James Franklin and Virginia Tech continue to make tons of noise on the recruiting trail as the Hokies landed a commitment from three-star DL Garrett Witherington.
The Birmingham, AL, native flipped his commitment from Kentucky to Virginia Tech. Witherington had been committed to the Wildcats since June.
This is the Hokies' fourth commitment today and ninth in total since James Franklin stepped into Blacksburg. The other commitments today included four-star QB Troy Huhn, three-star LB Mathieu Lamah, and four-star OT Thomas Wilder, along with a reaffirmation from three-star DB Zaevion Cleveland after he visited West Virginia this weekend.
The other new commitments prior to today for Franklin and the Hokies are four-star RB Messiah Mickens, TE Pierce Petersohn and three-star OL Roseby Lubintus, Marlen Bright, and Maddox Cochrane.
Witherington is the second recruit who was previously committed to a school not named Penn State, the other being three-star OT Maddox Cochrane who decommitted from Wisconsin a couple weeks before he committed to Virginia Tech.
Withering is a 6-foot-4, 290 lb lineman who lined up at various spots on the defensive line but will likely project as an interior defensive lineman for the Hokies. He has exactly the type of prototypical size that any coach would want to put in the trenches, something that James Franklin has made clear will be a recruiting priority.
Franklin and the Hokies gained momentum from Witherington's visit to Blacksburg this past weekend and quickly seized on the opening Kentucky gave them following the firing of Mark Stoops. It also helps that Witherington previously took an official visit to Penn State this summer and had familiarity with Franklin already.
