Hokies lose a commitment during Belk Bowl meltdown

Malik Willis, a three-star athlete from Atlanta, Ga., backed out of his verbal pledge to Virginia Tech on Thursday evening, during the first half of the Belk Bowl.

Why did Willis decommit?

Well, high-school kids are extremely fickle, but one can only presume Willis was receiving more attention lately after an outstanding senior season and decided to re-open his recruitment.

Willis was a largely unknown quality heading into his senior season and many believed his recruitment would blow up a bit after the Hokies offered—and he accepted.

Many around the program were never certain that Willis would stick with his pledge. However, things seemed to be trending pretty well for Willis. A 6’2”, 188-pound athlete, Willis was projected to play defensive back in Blacksburg.

Players who decommit rarely ever sign with the school they originally committed to. It has happened more frequently and the Hokies are still the favorites for 4-star defensive Tyjuan Garbutt from Fredericksburg. Garbutt, as you know, decommitted from the Hokies earlier this year, but has attended several Virginia Tech games throughout the fall and remains on track to sign with Tech in February.

All the Hokies can do now is continue to show Willis that Blacksburg is where he belongs.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.