Virginia Tech Recruiting Update: More Offers, ‘Satellite Camps’ and Durham Visits

 

Gabe Gonzalez Virginia Tech recruiting
Gabe Gonzalez finally got an offer from Virginia Tech last week. (Picture via @gabe_gonzalez76 on Twitter)

The spring evaluation period officially ends on Wednesday, so coaching and recruiting staffs are wrapping up their evaluations of recruits in areas they don’t get to make it to often. For instance, Virginia Tech has been all over the state of Florida, looking at recruits and offering scholarships.

We’ll try to make sense of the last week in the latest recruiting update.

Virginia Tech Offers 10 From St. Thomas Aquinas

Speaking of Florida, Virginia Tech went on an offer spree last week as they issued offers to 10 players at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. Here are the 10 recruits.

Class of 2018: defensive tackle/offensive lineman Dejmi Dumervil Jean and offensive lineman Vincent Murphy

Class of 2019: running back Daniel Carter, offensive lineman Jake Pope, linebackers Anthony Solomon and Jahmar Brown, cornerbacks Myles Bell, Jaden Davis and Semar Melvin and safety Jordan Battle

Offering eight recruits in the same class on the same team is generally a sign that team is going to be loaded. Being loaded is nothing new for St. Thomas Aquinas, who has won 10 state championships and 32 district championships since 1971. For the sake of brevity, let’s take a closer look at Class of ’18 recruits, Dejmi Dumervil Jean and Murphy.

Dumervil Jean is listed at 6-foot-5, 350-pounds. The massive lineman has offers from several Power 5 programs to this point, including Louisville, Mississippi State, Maryland, Oregon, Michigan and Michigan State. Because of his size, I would expect Dumervil Jean to play offensive line for the Hokies.

Murphy is listed at 6-foot-4, 280-pounds, and holds offers from Mississippi State, Rutgers, Missouri and Michigan State, as well as East Carolina and Florida Atlantic.

Time will tell if Virginia Tech is able to make an impression on the ’19 kids at St. Thomas Aquinas. Schools like that often take group visits to schools in the offseason, and a visit to Blacksburg would help Virginia Tech tremendously. 

Other new offers

If you thought those were the only recruits offered by Virginia Tech last week, you are mistaken. Here are a few more.

Class of 2018: offensive linemen Gabe Gonzalez and Austin Smith, linebacker/defensive end Andrew Chatfield, safety Gurvan Hall and cornerbacks Eddie Smith, Taiyon Palmer, Braxton Clark and Jeremy Webb

Class of 2019: linebacker/defensive end Gemon Eaford, defensive lineman Ben Smiley, cornerback Jaylin Simpson and Jashawn Sheffield

Virginia Tech will likely continue to offer offensive linemen throughout the Class of 2018 cycle, and the Hokies have had their eye on Gabe Gonzalez for a while. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound lineman from Mebane, NC holds a few Power 5 offers from schools like Duke, NC State and Wake Forest. 

Andrew Chatfield is a linebacker/defensive end hybrid from Plantation, FL. He’s listed as a 4-star recruit by Rivals and is currently favoring LSU, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Syracuse. We’ll see if Virginia Tech makes an impression.

Gurvan Hall is currently committed to Miami. The 4-star recruit committed in March 2017 and seems firm with the ‘Canes, but you never know. Taiyon Palmer is currently committed to Duke, and has been since September 2016.

Eddie Smith is a 3-star recruit from Louisiana. Smith is listed at 6-foot-1 and 180-pounds, and holds several Power 5 offers from schools like Georgia, Oregon State, Utah, TCU and Tennessee. 

Jeremy Webb is a JUCO recruit from ASA College in Brooklyn, NY. Webb stands at 6-foot-3 and 200-pounds, and has offers from West Virginia, Iowa State and Central Florida.

Braxton Clark was offered on Monday after visiting over the weekend.

Clark is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound corner from Dr. Phillips in Orlando, FL. He is teammates with fellow Tech target Tanner Ingle and former teammates with 2017 signee Robert Porcher IV. Virginia Tech is one of just three Power 5 offers so far for Clark, and the Hokies figure to play a big role in his recruitment.

Ben Smiley is a 6-foot-6, 255-pound lineman from Indian River in Chesapeake, VA, the same high school that Devon Hunter and Tavante Beckett are from. Smiley has a few Power 5 offers so far, and should be one of the top in-state targets for Virginia Tech in the Class of 2019.

Coaches working six “satellite camps”

With the recent changes to football recruiting practices, coaches can no longer host satellite camps at high schools or other areas across the country. However, coaches can work camps at fellow NCAA institutions. In order to maximize that stipulation, Virginia Tech is working six camps this summer.

Virginia Tech is hitting the key in-state areas — Washington, DC, Richmond and the 757 area. However, the Hokies passed on a camp in North Carolina for camps in New Jersey, Florida and Georgia. Perhaps Tech had struggles partnering with a Carolina institution, but alas, the coaches will not be at a camp in Carolina this summer.

Durham visits Virginia Tech

After missing out on MJ Walker last week, Virginia Tech men’s basketball has some positive news this week.

It’s been known for weeks that Durham was visiting this weekend, but it is good news nonetheless for the Hokies. Durham, who played at Connecticut last season, played just 8.3 minutes per game as a freshman. The 6-foot-11 forward from Tampa, Fla. was rated as a 4-star prospect by 247Sports, and was nearly a top-50 player nationally.

Currently, Virginia Tech has one scholarship open for next season, with Walker committing to Florida State and Seth LeDay transferring. Durham will have to sit next season, but will have three years of eligibility remaining afterward.

4 Responses You are logged in as Test

    1. Picture is from a game from last season. I’m assuming he’s added weight since then. Gonzalez came in at 6-foot-4.5 and 275-pounds at The Opening regional in Charlotte a few weeks ago.

    2. You are right he doesn’t look 275 lbs except his hands look huge compared to the rest of his build. kind of like “man hands” in Sienfeld.

Comments are closed.