Our position-by-position breakdown of Virginia Tech football recruiting continues today at linebacker which seems poised to be a recruiting strength thanks to having a LB specialist as a head coach in Brent Pry plus a LBs coach as defensive coordinator in Chris Marve. With that said, check out our linebacker recruiting breakdown along with all of our other pieces to date.
2023 Loaded With Momentum Among Priority LB Targets
Virginia Tech may not have a linebacker commit yet in the 2023 class, but the Hokies are in great position for many of their priority linebacker targets both in the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond it. With the only linebacker Tech signed this past offseason in Reid Pulliam already being gone, the Hokies should have plenty of room for a large linebacker class this year.
Four-star LB Ta'Mere Robinson took an official visit to Virginia Tech this past weekend after taking an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech weeks earlier. Robinson named the Hokies among his top 3 per Rivals along with Miami and Penn State with Robinson having taken an official to Miami already and still to take one to Penn State. Penn State's home state advantage should help, but Brent Pry built up a strong reputation during his time at Penn State that seemed to open a door for a recruit who hadn't included the Hokies in a previous cutdown.
There's four in-state linebackers that Tech is heavily involved with starting with four-star LB Kaveion Keys out of Richmond who took an official visit to North Carolina a couple weeks ago and is set to take an official to Virginia Tech this weekend before taking one to Penn State the following weekend. Given the timing of his officials, a decision between those 3 seems likely not too long after.
Three-star 757 standout Jordan Bass out of Phoebus was among the two out of those four in-state linebackers who took an official visit to Virginia Tech last weekend. Bass does have an official visit to Pittsburgh this upcoming weekend per On3, but plenty of signs seem to point towards Tech as potentially the team to beat.
The other three-star, in-state LB on campus for an official visit last weekend was Tavorian Copeland out of Appomattox who discussed that visit with us. Though Copeland doesn't have any visits scheduled further yet but hinted at scheduling other ones, I like where Tech stands with Copeland a lot at the moment.
The fourth is three-star Kamren Robinson out Essex HS in Tappahannock, VA who visited Virginia Tech in early April. Robinson's recruitment has been very quiet so it's unclear what direction this recruitment at this point but given that Essex is a smaller school but one that has been fairly good in recent memory, that could be a plus for Tech which likely has more relationships built up there even with a new staff.
Looking back outside of the state and we turn to three-star Aycen Stevens out of Indiana who tweeted out that he has plans to take an official visit to Virginia Tech. Stevens has taken officials to Purdue and Iowa State already this month while he did have plans to visit Nebraska the same weekend that he now plans to visit VT per recruiting sites. It's unknown if he'll reschedule his Nebraska official, but it's clear that Tech should be taken seriously in his recruitment.
Virginia Tech was the first Power 5 offer for three-star Braylan Lovelace out of Leechburg, PA during a May visit with in-state Pittsburgh recently joining in. It's unclear how high Lovelace is on the board and though Tech should have room to take a large linebacker class, Tech has lots of momentum with guys who appear to be higher up on it while the addition of an in-state school like Pitt makes things interesting as well.
Three-star ATH Kevin O'Connor out of Maryland was featured in our TE segment as someone who could end up at TE at VT, but also could end up at linebacker though numbers may lead to TE being the preferred initial spot for Tech.
One another potential linebacker name is three-star DB Caleb Woodson who will be featured in our safety breakdown though he could grow into the sam linebacker spot as well. Woodson was on campus this weekend for an official visit with Tech looking like the frontrunner even as Wake Forest and UVA continue to push.
The Hokies are likely headed for a large linebacker class this cycle which is good news because not only is the Commonwealth of Virginia loaded with talent, but Brent Pry and company are putting in the work to assemble a large linebacker class.
2024 Headline By A Virginia Star
The 2024 linebacker target board is still in its early formation like most position, but there's an in-state standout who is not only a top linebacker target, but poised to be one of Tech's top priorities regardless of position in the 2024 class.
Four-star LB Kristopher Jones out of Mountain View HS is going to be a big time battle for the Hokies. Brent Pry and company are making it clear that Jones is a top priority with Tech making strong impressions on Jones who has visited Tech twice including last weekend for a camp. Though Jones already has loads of offers, he saw this as an opportunity to learn from Tech's staff while also deepening relationships with Tech continuing to push forward as a major contender in his recruitment. Read more on his most recent visit here.
Three-star LB Jordan Boyd out of South Carolina visited Virginia Tech for the Spring Game with Tech already making a strong impression early before any other Power 5 schools can build momentum.
Three-star LB Steven Soles out of Powell, TN could be a LB or DE with the Hokies making some early progress in his recruitment having hosted him on campus for the Spring Game as well per On3.
Looking elsewhere in region, Virginia Tech has offered four-star Gabriel Williams out of Washington D.C. along with four-star Aaron Chiles out of Olney, MD and the same high school as 2024 DE target Darien Mayo as Tech coaches will likely be at Good Counsel even more than normal during recruiting and evaluation periods.
2025 may also have its Kristopher Jones type in-state linebacker star in Brett Clatterbaugh out of Culpeper's Eastern View HS with Tech recently extending an offer to him.
The 2024 and beyond linebacker board still has room to grow, but in-state standouts will continue to headline Tech's linebacker recruiting in future classes as well.
