Photo Credit: Harley Taylor
Check out the latest Virginia Tech football recruiting notes including updates on four-star OL Yousef Mugharbil, three-star DE Deonte Anderson, and a potential new defensive tackle target.
4* OL Yousef Mugharbil
Murphy, NC offensive lineman Yousef Mugharbil released his top 7 yesterday with Virginia Tech making the cut on a list full of ACC schools.
Top 7‼️ Recruitment still 100% open pic.twitter.com/bvauwVOulw
— yousefmugharbil (@yousefmugharbi1) July 22, 2020
Fellow ACC programs North Carolina, Louisville, and N.C. State joined the Hokies along with Penn State, Florida, and Tennessee. Mugharbil also has several Power 5 offers that didn't make the cut including South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Arkansas, and others.
Mugharbil has been extremely quiet about his recruitment so it's hard to get much of a vibe on who the top contenders may be, but it does seem like the Hokies are making him a top priority on their offensive line board. Regional schools like VT, UNC, and N.C. State seem likely on paper to be some of the top contenders especially given this unique cycle that has included a dead period since early March due to the coronavirus.
Looking ahead, it remains to be seen how close or far Mugharbil is to making a decision, but the Hokies should be a contender whenever he does make his decision.
3* DE Deonte Anderson
Virginia Tech continues to be among the programs pushing the hardest for three-star DE Deonte Anderson.
He told us that the Hokies are among several recruiting him the hardest currently along with South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, UCF, Western Kentucky, and Northern Colorado.
Recruiting assistant Lino Lupinetti is leading the charge for the Hokies with Anderson telling us that they have built up a good relationship largely because Lupinetti is "a pretty cool dude and down to earth."
Looking ahead, Anderson told us that he is looking at trimming down his recruitment around the current start of his senior season. However, Anderson does not seem too close to making a decision on where he'll be playing his college football at this point.
Tech remains in the hunt for Anderson with multiple regional Power 5 programs battling for the Floridian defensive end.
DT Justice Williams
Lake Wales, Florida defensive tackle Justice Williams told us that Virginia Tech is among the schools that have recently shown interest in him. The Hokies are joined by Navy, Coastal Carolina, South Dakota State, Austin Peay, and Charleston Southern with Williams currently holding an offer from UT-Martin.
Williams has spoken with defensive line coach Bill Teerlinck and new assistant Jeron Gouveia-Winslow with those conversations going "pretty well" and both coaches making it clear that they "really like my film."
Williams is an intriguing defensive tackle target as he definitely has good size for DT at 6'2'' and 310 pounds according to 247 Sports. Given Tech's desire to get bigger all over the defensive line, Williams would appear to fit that mold.
However, Justice Williams likely is down the board at defensive tackle with four-star DTs Tyleik Williams and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins along with three-star DTs Devin Lee and Earl Miller all ahead of Justice Williams.
Keep an eye on Williams as the Hokies look to get bigger along the defensive with the Floridian defensive tackle definitely fitting that mold.
