The Virginia Tech Hokies continue to broaden their recruiting reach as they picked up their fifth out-of-state commitment yesterday when defensive back James Farrow from Minnesota verbally committed to play for Virginia Tech. National signing day isn’t until February 2011.
Farrow is listed at 6 feet tall and 178 pounds. His 40-time is listed at 4.43 seconds, which is really good and will only improve once he gets into Tech’s strength and conditioning program.
The rising high school senior chose Frank Beamer and the Hokies at the end of his visit to the Blacksburg campus where he toured the football facilities, watched a practice and met with coaches, according to TechSideline.com. He hadn’t left Blacksburg yet before making a decision.
Brian Mohr from HokieHaven.com (a Rivals.com site), interviewed Farrow following his decision and spoke about his experience visiting Blacksburg, both on campus and off.
“I really understand the whole feel of what people say is the Hokienation, this is it, that was a big thing for me, the fan support is much appreciated and I liked it a lot,” said Farrow. “I went downtown into the stores and the people were real nice. Also, the stadium was great and the way they ran practice, the guys are upbeat and everyone had smiles on their face, enjoying themselves.”
Farrow also pointed to Tech’s coaching staff as another key factor in why he chose the Hokies over Wisconsin, Michigan State and West Virginia.
“Coach Beamer has been there years before I was even born and it’s a stable coaching staff. I felt like it’d be a real nice fit for me.”
Farrow committed to the Spartans earlier this year, but changed his mind and continued his search. Before visiting Tech, the defensive back and kick returner went to Morgantown to check out the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
Manchester High School (Midlothian, Va.) offensive lineman Jake Goins has verbally committed to play football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Goins chose the Hokies over offers from Clemson, Duke, Maryland and Virginia.
Goins is the 10th high school player to commit the Hokies’ 2011 recruiting class. The rising senior is listed by Rivals.com at 6-5, 288-pounds, and while he’s not nationally ranked, he is the first offensive lineman the Hokies have added to the class and the sixth player from the Commonwealth of Virginia in the class.
Picking up Goins was a minor victory for the Hokies, who earlier this recruiting season lost two 4-star offensive lineman to UNC. The Virginian-Pilot‘s Kyle Tucker write more about those here: Hokies land offensive lineman for class of 2011.
Virginia Tech Hokies head football coachFrank Beamer and his coaching staff are famous for taking unheralded recruits and walk-ons and turning them into all conference players, i.e. John Engelberger, Andre Davisand Cody Grimm.
So, while today’s announcement that Virginia Tech got a commitment from 6-3, 220-pound defensive end with offers from James Madison (I-AA) and Old Dominion (I-AA) may not sound like the team is building for the future, Dewayne Alford’s coach believes otherwise.
Tracy Parker, Nansemond River head coach, told the Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times that Alford has “flown under the radar because he’s only been here for one year. A lot of I-A schools were hesitant to pull the trigger but Tech saw what I saw.”
Parker called Alford a diamond in the rough, but Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is a master of getting the most out of all of his players.
Alford will “greyshirt,” which means that even though he’s a member of the 2011 recruiting class, he will not enroll at Tech until January 2012. This will give him time to mature and get a full spring practice, fall practice and presumably a redshirt year under his belt before he’s ready to contribute.
Check out the Roanoke Times article for more information about Alford and his thoughts on greyshirting.
Corey Marshall is rated the No. 21 strong-side defensive end and No. 250 overall prospect nationally by Rivals.com and today, he announced his decision to come to Virginia Tech. He joins his high school teammate at Dinwiddie, tight end Chris Hall, who gave his verbal commitment to the Hokies on Monday. Marshall and Hall boost Tech’s 2011 recruiting class to six. National signing day is Feb. 2, 2011.
Marshall chose the Hokies on ComcastSportsNet’s Washington Post Live show at 5 p.m. today. Though his list of suitors included Virginia, WVU, Tennessee and Michigan, Marshall laid only two hats on the table as he made his announcement on live television. He chose the Hokies, which have been his favorite team for years.
Virginia Tech Hokies head football coach Frank Beamer hasn’t even opened camp for the 2010 season and already his 2011 recruiting class is shaping up to be another good one. This on the heels of a 2010 class that is considered one of his best ever.
Adeboye Aromire, a 6-2, 192-pound cornerback out of H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., verbally committed to Virginia Tech earlier today according to Rivals.com.
Rivals listed Aromire as a three-star recruit with offers from Tech, UNC and Maryland from the ACC, as well as Illinois (Big Ten), WVU (Big East) and Buffalo.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported this week that the Virginia Tech Hokies got a verbal commitment from Christian Reeves, a 6-3, 210-pound tight end from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga.
Reeves becomes the third commit for the 2011 class, joining 6-2, 265-pound defensive tackle Kris Harley and Ronny Vandyke, a 6-3, 185-pound safety from South County Secondary in Lorton, Va.
