeed, getting to spend time with other in-state prospects who are high on VT like those two helped him see some of the value in potentially sticking close to home and starting a trend of top Virginia talent becoming Hokies. That trend has been gone for far too long, as I don't need to tell anyone here.
I still feel like Penn State has the slight edge on Virginia Tech, but things are now setting up well for the Orange and Maroon to make the pass. The other finalists (Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, UVa, and West Virginia) will have to truly alter his thought process on visits - always possible - to really alter that overarching status.
Stay tuned today for updates from some of the visitors who made their way to campus, and over the course of the month for much, much more on the developments in Hokies recruiting with an important visit stretch upcoming.
