Photo Credit: Jake Roth
The Commonwealth of Virginia has lots of talented defensive backs including three-star CB Akim Sledge who has earned lots of offers from high level programs including Virginia Tech.
The good news for the Hokies is that they are off to a strong start in his recruitment.
Sledge told us that Tech is "high" in his recruitment and among five currently standing out along with Stanford, Miami, West Virginia, and Howard. He had this to say about why that's the case.
"VT is high in my recruitment with the reason being that (CBs) coach (Ryan) Smith shows the interest that they have for me and wanting me to be there to play for them," Sledge said.
The Hokies are also among four recruiting Sledge the hardest along with Stanford, Pittsburgh, and Howard. CBs coach Ryan Smith is leading the charge with the two having a "close" relationship that Sledge credits to the fact that Sledge and Smith have been in communication since Smith was at JMU.
Unsurprisingly, the Hokies were also among a host of schools to reach out to Sledge after midnight last Tuesday when NCAA rules permitted programs to initiate contact with 2022 recruits. Here's a look at some of the schools who contacted Sledge as he told us.
"Miami, Pittsburgh, VT, Clemson, Penn State, Coastal Carolina, Louisville, UVA, Mississippi State, Liberty, West Virginia, North Carolina State, and Maryland," Sledge said.
Sledge specifically heard from head coach Justin Fuente in addition to CBs coach Ryan Smith. Sledge told us that his conversation with Fuente was "great" and that his conversation with Smith "went well as always."
One thing that is also pretty clear is that CBs coach Ryan Smith is quite high personally on Akim Sledge with Sledge telling us that Smith made it clear that he wants to coach Sledge into being the "best DB in the world" as Sledge described to us.
Right now, Virginia Tech is off to a strong start in their recruitment of Akim Sledge as they look to land one of Virginia's best defensive recruits in a loaded 2022 class.
