Virginia Tech's first Junior Day of the Brent Pry era had an "Elite" tag when invites were sent out to recruits, and the group of players that the Hokies hosted lived up to that billing. Among the visitors this past weekend was four-star RB Ike Daniels, the top-ranked RB in Virginia by every major recruiting service and a consensus top 10, in-state recruit.
The good news for the Hokies were that initial signs of a good visit were all there including via his social media.
Great visit yesterday at va tech !#gohokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/nOGP4S94Yz
— ike🤙🏽 (@ikedaniels03) January 16, 2022
Since then, his comments to myself backed up that Virginia Tech made a strong impression on one of the best 2023 recruits in Virginia.
"It was an awesome visit I loved the new coaching staff, and was able to see some buildings that were done that were in the process last visit I took," Daniels said.
Unsurprisingly, Daniels spent a lot of time with the man who would coach him should he choose the Hokies, new RBs coach Stu Holt. That time went well as Daniels shared with us.
"Great, I was able to get to know coach a little bit and understand how he likes to run things," Daniels said.
The fact that Holt was able to make a strong impression on Ike Daniels is a great sign for the Hokies' hopes in their pursuit of the Commonwealth's top RB. While the recruiting rankings have him in that spot, his production backs that up as he was The Free Lance-Star Player of the Year which covers the populated Fredericksburg area after having 1,560 all-purpose yards and 18 touchdowns this past season for Mountain View HS.
That also makes it less surprising that Daniels has 10 Power 5 offers including Virginia Tech, Penn State, Michigan State, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia, Arizona State, and Boston College.
Part of the good news for Tech from this visit is that there was a lot that stood out for Ike Daniels with the coaches being a big part of that.
"The coaches and how they carry themselves. The campus, I love it. The atmosphere is nice," Daniels said.
Ike Daniels is poised to be one of Virginia Tech's top overall targets in the 2023 class, and the Hokies have gotten off to a strong start after an "awesome" visit this past Saturday.
