The state of Virginia has traditionally been one of the most fertile recruiting grounds across the country for college football. However, the Class of 2018 is a down year for the state of Virginia but there are still several four-star or higher rated recruits including four-star WR Darryl Jones out of Princess Anne High School in the 757.
Darryl Jones doesn't have a long offer list but there are definitely some good teams on his offer list including the Hokies, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia with a good likelihood that Jones will continue to see his list expand in the coming months. Jones was off-the-radar a few months ago but quickly received a few offers including ones from Maryland, VT, and UVA around National Signing Day while the most recently released Rivals 250 included him on the list at 193rd including being ranked fifth-best among Virginia recruits.
This past weekend, Jones was one of the headline recruits to visit the Hokies right behind five-star DE KJ Henry. After his unofficial visit to the Hokies this past Saturday, Jones caught us up with the current state of his recruitment.
Darryl Jones told us that Maryland is on top in his recruitment currently with Jones also saying that Maryland is recruiting him the hardest and that he will be taking a visit to the Terps this weekend for their Spring Game. Jones also told us that he has his best relationships with Maryland's Chris Beatty and Virginia Tech's Zohn Burden.
Usually, recruits don't go public about their feelings about a visit they took unless they enjoyed it but that isn't the case here with Jones as he told us that his visit was "ok" and that he was disappointed that he did not get to see much of Virginia Tech. When I asked Jones whether this visit made a difference in his recruitment, here's what he had to say:
"I didn't get to see the school and the presentations weren't very interesting so recruitment for them is at a stand still."
Jones had some harsh words here saying that the presentations "weren't very interesting" and saying that the Hokies' recruitment of him is "at a stand still". Virginia Tech seemed to be the top challenger to Maryland in Jones's recruitment but at this point, it's hard to see the Hokies currently being much of a threat to the Terps, putting Maryland in an even stronger position to get Jones.
The good news from Jones's Virginia Tech visit is the fact that he definitely likes the Hokies' coaching staff while also telling us that he felt WRs coach Holmon Wiggins "really wants me to go there (Virginia Tech)". However, it appears that Maryland wants him more than any other school currently and Jones also is leaning towards Maryland currently. While Jones told us he currently plans to wait till mid-summer to make his commitment, it's definitely realistic that he could commit this weekend on his visit to Maryland.
The silver lining for Hokie fans here is that while Virginia Tech is definitely interested in Jones, he is not at the top of the board at WR with guys like Tre Turner, Dyami Brown, and Daniel George ahead of him while the Hokies also have plenty of interest in other in-state WRs including Dillon Spalding and Armani Chatman. While not getting Jones would be a disappointment, the Hokies are in good shape with some of the guys right at the top of their WR board.
At this point, it seems very likely that Jones end up at Maryland after an "okay" visit to Virginia Tech has Maryland at the top and in great position to beat out the Hokies and others for his commitment especially with his recruitment from Virginia Tech "at a stand still" and Jones heading to College Park this weekend.
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