Four-Star WR Matthew Outten Flips Commitment From Virginia Tech to Penn State

A bad Labor Day weekend got worse for Virginia Tech as four-star WR Matthew Outten out of Portsmouth, VA flipped his commitment from the Hokies to Penn State.

His departure leaves the Hokies with a still very good WR class in four-star WR Micah Matthews out of Bridgewater, VA, four-star WR Shamarius Peterkin out of Winston-Salem, NC, and three-star WR Jayden Anderson out of Virginia Beach, VA. He did previously take an official visit to Penn State back in June prior to his VT official visit that helped the Hokies land his commitment originally.

Even with the strong WR class that the Hokies still have, this is a brutal recruiting loss for the Hokies given Outten's talent, his presence as a top 15 in-state recruit, and the most likely coincidental timing of this flip two days after the Hokies' 34-27 OT loss to Vanderbilt.

While the Hokies have landed their fair share of 757 recruits, the top 8 in-state recruits per our averaging of the four recruiting service rankings are now committed elsewhere to Clemson (Ari Watford), Maryland (Jaylen Gilchrist, Messiah Delhomme, Carlton Smith), South Carolina (Kendall Daniels), Cincinnati (Jahmari DeLoatch),Penn State (Matthew Outten), and Indiana (LeBron Bond).

It's important to note that the Hokies are still working to try to flip a couple of these guys including DeLoatch while Bond and Smith were not that high on Tech's board. Still, this is not ideal especially after the Hokies landed the top two in the 757 last cycle in Keylen Adams and Gerard Johnson.

With Outten gone, I wouldn't expect the Hokies to go hunting for another WR to add to this class unless it was someone they previously were very high on, especially with those three WR commits they have plus three-star ATH commit Luke Stuewe who could play multiple positions including WR.

Looking for the best coverage and analysis of the Hokies? Become a TLP Insider today here.