Hokies Sign 24 Recruits to Letters of Intent

Out
of VT’s 2005 recruiting class of 25 players, 24 of them sent national letters of
intent (LOIs) into the Hokie football office today, but VT lost one of their top
recruits when 4-star tight end Jonathan Hannah from Hope Mills, NC decommitted
and signed with South Carolina instead. Despite the loss of Hannah to the
Gamecocks and SC coach Steve Spurrier, the 24-man class represents another
strong entry in VT recruiting history, particularly in-state.

Last year, the Hokies landed Eddie Royal on Signing Day, but this year, there
were no Signing Day commitments, just Hannah’s decommitment. Rumors started
swirling among UNC and NC State message boards Tuesday that Hannah would
decommit and sign with UNC, and the story took another twist today when he inked
with the Gamecocks instead of the Tar Heels.

VT loses a key TE recruit with Hannah’s departure, but OL recruit Ed
Wang will most likely start out at TE, according to Frank Beamer, so that helps
ease the loss of Hannah. The remainder of
the class is very strong in skill players. The class is headlined by 5-star CB/ATH
Victor
"Macho" Harris from Highland Springs High School in Richmond,
4-star QB Ike
Whitaker from Germantown, MD, and 4-star running back Elan
Lewis from Phoebus HS in Hampton.

Also on the 4-star list: LB Deveon
Simmons Virginia Beach and DE William
Wall from Washington, DC by way of Hargrave Military.

Two areas of need were at defensive back and offensive line, and the Hokies loaded up at those positions. Tech signed three cornerbacks (Harris, Dorian
Porch from Calhoun, GA and Stephan
Virgil from Rocky Mount, NC) and five offensive linemen (Richard
Graham, Eric
Davis, Antonio
North, Robert
Norris, and Brandon
Holland), plus two more recruits that might end up on the offensive line (Ed
Wang and DT Sergio
Render).

The class is one of VT’s deepest ever, including players at all positions,
with the exception of wide receiver (where there was little to no
need, due to the presence of so many young receivers on Tech’s two-deep roster).

The class also represents another fine in-state recruiting haul, with 15
players from the state of Virginia. The Hokies snagged three players from
TechSideline.com’s top four in-state recruits (#1 Harris, #2 Lewis, and #4
Simmons; #3 Vic Hall signed with Virginia). This is the fifth year in a row that
the Hokies have signed at least two of the top five in-state recruits. The 2000
recruiting class, which included only #5 Chad Cooper from the top five, was the last VT recruiting
class that didn’t have at least two top-five players sign with VT. (For TSL
rankings of in-state recruits back to 2003 and Roanoke Times rankings of
in-state recruits back to 1998, go to TSL’s Football
Recruiting Home Page and look in the left-hand border).

Here is the complete list of signees, sorted by position.

2005 Virginia Tech Football Recruiting Class
Stars	Pos	Name	Ht	Wt	40	Hometown
	QB	Whitaker, Ike	6-4	200	4.5	Germantown, MD
	QB	Boone, Greg	6-4	240	4.65	Chesapeake, VA
	RB	Lewis, Elan	5-8	210	4.5	Hampton, VA
	FB	Jefferson, Kenneth	5-10	230	4.5	Hyattsville, MD
	OL	Davis, Eric	6-7	315		Springfield, VA
	OL	Graham, Richard	6-6	225	4.85	Richmond, VA
	OL	Holland, Brandon	6-4	285	4.8	Roanoke, VA
	OL	Norris, Robert	6-4	300		Hyattsville, MD
	OL	North, Antonio	6-4	310	5.31	Stafford, VA
	TE	Wang, Ed	6-5	260	4.8	Ashburn, VA
	DT/OL	Render, Sergio	6-4	290	5.2	Newnan, GA
	DT	Thompson, Cordarrow	6-2	318	5.24	Stafford, VA
	DE	Friday, Steven	6-4	215	4.7	Hampton, VA
	DE	Green, Hivera	6-5	258	4.8	Conway, SC
	DE	Wall, William	6-3	255	4.6	Washington, DC
	LB	Simmons, Deveon	6-0	221	4.5	Va Beach, VA
	LB	Taylor, Demetrius	6-1	220	4.5	Va Beach, VA
	CB/RB	Harris, Victor	6-0	180	4.46	Highland Springs, VA
	CB/ATH	Porch, Dorian	5-11	180	4.4	Calhoun, GA
	CB/WR	Virgil, Stephan	5-11	165	4.4	Rocky Mount, NC
	S	Martin, Cameron	6-1	180	4.5	Danville, VA
	P	Bowden, Brent	6-3	180	4.9	Chantilly, VA
	ATH	Cheeseman, Jahre	5-9	180	4.37	Voorhees, NJ
	ATH	Wheeler, Sam	6-3	240	4.68	Blacksburg, VA