Our position-by-position recruiting series continues on to wide receiver where the Hokies are looking to land some big time talent this cycle. You can check out the rest of our position-by-position breakdowns at the links below.
WRs coach Fontel Mines has proven to be an ace on the recruiting trail for the Hokies and received a significant raise this offseason in large part due to his recruiting abilities.
The Loaded 2024 WR Board
Virginia Tech may not have a WR commit at the moment, but the Hokies have a reasonable chance of assembling one of the best, if not the best, WR haul in program history based on recruiting rankings. A big reason for that is the fact that the Commonwealth of Virginia is loaded with wide receiver talent.
It all starts with 757 four-star Keylen Adams out of Green Run HS who is a consensus top 3 recruit in Virginia by all four major recruiting services. The Hokies have been a consistent contender for Adams even as his offer list has added just about every major brand east of the Mississippi in college football including Ohio State, Georgia, and Alabama.
This is going to be an absolute war for the Hokies to land him given the competition, but Adams could be the type of game-changing recruit to change the narrative for VT and improve Tech's reclamation of VA even further.
Four-star WR Chanz Wiggins out of King George HS just east of Fredericksburg has also been an overall priority target this cycle for the Hokies similar to Adams. Wiggins may not have the same spotlight as Adams, but he is also a top 10 caliber recruit who is impressing in 7-on-7 ball with one high school at a strong Fredericksburg area program telling me that he feels Wiggins is the best WR in VA.
Wiggins is fairly quiet about his recruitment, but I've heard that Tech does have a lot of traction with him and are potentially the slight favorites at the moment. Tech has hosted Wiggins twice in 2023 in another sign of the traction that the Hokies have in his recruitment.
Wiggins isn't the only standout at King George as three-star ATH Mekhai White is also a big time target to keep an eye on. The Hokies have gotten White on campus this spring, but the likely WR has a strong offer list that also includes Michigan, Penn State, Georgia, and many others.
Down in Richmond, three-star Lamar Booker Jr may have a higher profile in VA if not for the multitude of talented wide receivers this cycle. The Hokies were leaders earlier this year for Booker and made his top 3 not too long ago along with Duke and Rutgers.
Fellow Richmond area standout Eric Smith is another guy who the Hokies have had some good traction with early on in his recruitment. Three-star Tasean Young-Stieff is teammates with Keylen Adams with Tech seeming to have a good amount if interest in him while Oscar Smith HS standout Jamauri Knox is an intriguing slot receiving prospect to have on the radar.
Tech's strong WR recruiting prospects go beyond VA as Tech is heavily involved with four-star Alex Taylor out of Greensboro. Taylor has told us that he has four official visits scheduled including one to Tech between the first and second weekends of June plus Clemson, NC State, and North Carolina. Taylor also appears to clearly be one of Tech's top WR targets alongside guys like Keylen Adams and Chanz Wiggins.
The Hokies made the cut for four-star Terrell Anderson who is teammates with Taylor. Anderson also visited Blacksburg this spring on the weekend where they had their open-to-the-public spring practice inside Lane Stadium.
Tech also has some targets in the Charlotte area including four-star Jordan Shipp and three-star Keenan Jackson with Jackson visiting Blacksburg earlier this spring as well.
A couple other names I have on my radar outside of VA include three-star Peter Gonzalez out of Pittsburgh, and three-star USF commit Brandon Winton Jr out of Tennessee. Gonzalez both has visited Blacksburg in 2023 while Winton was a recent spring evaluation offer.
There are plenty of other names that could be added to this list as well, but what's clear is that the Hokies have some great traction with their top targets, and a reasonable chance at a historic WR haul this cycle.
Expect a Smaller 2025 WR Class
Virginia Tech has taken lots of wide receivers since the arrival of Brent Pry through the high school and transfer portal ranks as the Hokies look to flip that room quickly. Here's a look at who they have added just in two classes.
- Tucker Holloway (2022, HS)
- Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw (2022, HS)
- Jadan Blue (2022, Transfer)
- Stephen Gosnell (2022, Transfer)
- Ayden Greene (2023, HS)
- Chance Fitzgerald (2023, HS)
- Marcell Baylor (2023, HS)
- Takye Heath (2023, HS)
- Ali Jennings (2023, Transfer)
- Jaylin Lane (2023, Transfer)
- Da'Quan Felton (2023 Transfer)
Now most of the transfers on this will be gone by the time the 2025 class arrives, but that's still a lot of turnover in the WR room and significant numbers that have come in.
With Tech on track for another large WR class this cycle, it seems like a safe bet to expect a smaller WR class next cycle with the room flip nearing it's completion.
So who are some names to keep an eye on?
There's a few guys where someone on VT staff has ties to the player starting with NC WRs Jeremiah Harrison and Arrion Concepcion out of Julius L Chambers HS in Charlotte. Chambers is where Director of High School Relations Glenwood Ferebee was the head coach prior to leaving to join VT's recruiting department under Brent Pry.
The ties Ferebee has at Indian River HS in the 757 where he coached at prior to Chambers may not be as strong now, but three-star Jakeyse Graves out of Indian River is a name to watch. He has a strong early offer list that includes VT, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Duke, West Virginia, Maryland, Boston College, Syracuse, and more.
Tech recently extended an offer to four-star Emmanuel Dyson out of D.C. area powerhouse DeMatha Catholic where RBs coach Elijah Brooks was the head coach before joining the Maryland staff. Dyson was excited to receive an offer from the Hokies recently with Brooks helping VT get some early traction with him.
Beyond those ties, Virginia Beach's Green Run HS has another talented WR in the 2025 class in Jayden Anderson. He has a strong offer list that includes VT, Georgia, Miami, Auburn, South Carolina, Duke, West Virginia, Boston College, and more.
In general, this is a position that still seems to be an evolving recruiting board at the moment with new offers and further evaluations coming this spring and summer likely to start to give us a clearer picture.
