Make it 3 commits in 3 days for Virginia Tech as the Hokies landed a commitment from three-star ATH Joshua Clarke out of Flint Hill School in Oakton, VA.
🦃🦃 Committed! @CoachP_eterson #SparkdaFlint24 @CoachPryVT pic.twitter.com/8ERXD74MrM
— Joshua Clarke (@jclarke1_) March 24, 2023
He had this to say about why he chose Virginia Tech
"Virginia Tech is the right fit for me because it's checks all the boxes of the things I was looking for: location, great coaches and football traditions, great education, and awesome campus life. Also, it was the one place that if football was removed, I would still want to be there," Clarke said.
Clarke is the first in-state commit this cycle and joins a class that also currently includes four-star QB Davi Belfort and three-star DE Deric Dandy. He chose the Hokies over an impressive collection of offers as you can see below (conferences based on 2023-24 alignment).
- ACC: Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest
- Big 10: Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers, Wisconsin
- Big 12: Iowa State, West Virginia
- AAC: Charlotte, East Carolina, Temple
- Conference USA: Liberty
- MAC: Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Toledo
- Mountain West: Air Force
- Sun Belt: James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion
- FBS Independent: Massachusetts
- FCS: Brown, Campbell, Columbia, Delaware State, Grambling, Howard, Jackson State, Monmouth, Northwestern State, Pennsylvania, Robert Morris, William & Mary
Clarke has been a priority DB target for the Hokies for a while which shouldn't come as a surprise given the impressive offer list he's built up. To beat out double-digit Power 5 schools for Clarke is another great sign that the Hokies are continuing to reassert themselves in the Commonwealth of Virginia against programs like Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh.
The timing of this commit is also a plus given that the Hokies have high school coaches from across the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond in Blacksburg. Being able to tout this latest in-state commit to go with the work that the Hokies have done recruiting the Commonwealth the past two cycles is a strong statement that Tech is living up to Brent Pry's promise of Virginia being the top priority on the recruiting trail.
We will have more as this story develops.
