2011 National Signing Day: Virginia Tech's Recruiting Class

by furrer4heisman on Feb 2, 2011 7:01 AM EST in Virginia Tech Football

Today, Virginia Tech will welcome new players to its program as 17- and 18-year olds from around the country use a fax machine for the first and probably last time in their lives to send in their National Letters of Intent. The Hokies' recruiting class will likely lack any headline-grabbing names unless there's an unexpected change late in the game.

Use this post as your open thread for National Signing Day. After the jump I'll post the list of recruiting that have made their commitment to Virginia Tech official as well as any news and commentary that you need. SB Nation has all the national stories covered, so you'll want to follow along with the mothership as well.

Click here for complete coverage of National Signing Day from Gobbler Country.

**2011 Virginia Tech Signing Class**
Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	School	Hometown	*Rivals 's**
Dewayne Alford	DE	6-3	225	Nansemond River	Suffolk, Va.	***
Adeboye Aromire	CB	6-0	180	H.D. Woodson	Washington, DC	***
Kevin Asante	WR	6-0	185	Mallard Creek	Charlotte, NC	**
Michael Cole	DB	6-1	200	Cave Spring	Roanoke, Va.	***
Wedley Estime	DE	6-3	215	Atlantic	Delray Beach, Fla.	***
James Farrow	CB	6-0	170	Minnetonka	Chanhassen, Minn.	***
Jake Goins	OL	6-5	288	Manchester	Midlothian, Va.	***
Chris Hall	TE	6-5	232	Dinwiddie	Petersburg, Va.	***
Kris Harley	DT	6-1	275	Warren Central	Indianapolis	****
Michael Holmes	RB	6-1	200	Harrisonburg	Harrisonburg, Va.	***
Kyshoen Jarrett	CB	5-10	175	E. Stroudsburg South	Tannersville, Pa.	****
Demitri Knowles	WR	6-0	175	Liberty Christian	Lynchburg, Va.	***
Robert Lockhart	WR	6-2	175	West Boca Raton	Delray Beach, Fla.	***
Luther Maddy	DT	6-1	280	Atlantic	Delray Beach, Fla.	**
Ryan Malleck	TE	6-5	240	Pt. Pleasant Borough	Pt. Pleasant, NJ	***
Corey Marshall	DE	6-2	252	Dinwiddie	Petersburg, Va.	****
Darius Redman	TE	6-4	240	H.D. Woodson	Washington, DC	**
Christian Reeves	TE	6-3	215	Eagles Landing Christian	McDonough, Ga.	***
Matt Roth	DE	6-3	225	Nease	St. Augustine, Fla.	***
Justin Taylor	DE	6-3	225	Hargrave Military	Chatham, Va.	***
Ronny Vandyke	DB	6-3	200	South County	Lorton, Va.	****

News and Notes

Virginia Tech's official list
Gobbler Country on The Twitter
Aromire and Taylor were early enrollees and are already on campus.
Lafonte Thourogood has committed to Vanderbilt.
Lockhart, who appeared to be wavering on his commitment, has officially signed with Tech.
Stephone Anthony just announced on ESPNU that he's not surprisingly heading to Clemson.
Virginia Tech's class appears to be finished. The stars are obviously the four-star guys, including Harley. With the Virginia Tech's lack of developed depth at DT, he could be one of the first members of this class to make an impact.
Some of the less-heralded guys I like are the running back, Holmes and Knowles, one of the wide receivers.
What I don't like about this class is the lack of recruited offensive linemen. Once again, we appear to have gone after a lot of tight ends, most of which will wind up moving to the line. Having more athletic linemen who are converted TEs completely flies in the face of our offensive philosophy, which is a ground control, between-the-tackles offense.
We didn't get any of the big name guys our fans wanted to see, but there are some diamonds in the rough in this class that will be able to become solid contributors. They problem won't become elite players, but they'll be good college players that can help Tech win games.
I don't think this class is as disastrous as chicagomaroon made it sound earlier this morning. However, it is a disappointing class that isn't nearly as good as those who look a little too much on the bright side are making it out to be.

