Virginia Tech football recruiting: Dante Lovett is a Hokie

Brent Pry and the Virginia Tech football program received more good news Sunday on Mother’s Day as three-star athlete Dante Lovett announced his commitment to the Hokies on Instagram Live.

Lovett is commitment No. 5 for the Hokies in the 2023 recruiting class and the third in the past seven days, following a pair of offensive linemen in Hannes Hammer (Roanoke, Virginia) and Gabriel Arena (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania).

The Hokies beat out Maryland, Cincinnati and Boston College for Lovett. The home-state Terrapins were considered the favorite for Lovett, but Pry personally offered Lovett, and the Hokies quickly gained momentum in the past month.

Lovett, at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, plays high school football at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland. He is listed as an athlete and is projected to play defense in college. Lovett is a terrific athlete with excellent length. He can play on either side of the ball, but it sounds like the Hokies like him on defense, and that's what Lovett prefers, too, considering Virginia Tech’s history of placing defensive backs in the NFL.

“I will be going to Virginia Tech,” Lovett told Brian Dohn of 247Sports. “I feel like with them having a new coach and him being a defensive guy, I feel like I can come in and make an impact. When I went on a visit, it just felt right to me and it felt like home.”

Lovett continued to praise Virginia Tech’s coaching staff to 247Sports, specifically Pry.

“The vision he has for me in the program, I feel like it’s the right place for me to be,” Lovett said of Pry.

Lovett is friends with rising junior cornerback Dorian Strong, a two-year starter in VT’s secondary. The Hokies added a pair of defensive backs from Maryland in the 2022 recruiting class in Mansoor Delane and Cam Johnson.

Lovett joins OL Bryce Williams (Alcoa, Tennessee), DE Jason Abbey (Richmond), Hammer and Arena in Virginia Tech’s 2023 recruiting class. The Hokies’ class ranks No. 35 in 247Sports composite team rankings.

Welcome, Dante.