BLACKSBURG, Va. — It was a busy weekend for Virginia Tech on the recruiting front, with the Hokies landing four commitments from players who made their decisions public. That’s five in the past week, with athlete Xavier Simmons, tight end Matt Hoffman, safety Malcolm Jones and offensive lineman Johnny Garrett joining offensive lineman Jakson LaHue in making pledges since last Thursday. Read about them in more detail here.
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That’s nearly half of the Hokies’ 11-man class so far, a group that ranks 29th nationally in the 247Sports Composite and fourth in the ACC, more in line with the Hokies’ historical norm and an encouraging mid-June position for a program that had classes ranked 42nd and 76th the past two years. Those groups ranked 10th and 14th in the ACC, respectively.
That comes on the heels of an official visitor weekend that included four commitments (quarterback Alex Orji, offensive lineman Johnny Dickson, tight end Harrison Saint Germain, defensive lineman Lemar Law Jr.), three players who became commitments (Hoffman, Jones and Garrett) and at least two more prospects.
Kyree Moyston, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound defensive end from Suffolk, was one of those two.
OV to to Virginia tech this weekend @jcprice59 @CoachFuente 🦃 pic.twitter.com/Jylc5oBVDZ
— kyreemoyston (@kyreechance) June 19, 2021
Car troubles prevented him from visiting two weeks ago, though this might have worked out better for the Hokies. Moyston, who arrived a day early in an unofficial capacity, was in town on the same weekend as Law, his cousin, who made his official visit after committing earlier this month.
Moyston has been high on the Hokies’ list from the start, a King’s Fork product who had 57 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss and 22 sacks as a sophom*ore in 2019. The Hokies were among the first Power 5 schools to offer Moyston in October, though he now holds offers from Arizona State, Arizona, Michigan State, Pitt, Washington, East Carolina, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion and Indiana, where he’s scheduled for a visit next weekend. He’s the No. 838 player nationally in the 247Sports Composite and the No. 20 player in Virginia.
Also in town was defensive tackle Ben Roberts, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound three-star prospect from Salt Lake City. He’d be a rare Mountain Time Zone recruit, though the Hokies did recently sign junior college offensive lineman Bob Schick, who’s from Ephraim, Utah. Before that, the only Hokies signee from Utah in at least the past 35 years was offensive lineman Joe Marchant in 1998. (Marchant and fellow lineman Daniel Nihipali out of Las Vegas both signed from Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah, that year.)
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Roberts, who was selected to play in the Polynesian Bowl, is the No. 491 player nationally. He visited Tennessee last week and has the Hokies among his six finalists, which also include Washington (he has a June 25 visit there), Oregon, Nebraska and Washington State. He had 85 tackles and 12 tackles for loss in 11 games as a junior, playing several spots on East High’s line.
Who’s on tap next weekend?
It might be a more limited official visitor list on the June 25 weekend, though a high-priority recruit is scheduled to be on campus: Midlothian running back Ramon Brown.
Brown, who scheduled the June visit back in March, is the Hokies’ top running back target, a four-star prospect who’s the No. 191 player nationally in the 247Sports Composite and No. 8 player in Virginia. (Even social media averse Justin Fuente made an effort to highlight the visit, liking Brown’s tweet a few months ago, the last time he liked a tweet.)
The 5-foot-11, 202-pounder is a physically gifted runner, coming off a spring season as a junior when he ran for 871 yards and 14 touchdowns in seven games. He released a top seven in May of Kentucky, Maryland, Penn State, South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He’s since made visits to West Virginia, South Carolina (where he posed with new head coach Shane Beamer, who recruited the Richmond area while an assistant at Tech), Penn State and Maryland.
Brown is not the only running back Virginia Tech is recruiting. The Hokies extended an offer to Leesburg running back Bryce Duke, a 5-foot-11, 196-pounder who finished with 1,772 all-purpose yards and 25 touchdowns as a junior and has offers from Rutgers, Vanderbilt and Duke. But, with a crowded running back room and coming off a 2021 class in which they already took three backs, Brown is the home run swing at the position the Hokies are taking in this cycle.
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Givens visits Penn State
One of Tech’s top targets, offensive lineman Gunner Givens, took an official visit to Penn State this past weekend.
Had a great weekend in happy valley on my official #WEARE @CoachTrautFB @coachjfranklin pic.twitter.com/VQRtYI3vep
— Gunner Givens (@givens_gunner) June 20, 2021
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman, who is the No. 132 player nationally and No. 4 prospect in the state, officially visited Blacksburg on the June 4 weekend, though being just 45 minutes up I-81 in Daleville, he’s made multiple trips to Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech and Penn State are the only two official visits listed for Givens on 247Sports.
Texans on campus
Two of the Hokies’ 2022 commitments from Texas made official visits over the weekend: Orji and Dickson.
For Orji, it was the first time he’d set foot in Blacksburg, having made his commitment during a dead period when on-campus recruiting wasn’t allowed. He appeared to enjoy it, coming with his parents and looking every bit of the 6-foot-2, 226 pounds he’s listed at (and possibly even taller when you see him standing next to Fuente).
I'm home!!📍🦃
— Alex Orji (@AlexORJ1) June 18, 2021
Long awaited weekend went well in Blacksburg💪🏾🦃 pic.twitter.com/fP8ebUEgLt
— Alex Orji (@AlexORJ1) June 20, 2021
Dickson currently lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, but is originally from Virginia Beach, so the commonwealth isn’t unfamiliar to him.
📍Blacksburg I’ll be back soon but here something to hold you off while I’m gone pic.twitter.com/Q3U1PT67FW
— johnny Dickson (@johnnydickson70) June 20, 2021
From hoops to the gridiron
The Hokies added an intriguing player for this fall, getting a walk-on commitment from Dimitri Georgiadis, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound former basketball player from Richmond.
Excited to begin this next chapter in my life!! #GoHokies pic.twitter.com/4NEhvL8tjO
— Dimitri Georgiadis (@DBGeorgiadis) June 18, 2021
Georgiadis, who went to Benedictine College Preparatory, started his college career playing hoops at The Citadel before transferring to State Fair Community College his second season. He then transferred to IUPUI last season, playing 14 games as a reserve. Now, he’s giving football a try, likely as an offensive lineman or a tight end. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
(Photo of Justin Fuente: Matt Gentry / The Roanoke Times / ACC pool)
