We continue our series of Virginia Tech Football recruiting breakdowns for the 2024 and 2025 classes at running back. You can check out the rest of our recruiting breakdowns below.
The Hokies have seen some change in the RB room with Elijah Brooks joining the staff as Tech's RBs coach with Stu Holt shifting to TEs and Tyler Bowen to QBs. Some top targets have remained as such while some new names have emerged as well.
Here's a look at where things stand on the RB front for 2024 and 2025.
Halfway Full For 2024
Virginia Tech already has one of their running backs for the 2024 class in Tyler Mason out of Mount Airy, NC. Mason may not have faced the toughest competition, but he was dominant with over 2,000 yards of offense and 52 rushing touchdowns last season. He was a priority target even before the offensive staff shakeup and remains a strong get.
However, the Hokies aren't done yet with one more running back in this class seeming likely. Any conversation on uncommitted running backs has to start with arguably the top recruit in Virginia, four-star Peyton Lewis out of Salem HS.
Lewis was a star for one of the best HS programs in the Commonwealth last year while he also has elite speed with a 60 meter time that would have made the finals of this past year's ACC Indoor Track Championships. Tech was the first Power 5 to offer him, but his recruitment has blown up massively with offers from Tennessee and South Carolina who have set up official visits plus Alabama, Penn State, Miami, Michigan State, Florida, and more.
It's an uphill battle for the Hokies though Lewis being within an hour of Blacksburg and Tech historically having a very high level of recruiting success on recruits within 2 hours of Blacksburg gives reason to believe that Tech shouldn't be ruled out. However, things have not been trending in the right direction for Tech though there still is time to turn the momentum around.
One of Brooks' new offers is Washington D.C. three-star RB Da'Jaun Riggs who has had a relationship with Brooks for a while from Brooks' time at Maryland. Riggs told us that he put Tech alongside the rest of his top 5 after being offered earlier this month so keep an eye on Riggs and the Hokies due in large part to Riggs' relationship with Brooks.
The Hokies made the top 6 in mid-March for three-star RB Traevon Dunbar out of Graniteville, SC along with Penn State, Arkansas, Maryland, West Virginia, and Boston College. Dunbar has been pretty quiet about his recruitment since then though the fact that the Terps made the cut seems like a sign that Tech's interest likely hasn't wanted even with the change at RBs coach.
Coming back to the Commonwealth, three-star ATH Kesean Henderson is set to follow in his brother, Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson's, footsteps and play FBS football. The Hokies are among those who have offered the Hopewell standout along with Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, and others.
Meanwhile in Northern Virginia, three-star ATH Daniel Coles likely projects as a RB though I've heard some chatter that he also is working on his game as a defensive back to provide more options for collegiate programs. Coles did visit Blacksburg this spring with the Hokies definitely being a team to watch in his recruitment regardless of his collegiate position.
VA Loaded at RB in 2025
The 2024 cycle in VA does have some RB talent including a star in Peyton Lewis along with some intriguing ATHs who could play RB like Kesean Henderson and Daniel Coles.
However, the 2025 RB class in the Commonwealth of Virginia is looking like a very strong one though Tech did miss the top 10 for top 100 overall recruit and four-star RB Gideon Davidson out of Lynchburg. Of course, there's still a long ways to go so a top 10 doesn't feel like game over, but Davidson seems very unlikely to end up in Blacksburg to state the obvious.
In Northern Virginia, Jeffrey Overton Jr already looks like a potential priority RB target having visited during one of Tech's Elite Junior Days back in January. Overton already has a solid regional offer list that in addition to VT includes Pittsburgh, Duke, Maryland, West Virginia, Boston College, Virginia, Syracuse, and JMU.
South of Petersburg, three-star ATH Harry Dalton III out of Dinwiddie HS is a potential RB as well who did visit Blacksburg earlier this year. He is ranked as a top 10 2024 recruit in Virginia currently across On3, 247 Sports, and Rivals with VT headlining his offer list along with South Carolina, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, and East Carolina.
Overton and Dalton are probably the two RB prospects on this 2025 list of in-state guys that Tech has the most traction with currently though obviously we are still very early in the 2025 cycle.
Down in the 757, there are a pair of offers already out to three-star RB Leon Clark out of Churchland HS and Javon Ford out of King's Fork HS. In addition to Tech, Clark has offers from Texas A&M, North Carolina, Maryland, Duke, Syracuse, and Buffalo. Meanwhile, Ford has offers from North Carolina, West Virginia, Duke, and others in addition to VT.
Heading out of VA to Maryland, three-star RB Bud Coombs out of DeMatha (where Elijah Brooks was the head coach before joining Maryland's staff) was on campus this spring and looks like a name to keep an eye on. Four-star RB Iverson Howard is another talented RB from Maryland who Tech has offered in the 2025 class though his recruitment seems like a very uphill battle for the Hokies.
