Notre Dame continues recruiting heater over Virginia Tech by landing 4-star DL

The recruiting news has not been the best this summer for Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry with the Class of 2026. After starting July off on commitment watch, the commitments were slowly going in the opposite direction for the Hokies' fourth-year coach.

Last month, four-star safety Nick Reddish passed on Virginia Tech, where his two brothers, Quentin and Joseph, currently play, and picked Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame. It wasn't really a surprise to anyone that Reddish picked the Irish, as Freeman has been putting together a very talented class.

Last month, four-star defensive lineman Elijah Golden announced that he was pushing his commitment date back a couple of weeks into August. He had a Final 4 of Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Alabama. Pushing the commitment date back opened some eyes with Hokies fans thinking that maybe, just maybe, they could become a player in his recruitment and possibly tip the scales in their favor. It never happened.

Four-star DL Elijah Golden picks Notre Dame over Virginia Tech and two others

In a not-so-surprising move, Golden committed to Notre Dame on Saturday, strengthening the Irish class with another four-star commitment and picking up another recruiting win over Pry and the Hokies for the second time in a month.

Golden is a Fredricksburg, Virginia native who plays at Cardinal Mooney High School in Florida, and the 6-foot-3.5, 278-pound defensive lineman is the 191st prospect in his class according to Rivals, the 19th-ranked defensive lineman, and 26th-ranked prospect out of Florida.

Currently, Virginia Tech's class sits at 10 commitments, but again, Golden picking Notre Dame is not surprising. The class is what it is for the Hokies, who already have a commitment in the Class of 2027 from quarterback Ben Musser.