There wasn't a more anticipated transfer last offseason than WR Ali Jennings. The former ODU star lived up to the hype in his first game for the Hokies, putting up a pair of touchdowns against his former team. Things went sideways after that with Jennings suffering a season-ending injury in the first quarter against Purdue the following week.
Given the hype around Jennings, there was plenty of disappointment among Tech fans. Speculation also ensued soon after as to whether that might be all we see of Jennings at Tech, especially since he was set to run out of eligibility after the 2024 season.
Jennings waited till after the season to make his decision to come back, but did indeed choose to return for one more year rather than move on to the NFL. Even while that was an unknown, he continued to be a major presence around the program throughout 2023 to the point where coaches decided to bring him on road games, a very rare situation for an injured player that says a lot about his character and leadership.
Now to many on the outside, it may feel like Jennings is basically a new transfer addition all over again given the fact that he played less than five quarters of football in 2024. To those inside the program including head coach Brent Pry, Jennings is simply a staple and leader of Tech's program at this point.
"First of all, he's got such a big personality that no, it's not like he just joined us. He's been fully invested. He's been with us a while," Pry said.
Even with that, Tech is ecstatic to have him actually back out on the field rather than just on the sideline being a great leader for them. That includes his teammate and fellow starting WR Jaylin Lane, who had high praise for the impact that Jennings had last season.
