Virginia Tech’s Pursuit of Class of 2015 Safety Sterling Hammond

Aug 30, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Donovan Riley (2) tackles William & Mary Tribe wide receiver Christian Reeves (88) at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies are building a strong recruiting class and there are plenty of big names that the Hokies are going after including 5-star DE Josh Sweat, 5-star CB Kevin Toliver III, 4-star DE Jalen Dalton, 4-star DT Tim Settle, and 4-star RB Bryce Love. However, the Hokies have more targets than just these three with a few others guys that Virginia Tech has a good chance of getting.

The Hokies have some in-state targets outside of Sweat and Settle that are still on the board and uncommitted. One of those is Sterling Hammond.

Hammond is a three-star safety from Essex High School in Tappahannock, Virginia that has a decent number of offers including a few from ACC schools. Hammond was the 69th best safety by the 247 Sports Composite, 44th best safety by ESPN, and 96th best safety by 247 Sports’ traditional rankings.

Hammond has good size for a safety at 6 feet tall and 190 pounds but seems like someone who will need to do some bulking up once he arrives at Virginia Tech. However, Hammond is one of those under the radar guys that the Hokies hope they can get and develop as he also seems likely to be redshirted for a year.

Right now, the Hokies seem like the frontrunners for Hammond especially with the Hokies’ history of producing tons of defensive backs from DBU. Hammond is being recruited by Shane Beamer but Torrian Gray probably also has some sort of role in the recruitment of Hammond along with Bud Foster who has recruited a few players from that part of Virginia in between Northern Virginia and Richmond.

However, the Hokies already have four defensive back commits including two safeties and that has helped the Louisivlle Cardinals become a serious contender. The Cardinals’ defense has been strong under new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham after Grantham left Georgia to join Bobby Petrino at Louisville.

The Cardinals currently have one safety commit and the success of Gerod Holliman leading college football with 7 interceptions has to be impressing Hammond. This type of success has helped Louisville gain some momentum for Hammond but the Hokies are still the favorites for the 3-star safety with home turf being a boost.

However, this seems like a recruiting batle that will come down to the wire.