Wide receiver PJ Prioleau chose to follow in his father Pierson Prioleau's footsteps and play football at Virginia Tech walking on from nearby Radford HS, joining his dad who had left his coaching gig at Radford HS to become an off-the-field assistant for the Hokies before getting promoted to safeties coach by Brent Pry.
PJ Prioleau made his debut against Pittsburgh after redshirting last season and made his mark on special teams with a huge punt block that was recovered by Nyke Johnson for a touchdown and brought the Hokies within 2 of Pitt early in the fourth quarter.
Prioleau's big play in his debut earned him the biggest honor of his collegiate career to date, wearing the #25 jersey.
Deservedly so, Radford’s own PJ Prioleau will wear Frank Beamer’s No. 25 vs. Miami on Saturday. Blocked a punt at Pitt last weekend. #Hokies https://t.co/nEYAI1WxpE
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) October 13, 2022
There's no doubt that Prioleau absolutely deserves this honor after his big play against Pitt that put the Hokies right on the precipice of tying the game. His big play has rightly helped him earn the opportunity to be a regular on special teams going forward.
One person who has to have great pride in this in his father and VT safeties coach Pierson Prioleau who got to witness his son block a punt that was returned for a touchdown in his debut for his alma mater that was built largely by his teams and their special teams play. Seeing his son wear the jersey number of Frank Beamer has to be something that will give him great pride again especially when they both take the field for VT-Miami.
So can PJ Prioleau build on his impressive collegiate debut with more spectacular special teams plays? We'll find out on Saturday.
