Three-star QB Hendon Hooker of Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina announced that he would likely making his commitment within the coming week along with releasing a group of finalists that included Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, N.C. State, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina A&T.
Hooker has 16 offers and has left multiple major programs off his list of finalists including Kansas State, South Carolina, West Virginia, Indiana, Virginia, Wake Forest, and Syracuse. Hooker is ranked as the eighth best dual-threat QB by 247 Sports, 11th best by the 247 Sports Composite,,and 19th best by Rivals while also being ranked as the tenth best North Carolina recruit by both 247 Sports rankings with Rivals ranking him 17th in home state.
Hooker will make his college commitment this Thursday so let's take a look at the chances of his finalists.
Less Than 1% Longshots: NC A&T, Missouri, Pittsburgh
For North Carolina A&T, this has to be nice regional recognition that their program has built a good relationship with one of the better in-state schools, but Hooker will not be going to A&T. Pittsburgh and Missouri both have to be somewhat pleased to be on this list in terms of recruiting the state of North Carolina in the future. However, it is extremely unlikely that Hooker will choose either Missouri or Pittsburgh at this point though stranger things have happened before in recruiting.Most Likely In-State School: N.C. State (10%)
The North Carolina State Wolfpack are the only FBS in-state school on Hooker's list, and Dave Doeren may be able to believe that there is a slight chance that Hooker makes the decision to commit to the Wolfpack. Being the one in-state FBS school left is an advantage that the Wolfpack likely are pushing. The big issue for the Wolfpack is their lack of major success over the past decade relative to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech along with the success of Brian Kelly in South Bend and Justin Fuente's history of developing talented quarterbacks. In short, it's definitely unlikely that Hooker ends up committing to the Wolfpack, but it would not be a complete shocker if he made the decision to join the Fighting Irish.Former Favorite Notre Dame (20%)
Not too long ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish seemed to be the huge favorite to get Hooker as their quarterback in their Class of 2017. Most recruiting analysts were under the belief that it would be very hard for anyone to beat out the Fighting Irish to get Hooker with the prestige of Notre Dame along with Brian Kelly's strong track record only being the icing on the cake. However, things changed after Hooker made a stop in Blacksburg on his way back from Notre Dame when many expected that he might commit on that visit to South Bend. Then, Notre Dame's other quarterback target Avery Davis made the decision to commit to the Fighting Irish with most believing that the Fighting Irish only plan on taking one quarterback. The chances that Notre Dame gets Hooker are small, but ruling out the Fighting Irish when they were the favorite to get Hooker not too long ago seems crazy even with how fast things can change in recruiting.Heavy Favorite Virginia Tech (70%)
Every recruiting analyst that has made a prediction via the 247 Sports Crystal Ball has Hooker committing to Blacksburg, and the Hokies have done a tremendous job in the past couple of weeks making a hard push to get Hooker. Things started to shift in their pursuit of Hooker after three-star VA QB Alex Faniel decided to indefinitely postpone his commitment that was scheduled to happen earlier this month. The presence and reputation of Justin Fuente as a great quarterback developer from his time working with Andy Dalton and Paxton Lynch has apparently had a big impact while Fuente and offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen have built quite a good relationship with Hooker relatively quickly. Virginia Tech has put themselves in position to get their top quarterback target of the Class of 2017 fairly early on in the process which could be valuable in putting other offensive pieces with Hooker whether they are 757 guys like Khalan Laborn and Tahj Capehart or out-of-state guys like Marcus Minor and Bo Melton.Prediction: Virginia Tech
It would be a major surprise if Hendon Hooker doesn't commit to Virginia Tech and my prediction is that he will be a Hokie. Justin Fuente and Brad Cornelsen have done a tremendous job of turning Hooker from an expected Notre Dame commit to an almost certain-to-be Hokie in the matter of a couple of weeks, taking advantage of getting Hooker on campus on his way back from South Bend. It isn't official till he announces, but Hokie fans should be ready for good news out of Greensboro tomorrow.
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