Recruiting Watch: 10/9

Well, now that we’ve had a great game (that I predicted right in craziness but wrong in result), it’s time to peek in on recruiting. First question! Any predictive movement? Answer? Nope. Well, that was short. Well, since we haven’t looked in on targets in a while, let’s do that for today.

Who ARE the Hokies’ remaining targets? Tech hasn’t had a commitment since August 6^th, when Tahj Capehart became our only consensus 4-star recruit. Right now the 15-member class is full at a couple positions: Tight end (Drake Deiuliis, Dalton Keene), Wide Receiver (Capehart, Sean Savoy, Hezekiah Grimsley, Caleb Farley or Malik Willis, and Kalil Pimpleton). Offensive line recruits are already in place with Aiden Brown and Lecitus Smith (if what I’m hearing is true, he’s not going to be a tight end). We’ve got three linebackers with Aundre Kearny, Jaylen Griffin, and Rayshard Ashby. Hendon Hooker fills the quarterback slot. Since this class is likely to be on the smaller end (few graduating seniors/draft eligible juniors leaving number-wise), I can’t honestly anticipate more than maybe 7-8 more recruits in the class. I assume they’re still looking for defensive and offensive linemen, a defensive back or two, a running back, and maybe another linebacker. So who are the targets?

Well, you’ve seen their names before. Tyjuan Garbutt is still a priority, as we’re still the favorite for his commitment despite his decommitment previously (from hearsay, it’s mostly due to external pressures that he decommitted before the season). Devon Hunter is obviously another player we’re still hot after, though his commitment might drag out a while. The Hokies are still on Nathan Proctor, a four star outside linebacker from Indian Head, MD. They’re after Donovan Johnson, a cornerback from Detroit and Harrison Hand, a corner from Cherry Hill, NJ. On the offensive line, they’re still in okay position for Mekhi Becton, who we interviewed earlier this year. Jalen Holston is still high on the board and we’re still considered the favorite to land him- he’s a 3 star running back from Stockbridge, GA. And I’m sure that there are others that aren’t as well known or high on the board that the coaches are tracking- TJ Jackson was a very below-the-radar recruit we snapped up last year in a similar fashion. For example, I don’t know that most people have heard of Keontae Jones, a safety out of Cincinnati, that has a Tech offer and is listed as ‘Warm’ in the interest meter on 247, and the only Crystal Ball for him is to Indiana. We obviously have Janaz Jordan on the board- I mentioned Crystal Balls going his way last time- and that’d fill a defensive line slot.

We won’t get all those targets. We might get some that we’ve never heard of before, or some big time commitment might flip to us from elsewhere. But that puts us with, say, Garbutt, Hunter, Proctor, Johnson, Holston, Becton, and Jordan at 21 players. Granted, that’s likely optimistic, but today I might say we can afford to be a bit so. The season is going in the right direction, the offense is being efficient enough and the defense is playing out of its mind right now. Since I just talked your ear off for a bit, we’ll conclude with only 2 reports on current recruits. Let’s peek at the receiver class, with Sean Savoy and Hezekiah Grimsley being this week’s spotlight players.

Hezekiah Grimsley (Williamsburg, VA. 6’-0”, 175lbs. Wide Receiver)

Lafayette High School is currently 6-0, and has been just HANDING it to everyone in their way but for one game against Smithfield. 47-12 against Huguenot, 41-0 at Warhill, 21-13 at Smithfield, 63-7 against Jamestown, 55-3 at York, and a recent 50-18 win against Grafton High. Grimsley’s been lightning it up, with punt return touchdowns and receiving touchdowns and turnovers. The Daily Press’s Marty O’Brien has him rated as the district offensive player of the year so far.

Grimsley is still one of the more ‘clearly’ athletically gifted people in his division. It definitely jumps off the page that he’s one of the superior players on the field. Granted, it’s not like his division gets much credit for its level of competition- it’s why he’s a three-star player. Also noticeable is the fact that he doesn’t have any one athletic talent that’s an over-stand-out- he’s fast but not too fast, he’s got good leaping ability. He’s got good feet, too, based on all those spin cycle moves he puts on. He looks like another version of last year’s Phil Patterson- a good, semi-polished wide receiver you could plug into the outside or the inside of an offense without much fuss.

Sean Savoy (Washington, DC. 5’-9”, 177lbs. Wide Receiver)

Wilson is 4-2 on the season, with all of its wins being blowouts and its two losses coming in close games: 49-33 loss to Steubenville (That’s in Ohio), 41-0 win at Yorktown (in Arlington), 63-7 win at McKinley Tech, 42-7 in a win versus Roosevelt, 43-0 over Dunbar, and they just lost 41-35 at Woodson high.

Unfortunately, the Washington Post doesn’t get out and cover every Woodrow Wilson game, it being a big national paper. So we’re going to have to piece things together…

He doesn’t have an updated hudl account, but that that kind of tells you what he’s capable of.