Halfway through the month of June, the Virginia Tech football team was well behind its normal pace on the recruiting trail, and Hokies fans were getting antsy.
Recruiting is an important business for every college football program, but it’s a life-or-death business for programs attempting to maintain a top-25 status.
So for the fifth-ranked Hokies, when mid-June rolled around and the program had received just two verbal commitments for the class of 2011 — when last year it had received eight by that time -- the pressure was on.
In February, Tech kicked off its recruiting rush with a bang, receiving its first commitment from four-star prospect Ronny Vandyke out of South County Secondary School in Lorton.
Vandyke, an athletic safety standing at 6 feet 3 inches, is expected to have all the tools to play the Hokies’ “whip” position, which is a strong safety-outside linebacker hybrid role in defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s scheme.
At the Hokies’ junior day on February 27, Vandyke chose Tech over scholarship offers from Maryland, Boston College, Syracuse, West Virginia, East Carolina and Rutgers.
It was a solid start for coach Frank Beamer and company, who will be in need of safety help with senior rover Davon Morgan leaving after this season.
After a quiet March, Tech picked up another four-star recruit, receiving its second commitment from defensive tackle prospect Kris Harley, out of Indianapolis, Ind. Harley chose Tech over nearly 15 other schools he had received offers from, including top programs such as Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan and USC.
Widely regarded for his exceptional athletic ability, Harley flashed his junior year, finishing his third season with 91 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and five sacks at Warren Central High School in Indy.
Scott Kennedy of Scout.com says the 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound tackle is a “nose guard type,” who will be limited by his size, “but his effort level and awareness get him in on a lot of plays moving away from him.” Kennedy calls Harley “a disrupter across the line of scrimmage, because of his quickness and high motor.”
Like Vandyke’s, Harley’s commitment addressed a dire need on the Hokies’ roster as well. Other than redshirt senior John Graves, the Hokies have few battle-tested tackles. Redshirt junior Kwamaine Battle and redshirt sophomore Antoine Hopkins have both rotated in-and-out of the defensive front, but have never started a game, and the rest of Tech’s anchors on the line are as ripe as can be.
Then, came the aforementioned lull. With just over a month remaining before the current Tech squad hit the practice fields, Hokies fans began to fret, wondering who would commit as the summer wore on.
As it turns out, though, there was no need to worry.
On June 15, three-star tight end Christian Reeves was the first high school prospect to commit to Tech in over two months. Reeves, of McDonough, Ga., ranks 39th among the nation’s tight ends, according to Scout.com, and also plays at the outside linebacker position, standing at 6 feet 3 inches, 194 pounds.
As if the Hokies had told a group of players to give it some time and wait until “around mid-June” to decide where they would go — after Reeves, the commitments kept rolling in.
Three days after Reeves’ announcement, the Hokies got another talent, receiving another verbal agreement — this time from highly praised three-star cornerback Adeboye Aromire, out of Woodson High School in Washington, D.C.
Aromire is an accomplished track performer and chose Tech over offers from Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. He was also a teammate of 2010 Tech signee and quarterback recruit Ricardo Young, and at 6-feet, 192-pounds, runs a 4.47 40-yard dash.
Three days later, again, the Hokies made the news, receiving another commitment from a local product.
On June 21, two-star quarterback Chris Hall, from Dinwiddie County High School, announced he would be coming to Blacksburg.
Hall won’t be playing quarterback as a Hokie, though. Instead, at 6 feet 4 inches, 220 pounds, he’ll attempt to make the transition to tight end, a la former Hokie Greg Boone.
Considering his transition, Hall will certainly be labeled a project by many Hokies fans. After his commitment, some may of questioned whether or not it’s worth using a roster-space on a project like such.
However, 24 hours later, most Hokies fans were probably happy to have him, as highly touted four-star defensive tackle Corey Marshall, Hall’s teammate at Dinwiddie, announced his commitment to the Hokies.
As the nation’s 17th ranked tackle, Marshall’s strengths are very much like those of Harley, who committed from the class in April. Both Marshall and Harley are undersized, with Marshall standing in at 6 feet 1 inch, 250-pounds, but both have the explosiveness to make up for it.
Marshall runs a 4.9 40-yard dash and according to Kennedy at Scout.com, “gets a great push off the line of scrimmage and can bull rush or speed rush an offensive lineman.” His skills allow for him to play inside or outside on the line, at defensive end.
Rounding out its recruiting class thus far, Tech added one more player to its list a day later, receiving its fifth commitment in just over a week.
On June 23, two-star defensive end Matt Roth committed to the Hokies, becoming the third highly-recruited defensive lineman to commit to Tech. His commitment solidifies the Hokies’ youth-movement along the defensive line and adds a proven pass-rusher to the mix.
Roth, from St. Augustine, Fla., is 6 feet 4 inches, 225 pounds and totaled 88 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks in his junior year at Nease High School. He chose the Hokies over scholarship offers from Air Force, Cincinnati, Illinois, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Utah.
If there was any doubt halfway through June, Hokies fans need to worry no longer.
In just eight days, Tech’s recruitment status went from red alert to cool and collected. Better yet, the Hokies addressed serious needs in the process, solidifying the future of its defensive line with athletes, and adding versatile players elsewhere.
Now, with seven players committed to donning the maroon and orange from the class of 2011, Beamer and Hokies fans can enter summer practices breathing a little easier.