3-Star athlete DeJuan Ellis de-commits from Virginia Tech

The Hokies lost one of their two quarterback prospects from the 2018 recruiting class

On Tuesday afternoon, the Virginia Tech Hokies lost one of their two quarterback prospects from their 2018 recruiting class when DeJuan Ellis reneged on his verbal pledge on Twitter.

The 5’11” 165 lbs. Ellis originally committed to the Hokies verbally last August, with the deciding factor for him being that the Hokies would allow him an opportunity to play quarterback when he arrived on campus.

Given the state of the quarterback position in Blacksburg with Josh Jackson, Hendon Hooker, A.J. Bush, and depth options like Ryan Willis, and Jack Click already on the roster, it is hard to fault Ellis’ decision to re-evaluate his options.

Not only that, but 3-star Quincy Patterson, the other member of the 2018 class at quarterback, remains committed, making it a very crowded quarterback room for Ellis if he stayed with the Hokies.

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Given Ellis’ tweet, it appears that he wants to open back up his recruitment as an athlete, not necessarily as a quarterback like before, as he likely turned many schools off by his insistence of wanting to play quarterback at the next level.

With Ellis now potentially turning his sights to wide receiver or defensive back for college ball, it’s fair to assume that a greater number of schools will now be interested in his re-opened recruitment.

As Ellis mentioned, Virginia Tech remains one of his top schools, so this recruitment appears far from over.

For now, this is a substantial loss for the Hokies given Ellis’ athleticism that he has shown on film. Even if Ellis did not like his chances at quarterback, it seems that his attachment to the school via his verbal commitment was not as strong as it is with some other recruits.

If it was, Ellis would have likely seen it through in Blacksburg at another position without re-evaluating all of his options with other institutions.

The coaching staff will continue to recruit Ellis hard to get him back into the fold between now and National Signing Day next February, but with it being this early in the recruiting cycle, there is certainly no end in sight to the pursuit of his services for the future.