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Comments

Thourogo

Lafonte officially de-committed and committed to Vanderbilt this morning, citing the opportunity for playing time as the reason.

by chicagomaroon on Feb 2, 2011 8:54 AM EST via mobile reply actions

Thourogood

Lafonte officially de-committed and committed to Vanderbilt this morning, citing the opportunity for playing time as the reason.

by chicagomaroon on Feb 2, 2011 8:54 AM EST via mobile reply actions

I just hope he gets out of vanderbilt alive after 4 years with 2 wins a year plus getting beat up every game especially if he stays at QB. The playing time sell tricks kids now watch Vandy redshirt him from day 1

by crw4vt on Feb 2, 2011 5:27 PM EST up reply actions

Sorry to see him go

But he opened up a scholly for Maddy who looks like a beast on film.

by JotunVT on Feb 2, 2011 9:17 AM EST reply actions

Absolutely...

The Maddy kid is going to be really good. You heard it here. DLine will be STACKED for 2012 and 2013. It’ll be like the old days.

by Leonard Thompson on Feb 2, 2011 5:02 PM EST up reply actions

Roanoke, represent!

But I see d-line is a big focus. Good, we’ll need the depth.

Winging It In Motown
On The Twitter at @MrNorrisTrophy

by Casey Richey on Feb 2, 2011 10:29 AM EST reply actions

Peace out Anthony

Stephone goes with Clemson. Seriously, what the hell where our coaches doing this year? I am completely disgusted by the job we did recruiting this year. I love Frank and never want to see him leave, but maybe its time to shake this staff up. Worst class I can remember hands down.

"In basketball -- as in life -- true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way." -Phil Jackson

by milldoo on Feb 2, 2011 11:43 AM EST reply actions

missing...

Ryan Malleck and Caleb Farris (Caleb was a previous signee and spring enroll like Justin Taylor, who is listed).

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 12:42 PM EST reply actions

for reasons i have trouble deciphering

i dont think farris counts as “class of 2011.” he’s “class of 2010” because he greyshirted or went to a prep school or something.

A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook

by furrer4heisman on Feb 2, 2011 1:11 PM EST up reply actions

but Justin Taylor counts as class of 2011? Aren’t they in the exact same situation? Doesn’t make any sense to me… they’ll both be considered freshmen in the fall, right? Odd.

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 4:24 PM EST up reply actions

I have no clue. I’m going off Rivals’ list. Just add it to one of the reasons grayshirting and oversigning are horrible.

A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook

by furrer4heisman on Feb 2, 2011 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

not a single QB or LB in this class...

makes losing Thourogood and Anthony feel that much worse.

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 12:46 PM EST reply actions

On the other hand it is likely Hall gets a shot at QB if not maybe he would be back a Mike LB with his size. Estime with 15 pounds and his athletic ability could be shaped into a whip or Stud LB. Gotta remember jsut because they are listed as one thing doesnt mean they will not play elsewhere example LT was a TE now he will be the starting QB.

by crw4vt on Feb 2, 2011 5:34 PM EST up reply actions

besides...

in theory.. isn’t LT set to start a 4 year run?

by VT1996 on Feb 3, 2011 7:41 AM EST up reply actions

Three

A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook

by furrer4heisman on Feb 3, 2011 10:40 AM EST up reply actions

Looks like VT will go Nickle Full Time

Which isn’t a terrible idea, but seriously, VT really missed out on two huge needs at OL and LB. Worst class ever?? Probably not, but it definitely hurts to see the two positions that struggled the most on the field get no help from this signing class. At least VT can still consider themselves DBU…

by Chazz Micheal Michealzz on Feb 2, 2011 12:51 PM EST reply actions

Two OL recruits if you count Farris (just enrolled last month) as well as Goins. We’ll have to see how good they turn out to be in the years ahead, but they have the size. And we had a pretty good OL class last year, so it wasn’t as big of a need as it might have been. You ALWAYS need good OL recruits, though, so I’m not completely disagreeing with you.

As for LB, hard not to take a single one. Ouch. But on the other hand, we have some pretty good LBs in the barn. With Rivers healthy, Taylor, and some young up-n-comers like Chase Williams… we should be ok.

