Hello Hokies! We’ve decided to go a little later today after most, if not all, of Virginia Tech’s 2025 recruiting class is signed on this Early Signing Day. This year’s Early Signing Day will feel a little bit different being two weeks earlier before the transfer portal mania fully begins.
It’s also a very busy night on the basketball front with the Women’s Basketball team taking on Georgia at 5pm in Athens and then the Men’s Basketball team taking on Vanderbilt at 9:15pm in Blacksburg. So let’s not mess around any longer and jump straight into the rundown.
The Midweek Rundown
Signing Day Names to Watch: There were two recruits Virginia Tech wa still looking to add to their 2025 class entering Signing Day: three-star DB Aydan West, a Michigan State commit, and three-star DB Jakarrion Kenan out of South Carolina. The Hokies made a push for West along with Ohio State and UCLA but he has signed with the Spartans in the end. Meanwhile, Clemson has been rumored to be jumping in late to the Kenan battle against the Hokies, Vanderbilt, NC State, and Virginia.
Signing Day Eve Addition: Virginia Tech added to their recruiting class on Early Signing Day Eve as three-star CB Jordan Crim out of South Carolina chose the Hokies over Duke, Georgia Tech, and many others. Crim was a top CB target for VT for a while, having taken an official visit back in June. While it took a while to get him in the class, they finally were able to officially land him less than 24 hours before he signed.
Three Defensive Linemen to the Portal: Three Virginia Tech defensive linemen have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal: Malachi Madison, Ishmael Findlayter, and Khurtiss Perry. None of the three were able to break through into the defensive line rotation, though Madison and Perry could have had a chance to battle for a spot in the two-deep at DT. Perry was only in Blacksburg for a semester after transferring from Alabama, with the former top 100 recruit not fitting in and ending up having more agents than games played in.
This doesn’t change the reality that the Hokies are expected to try to add a few defensive linemen in this transfer class to help rebuild the DL depth.
JUCO CB Keshawn Davila Not Signing Today: One recruit who will not be signing today is the #1 JUCO CB in the country, Keshawn Davila. He was on campus at Virginia Tech this past weekend, but will be taking a visit to Arkansas this upcoming weekend before making his final decision. Davila should be considered more in the portal numbers now as the Hokies seem to be looking for a veteran CB to pair with Dante Lovett, Thomas Williams, and Joshua Clarke with Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane both seeming likely to head on to the NFL.
All-ACC First Team Honors For APR and Peebles: The 2024 All-ACC teams were revealed yesterday with Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles earning First Team honors after having impressive final seasons, especially as pass rushers. Bhayshul Tuten earned Second Team honors while Mansoor Delane, Peter Moore, and Jaylin Lane (PR) earned Third Team honors and Xavier Chaplin, Kaden Moore, Dorian Strong, and John Love all earned Honorable Mention honors.
The biggest snub has to be Bhayshul Tuten who missed the Syracuse game and was clearly not healthy enough to produce against Clemson yet had better numbers all around than SMU’s Brashard Smith. There’s also a case to be made for Strong over Delane in terms of Third Team honors, or both being on the Third Team at worse given that both cornerbacks allowed under a 48% completion rate this season. John Love’s Honorable Mention pick also raised some surprise, but the ACC has a tremendous deep pool of kickers which played a role here.
MJ Collins, Tyler Nickel Return to Virginia Tech: Tonight’s ACC/SEC Challenge will also be a homecoming of sorts for both MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel who lead Vanderbilt into Cassell Coliseum to take on the Hokies. While this isn’t the ACC/SEC homecoming that many were hoping for (i.e. Kenny Brooks, Georgia Amoore and Kentucky WBB), this still is a fascinating matchup given the return of those two former Hokies. Vanderbilt is also 5.5-point favorites after losing to Drake in the Charleston Classic final while the Hokies are coming off a pair of losses at the Fort Myers Tipoff.
You can check out Tucker Terry’s preview and prediction for tonight’s game here. This will be a 9:15pm tipoff on the ACC Network.
WBB on the Road at Georgia: After going 1-1 in Fort Myers, Virginia Tech heads on the road to Athens to take on Georgia in tonight’s ACC/SEC Challenge. The Hokies are favorites as they look to bolster their non-conference resume in their last matchup against a power conference opponent during the non-conference portion of the season.
You can check out Tucker Terry’s preview and prediction for tonight’s game here. This will be a 5pm tipoff on the SEC Network.
New Diving Coach: Virginia Tech announced that volunteer assistant Ryan Hawkins has been to head diving coach by swimming & diving head coach Sergio Lopez Miro.
