Justin Fuente’s Recruiting Has Put the Hokies Back on Map
In just one season, the Hokies have risen twenty-one spots (and counting) in recruiting rank on 247’s composite recruiting rankings, and it’s all thanks to Coach Fuente’s recruiting prowess.
In 2016, Virginia Tech had the 40th ranked recruiting class, according to 247 Sports. Justin Fuente was technically the coach then, but he had an extremely shortened recruiting period since he did not arrive until late fall. While this is nothing to scoff at (especially given the circumstances), Fuente has already far surpassed last year’s class.
In 2017, Fuente had the opportunity to have his first full recruiting year. And boy has he delivered. You can see the full class here at our recruiting tracker.
First, let’s discuss a couple of early enrollees. Many of the Hokie faithful were understandably worried about losing certain players to the draft.The announcements of Bucky Hodges and Isaiah Ford were hardly a surprise. Jerod Evans, on the other hand, came as a bit of a shocker. In fact, this news sent the fan base as a whole into a sort of panic.
Yet Fuente proved last year that he was the “QB whisperer” by picking up Evans in the first place, and this year again, he’s stepped up to the challenge. Not only did Fuente snag JUCO transfer AJ Bush (6-4, 225), he even got him to commit early on short notice. The Hokies also gained 6-foot-4 transfer Ryan Willis from Kansas, who will join the team as a walk on.
Another early enrollee who could make an immediate impact is 6-5, 223 Dalton Keene. While Keene could certainly benefit from gaining a few pounds in the weight room this offseason, his high school film is quite impressive, and the Hokies could presumably use him at an H-back/TE role with the departure of Hodges.
Aside from the early enrollees, the Hokies still have quite the recruiting class expected to commit on February 1, including four huge pickups this past week.
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First, Devon Hunter (6-1, 205) finally made his long-awaited decision on January 20. While most if not all predictions had him choosing Tech, the situation eerily resembled that of Josh Sweat from a couple of years ago. Luckily, Hunter’s decision was much more positive for Hokie fans. The fact that Fuente was able to keep such a big name recruit in-state was a huge statement.
Next came the announcement of three-star corner Bryce Watts (6-0, 165) after his decommitment from Rutgers. While still riding the high from Hunter’s announcement, the Hokies picked up a solid commit who has the potential to be an under the radar steal.
Thirdly, the Hokies snagged four-star LB Dylan Rivers (6-2, 226) on Sunday. This announcement brings up two interesting points. First, Rivers was the second huge in-state commit of the weekend for the Hokies, which Fuente said would be an emphasis point. Second, Rivers himself said that he had a better relationship with Fuente than Penn State head coach James Franklin, who he decommited from. As Franklin is known as a solid recruiter, that’s some high praise for Fuente.
Lastly, the Hokies picked up 3 star DE Robert Porcher IV (6-3, 240). This completed a streak of four recruits in as many days, starting Friday evening with Hunter and ending Monday afternoon with Porcher IV.
The Hokies are still looking for some big recruits to announce their commitments in the next few days. Tyjuan Garbutt , a four-star DE who previously decommited from Virginia Tech, is set to announce between Pitt and Tech and Friday and you can stay up to date with his status on our tracker.
In addition, the Hokies are somewhat pursuing Dazz Newsome, a three-star athlete who previously decommited from Maryland and whose brother Deon previously attended Virginia Tech.
If the Hokies land both these commits, they will have nine commits from the state of Virginia. Even if they get one out of two, 8 in-state recruits will certainly accomplish the new staff’s goal of once again owning the state of Virginia.
Right now, the Hokies rank 19th on 247’s composite recruiting rankings, and that number is going nowhere but up in the near future.