Three-Star ATH Jonathan Pennix Commits to Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech made a in-state recruiting splash Thursday night as three-star ATH Jonathan Pennix committed to the Hokies.

Pennix chose the Hokies over offers from Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia, UVA, Maryland, Boston College, James Madison, Appalachian State, and more. He is the Hokies' 10th in-state commit of the cycle and joins his Appomattox County HS teammate Tavorian Copeland as a VT commit.

Tech has shown lots of interest in Pennix throughout this cycle, but didn't pull the trigger on an offer till mid-September. The offer came during a visit for the VT-Wofford game with Pennix receiving the offer from Brent Pry in his office with WRs coach Fontel Mines and CBs coach Derek Jones both there. He had this to say back in mid-September about how that conversation was as a whole including how he earned an offer from the Hokies.

"Me and coach (Fontel) Mines have been talking for a couple weeks. He saw my first game film and what I did offensively. He told me he didn’t know I was like that on offense. So I told him 'yeah, I’ve been all-state offensively since my sophomore year'. So from that point, they checked my transcripts and I’ve really improved. When I got there, they took me to Coach Pry's office He told me he loves guys that can play both sides. He said I’m a natural playmaker with the ball in my hands. Coach Mines and Coach Jones were in there also, and Coach Pry pointed at Coach Mines and said we want you here to be coached by him, we need playmakers," Pennix said.

Pennix was considered primarily a cornerback for much of the cycle, but his continued development on both sides of the ball have opened the door for him to play either position at the collegiate level. The decommitment of Misun Kelley may mean that cornerback could be in his future, but there is no indication from Tech at the moment that the Hokies are leaning towards one side of the ball or other for him.

We've also seen Tech start out Braelin Moore and Gunner Givens at defensive tackle instead of on the offensive line as most expected they would be. Givens has stuck at DT for now while Moore moved to guard after the spring and is pushing Jesse Hanson for the starting left guard job so given that history, Pennix should have the chance to prove himself on either side of the ball as Tech figures out his best position once he arrives in Blacksburg next year.