Virginia Tech Football Recruiting Notes 5/27/22

Virginia Tech remains busy on the recruiting trail with numerous official visits getting set with top targets for next month especially on the fourth weekend in June while some targets trim down their lists and other names potentially emerge.

4* RB Marquese Williams

The Hokies were joined by Penn State, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Iowa, Minnesota, and Louisville in his top 7. Among the notable offers to miss the cut for Williams were Pittsburgh, Arkansas, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Boston College, West Virginia, UVA, Duke, Syracuse, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, and Temple.

One notable connection that the Hokies have with Williams is his three-star teammate and current Virginia Tech OT commit Gabriel Arena. Arena has been plenty active on social media recruiting Williams, and you can probably be certain that Arena has likely talked up the Hokies to Williams. Of course, that is likely not to be a primary factor when Williams makes his decision but it definitely is a nice little boost.

Penn State feels like the favorite on paper given the Nittany Lions success at getting running backs that they want wherever they may be. Add in that he's an in-state recruit and the Nittany Lions look like the favorites on paper.

However, Tech has connections with Arena along with a staff that has plenty of PA ties which has proven valuable for at least opening some doors on the recruiting trail so far. Keep an eye on Williams with the Hokies right in the hunt hoping to a poach a talented RB from Penn State's backyard after years of the Nittany Lions poaching talented RBs from Virginia.

3* WR Chris Culliver

Another priority Virginia Tech target also trimmed down his recruitment with the Hokies making the top 7 for three-star WR Chris Culliver out of North Carolina.

The Hokies were joined by Ohio State, Florida State, N.C. State, North Carolina, Maryland, and Appalachian State in Culliver's top 7. Among the notable offers not to make the cut for Culliver were Michigan, Michigan State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, UVA, and Vanderbilt.

Culliver has visited Virginia Tech previously, and has already tweeted out that he will be taking an official visit to Blacksburg on the fourth weekend of June which is setting up to be a massive recruiting weekend for the Hokies. That official visit will come the week after he takes an official visit to North Carolina according to On3.

Tech also has a connection his Maiden HS as that was also the high school where Caleb Farley played before becoming a star and a first round pick at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies are right at the forefront of Chris Culliver's recruitment with a great chance to build on that momentum and try to land the NC standout in the coming weeks.

CB Emmanuel Deng

It appears Virginia Tech is looking to take a fairly large defensive back class with the Hokies continuing to evaluate potential rising DB talents including cornerback Emmanuel Deng out of Centerville, OH.

Deng told us that "interest from Virginia Tech has began to heat up within the past week" with OL coach Joe Rudolph (who leads area recruiting for VT in Ohio largely) and recruiting assistant Lino Lupinetti being in contact with Deng. The Hokies are also hoping to get Deng on campus this June to evaluate him further in person before deciding whether to offer and pursue him.

Deng doesn't have a Power 5 offer in the moment, but the Hokies are far from the only Power 5 team showing interest in him as Deng told us that he's also receiving interest from Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Penn State, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Iowa, Iowa State, Indiana, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Rutgers. He also has plans to camp this summer at Notre Dame, Indiana, and Duke.

This surge in interest comes after Deng had a strong junior season with 29 tackles, 15 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles.

Deng may not have a Power 5 offer, but the floodgates seem close to opening with the Hokies among those evaluating and deciding whether to pursue him or not.