Virginia Tech's Scholarship Situation For The 2014 Class

With Greg Stroman's pledge to the Virginia Tech yesterday, the Hokies now stand at either 17 or 18 commitments (depending on how you interpret kicker Michael Santamaria's commitment, as rumors of both an official scholarship offer and an opportunity to walk-on an earn a scholarship have both been prevalent). But with three commitments in the last week, several big-time prospects still on the board, the program is quickly approaching (or may have already passed) the NCAA cap of scholarship athletes for the 2014 season provided that nothing changes between now and then (an unlikely scenario, but we can't speculate months in advance what might happen between now and then).

So, with that in mind, let's look at how many players make up each class at Virginia Tech and what year they were recruited in. Also remember to check back with us here at the site when these numbers become official, as we'll have a football scholarship distribution chart, just like we did a basketball one.

14 possible scholarship seniors

D.J. Coles ('09)

J.R. Collins ('09)

Tariq Edwards ('09)

Antone Exum ('09)

Kyle Fuller ('10)

James Gayle ('09)

Tony Gregory ('09)

Trey Gresh WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Derrick Hopkins ('10)

Cody Journell (possibly on scholarship) ('09)

Andrew Miller ('09)

Logan Thomas ('09)

Tyrel Wilson ('09)

Jack Tyler WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

20 possible scholarship juniors

Matt Arkema ('10)

Brent Benedict TRANSFER SCHOLARSHIP

Detrick Bonner ('10)

Michael Branthover WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Willie Byrn WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Derek DiNardo WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Caleb Farris ('10) APPARENT GREYSHIRT OR INJURY LATE ENROLLMENT

Laurence Gibson ('10)

Kyshoen Jarrett ('11)

Mark Leal ('10)

Luther Maddy ('11)

Ryan Malleck ('11)

Corey Marshall ('11)

Zack McCray ('10)

Duan Perez-Means ('09)

Mark Shuman ('10)

E.L. Smiling ('10)

Joe St. Germain WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

David Wang ('09)

Chase Williams ('10)

12 possible scholarship sophomores

J.C. Coleman ('12)

Desmond Frye ('12)

Kris Harley ('11)

Griffin Hite WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

A.J. Hughes WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Demetri Knowles ('11)

Dadi Nicolas ('11)

Darius Redman ('11)

Donovan Riley ('12)

Matt Roth ('11)

Josh Trimble WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Ronny Vandyke ('11)

18 possible scholarship redshirt-freshmen

Dewayne Alford ('11) GREYSHIRT

Joel Caleb ('12)

Deon Clarke ('12) MEDICAL HARDSHIP

Augie Conte ('12)

Trey Edmunds ('12)

Ken Ekanem ('12)

Der'Woun Greene ('12)

Mark Irick ('12)

Dakota Jackson ('12)

Chris Mangus ('12)

Dahman McKinnon ('12)

Charley Meyer WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Brenden Motley ('12)

Alston Smith ('12)

Joshua Stanford ('12)

Devin Vandyke ('12)

Jack Willenbrock ('12)

Nigel Williams ('12)

19 possible scholarship true freshmen

Woody Baron ('12) GREYSHIRT

Kyle Chung ('13)

Chuck Clark ('13)

Kalvin Cline ('13)

Seth Dooley ('12) GREYSHIRT

Brandon Facyson ('13)

Kendall Fuller ('13)

Bucky Hodges ('13)

Jonathan McLaughlin ('13)

Jamieon Moss ('13)

Andrew Motuapuaka ('13)

Deon Newsome ('13)

Parker Osterloh ('13)

Carlis Parker ('13)

David Prince ('13)

Sam Rogers WALK-ON EARNED SCHOLARSHIP

Anthony Shegog ('13)

Wyatt Teller ('13)

Jerome Wright ('13) GREYSHIRT

2013 TOTAL TO-DATE: 83

YET TO ENROLL:

Holland Fisher ('13) PREP

Cequan Jefferson ('13) PREP

D.J. Reid ('13) PREP

Braxton Pfaff ('13) INJURY

Drew Harris ('12, '13) ACADEMIC ISSUES, JUCO

If all 13 seniors listed above have scholarships, and the last remaining scholarships are not awarded (or are awarded to seniors), that would leave only a MAXIMUM of 11 regular (i.e. no conditions such as greyshirting) scholarships for the 2014 class if all four 2013 commits that signed with the Hokies are able to enroll in the Spring of 2014 assuming no further attrition and that Kevin Asante will not be coming back on scholarship in 2014 (and I have heard that there is a strong possibility he will). Whether or not that's the case is to be seen. But, since David Wang will be in his sixth year, he may not retain a scholarship at that point. Also, since Duan Perez-Means is in his fifth year (but the same class as David), he may be asked to give up his scholarship. That would clear up two more spots for the 2014 class, putting the total at 13. That is also not considering who will be greyshirting (if any) from the 2014 class, and with the expectation that all current members of that class stay committed to Virginia Tech through signing day, sign their National Letter of Intent and qualify for the Fall 2014 semester.

But considering that there are already 17/18 players committed to Virginia Tech in the 2014 class with several big-time prospects still on the board and very much in play for the Hokies, it would appear that they are headed for over-signing, a questionable practice that occurs throughout the high levels of college football. Tech has only resorted to this method over the last half decade or so, but essentially what it means is that if the Hokies bring in more players than they are allowed to have, current scholarship players will have to relinquish their scholarships, perhaps forcing them to leave the program or the school entirely. The coaches' preference in that situation tends to be to ask those who have already earned their degrees to either relinquish their scholarship (if it has not been already due to their graduation), or to not return to the team entirely.

There will be plenty to learn over the coming months about what the finality of the Hokies' 2014 recruiting class might be in terms of scholarships. What is certain, however, is that the Hokies will be at no more than 85 total scholarships per NCAA rules. How they get to that point and still pursue the players they want will be the trick.

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