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 4:31 PM EST up reply actions

Thourougood and Anthony would've been nice, but

Our depth is pretty young at both positions. Along with Logan and JuJu you have two kids who redshirted last year at QB, and the only LB who is a senior next year is Rivers, who should be healthy.

by BirdmanDaddy62 on Feb 2, 2011 1:11 PM EST reply actions

I always respect Tech's commitment to state guys

Y’all always seem to have unheralded recruiting classes that you coach up well. Do you think this class is better/worse than usual?

Formerly UNFNole

by MNeilson on Feb 2, 2011 4:32 PM EST reply actions

hard to say

Probably about the average to worse if you graded it today, but I think there are more potential diamonds in the rough than usual. So we’ll see. Interesting, though, that this year was not about state guys. More than half are from out of state.

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 4:40 PM EST up reply actions

Who is the hardcore recruiter on your staff?

Does Foster get after it on the trail? For FSU it has become James Coley.

Formerly UNFNole

by MNeilson on Feb 2, 2011 4:43 PM EST up reply actions

Actually...

Believe it or not, Stinespring is a really good recruiter. I hear that Coach Gray works it hard on the trail also.

Coach Wiley has a very nice rapport with HS coaches. They send a lot of guys his way, because he does the good ole boy thing.

by Leonard Thompson on Feb 2, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed Stiney is a great recruiter so are gray ( he is starting to work Florida) and Charley. This VT fans dream is to fire Newsome put stiney back on OL coach. Then let Coach Cav go back to positional coaching and Stiney take over Rec Coord. Then hire Bustle or RAlph as the O Coordinator. I would make a bet stiney would get top 15-20 recruiting classes yearly.

by crw4vt on Feb 2, 2011 5:25 PM EST up reply actions

not disastrous but disappointing

I agree with u on that 100%, Furrer. It’s a solid class, and I have high hopes for a lot of these guys. But it could have been a great class.

by hokiegrad on Feb 2, 2011 4:38 PM EST reply actions

We get Clemson this year and next

Hokies will have to make Anthony beg for forgiveness for not signing up for the 24060. .

by Leonard Thompson on Feb 2, 2011 5:04 PM EST reply actions

Winning the recruiting race doesnt win games.

Although disappointed with Anthony as well as an assorment of other recruits. This is by no means a disastrous class. It is very hard for me as a football fan to understand how some of these schools continue to get top recruits but have done nothing in conference or nationally in years. Case in point is clemson they yearly get top recruiting classes but have won how many ACC championships in the last 15 years yep 0. How many major bowls you guessed it 0. I know people say the girls look good and its a cool school with huge alum suppoer but when does winning start mattering. With the class Clemson has they should be an 11 or 12 win team in a few years, but i will make a bet they never win more than 8 maybe less jsut because FSU is back. Us VT fans will continue to harp on woeful top 30 recruiting classes but if we continue to WIn year and year out i will take the recruiting loss for Banners and Rings on the coaches and players fingers.

by crw4vt on Feb 2, 2011 5:26 PM EST reply actions

Exactly...

I see a lot of bitching and moaning about our recruiting losses this year, and there were a couple of head scratchers. The QB that went to Vanderbilt should have been here. Oh well, have fun hanging around the basement of the SEC.

Bottom line is…exactly what you pointed out. UNC, Clemson, Miami, and Florida State constantly get love on rivals.com with their recruiting, but how has it translated on the field? Zero ACC championships for all of those schools in the last five years. Look at the 2007 classes. Clemson, UNC, Miami, and Florida State were all ranked in the top 25. VT was also, but ONLY because they snagged Tyrod. Those guys were seniors this year, and what the L did they do on the field?

I guess these top recruits that go to Clemson, UNC and FSU have moms that think it’s cute when coaches are named Dabo, Butch, or Jimbo.

Dabo…Really? Really?

by Leonard Thompson on Feb 2, 2011 6:47 PM EST up reply actions

Welcome...

to all you guys that signed today with the Hokies. If you read this site, you’ll see that we’re a pretty cerebral fan base, but we can also rock the shit out of Lane Stadium on Saturdays in the Fall.

Enter Sandman is going to blow your mind.

by Leonard Thompson on Feb 2, 2011 6:52 PM EST reply actions