Rivals.com reports that Reeves has offers from Air Force, Buffalo, Central Florida, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan. Harley, who hails from the same high school as Tech running back Darren Evans, is ranked as the 19th-best DT in the 2011 recruiting class by Rivals and has offers from Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Purdue, North Carolina, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa and Wake Forest.
Vandyke is a 6-3, 185-pound safety from South County Secondary in Lorton. Rivals has him as the 35th-best safety in his class and his offers include Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers and Virginia.
While the recruits have verbally committed to the Hokies, they can’t officially sign a national letter of intent until Feb. 2, 2011.
The Hokies got a big time commitment today from Kris Harley, a Scout.com four-star defensive end from Warren Central High School in Indiana – the same high school Darren Evans played at.
Harley tabbed the Hokies today over scholarship offers from Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Stanford, Purdue and Cincinnati. The 6-1, 265-pound (or 6-2, 260-pounds depending on which scouting report your read) rising senior had 91 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and five sacks, during his junior season. He’s also proven himself in the classroom with a reporter GPA of 3.2.
Harley is the second high school player to commit to the Hokies’ 2011 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com, joining defensive back Ronny Vandyke, who committed to Tech in February. Vandyke, a 6-3, 195-pound safety, chose Virginia Tech over offers from Boston College, Syracuse, West Virginia, East Carolina and Rutgers.
Yesterday, the ACC announced game times for several early season games including two for the Virginia Tech. The Hokies home opener for the 2009 season against Marshall will be shown on ESPN360.com and will kick off at 1:30 p.m., on Sept. 12. The following week, Sept. 19, the Hokies host Nebraska. That game is scheduled to air regionally on ABC, but will also be available to most in the country on ESPN2. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.
For more game times and broadcast information, read the ACC press release.
In other news…
Bishop Kearney High School’s (Rochester, N.Y.) Jerome Lewis, a 6-4, 225-pound tight end/defensive end, verbally committed to Virginia Tech this week. Lewis was a 5-9, 138-pound freshman when he got the call to play for the varsity squad but has since added 50 pounds and seven inches. According to Lewis, he also had official offers form Syracuse, Pittsburgh and East Carolina.
Lewis is slated to join the 2010 class and play either tight end or flanker for the Hokies. If that’s the case, I would expect Frank Beamer to redshirt Lewis in 2010 considering the extremely talented and deep pools of receivers currently in the program. A pool that will only be juniors by the time this kid arrives.
Cody Journell hasn’t even suited up for the Hokies yet, but already fans are eagerly anticipating his arrival on campus. The Giles High School senior is the only kicker on Tech’s 2009 roster that has a full scholarship and he will have the opportunity to win the starting job when he arrives as a true freshman in August. Following the less-than-encouraging kicking performance at the April 25 spring game, the arrival of such a highly-touted kicker will be a welcome addition in the eyes of many Hokie fans.
Tahrick Peak, the 6-3, 205-pound younger brother of incoming Hokie freshman Nubian Peak, verbally committed to Virginia Tech yesterday according to the Roanoke Times. Peak had an offer from Marshall, so he’s not a highly sought-after recruit. But often it’s those diamond-in-the-rough types that have turned out to be the some of the best players to come through Tech.
Take John Engelberger and Andre Davis. Engelberger was a walk-on at Virginia Tech and left the program as one of the most feared defensive lineman in college football. He is about to enter his 10th NFL season, and he’s not a journeyman – he’s only played for two teams.
Andre Davis didn’t receive one DI-A offer to play football, but the Tech coaches got a tape of him and thought they saw something in him, so they brought him to Tech and the rest is history. Davis helped lead the Hokies, along with Michael Vick and a cast of many, to the 2000 NCAA Championship game against Florida State. Davis is about to begin his 8th season in the NFL.
So, even though the Hokies are landing more big profile recruits like Logan Thomas and Ryan Williams, sometimes it’s the guys that fly under the radar that end up leaving a bigger mark on the program and the fans. That is how Virginia Tech got to where it is today – by recruiting the blue-collar kids with a chip on their shoulders and coaching ‘em up to believe they can beat anyone, anytime, anywhere. And if Tech ever wants to win a national championship, they will need those kind of players.
09/06 vs. Boise State (8pm ESPN)
09/11 vs. JMU (1:30pm ESPN3.com)
09/18 vs. ECU (1:30pm ESPN3.com)
09/25 @ Boston College
10/02 @ NC State
10/09 vs. Central Michigan
10/16 vs. Wake Forest
10/23 vs. Duke
11/04 vs. Georgia Tech (7:30pm, ESPN)
11/13 @ North Carolina
11/20 @ Miami
11/27 vs. Virginia
12/04 ACC Championship Game
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