Virginia Tech Football Recruiting Notes 5/7/22

Here are the latest Virginia Tech football recruiting notes as the Hokies remain in the hunt for one of their top 2023 WR targets while also continuing to evaluate other recruits of interest both in their backyard and outside of it.

3* WR Ayden Greene

Standout WR Ayden Greene out of Tennessee recently released his top 5 with Virginia Tech making the cut for one of their top WR targets in the 2023 class.

The Hokies were joined by in-state Tennessee, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, and Mississippi State in Greene's top 5. Wake Forest, West Virginia, UVA, Syracuse, and Memphis were among the most notable offers for Greene to not make his top 5.

Shawn Quinn is playing a large role in the recruitment of Greene as Tech's area recruiter in Tennessee and especially the eastern portion of the state while WRs coach Fontel Mines is also heavily involved on Tech's side as well.

The Hokies have had some success recruiting east Tennessee in recent years including Jaden Keller and Elijah Howard in the 2021 class. Though that may have been with a previous staff, there's no doubt that Virginia Tech's recruiting presence in Tennessee has increased in recent years in a positive way.

Of course, the in-state Volunteers seem like the on-paper favorites purely based on proximity, but official visits seem likely to play a role with all five seemingly poised to host Greene when he chooses to take them. Tech definitely is in it while Pittsburgh has recent success to build off of, and Arkansas and Mississippi State have improved under recent coaching hires.

The Hokies are right in the hunt for Ayden Greene, but there's still plenty of work to be done to try to beat out a host of Power 5 rivals for his commitment.

3* LB/DE Will Heldt

Three-star LB/DE Will Heldt has seen his recruitment take off a lot recently with Virginia Tech among those showing interest in the talented defensive recruit out of Indiana.

Heldt told us that he has heard from Virginia Tech defensive line GA Korey Rush with Heldt having "good" conversations with Rush in the limited contact they've had so far.

This comes as Heldt has seen his recruitment take off recently with his offer list now including Iowa, Wake Forest, Iowa State, Purdue, Indiana, Duke, Minnesota, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Illinois, and more. Tech is also far from the only school showing interest who hasn't offered yet as Notre Dame and Cincinnati are also interested.

The surging offer list shouldn't come as a surprise given his size at 6'5'' and 230 pounds according to 247 Sports plus his strong junior season where he had 108 tackles including 11 for loss with 4 sacks plus 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 pass breakups, and 6 QB hurries.

Keep an eye on fast-rising Will Heldt as a potential VT offer in the not too distant future.

2022 JUCO DB Roman Rashada

While the focus is primarily on 2023 recruiting, Virginia Tech is still looking at some talented transfers and JUCO standouts who could be strong summer additions for the Hokies with Tech extending a new offer recently to a JUCO standout.

The Hokies became the latest school to offer JUCO DB Roman Rashada who has built a strong offer list that includes Miami, Washington, Arkansas, California, BYU, Houston, Colorado State, and more. Rashada will have 2 seasons of eligibility plus a redshirt year at the school he ends up choosing.

Given the timeline, Virginia Tech is certainly going to need to move fast with plenty of others involved certain to also be on an accelerated timeline. Rashada could target a later summer arrival but more often than not, JUCO recruits and transfers are looking to enroll early in summer to get more time to adjust to their new environment.

The fact that Tech is pursuing cornerback over safety is a little surprising given that cornerback is the more proven spot in the defensive back though Tech may see Rashada as a versatile DB at either spot. With that in mind, Tech's new defensive staff may have a feel for their safeties being more natural defensive fits than some of their more experienced cornerbacks and that some extra competition could be beneficial.

Keep an eye on Roman Rashada as Virginia Tech looks to add an older defensive back ahead of the 2022 season.