2019 recruiting is still in the early stages with college football teams shaving sent out a limited number of offers, and it being rare to send out offers in July and August before high school football season starts. However, you do see some offers get sent out with the Hokies sending out an offer to 2019 Bishop Sullivan DL Adarious Jones recently.
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Since then, the Hokies have gotten Jones to visit Blacksburg and are emerging as the early frontrunner for the likely defensive tackle.
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Jones told us that his VT visit was "great" and that the coaches "showed him a lot of love" while on his visit. When we asked Jones about what stood out about his visit, this is what he told us.
"How the players and coaches interact with each other...They have fun but know when to get serious."Jones is a priority for the Hokies on the defensive line with Virginia Tech recruiting Jones the hardest at this point. Virginia Tech's coaching staff, and specifically Galen Scott, are building a strong relationship with Jones saying that Scott is a "cool guy" whom he has the best relationship with of any college coaches. When asked about how much of a factor the opportunity to stay in-state will be on his recruitment, Jones said it will factor into his decision "a lot." With Jones being one of the Hokies' top DL targets, the Bishop Sullivan recruit's high interest in staying in Virginia has to be quite encouraging for the Hokies' prospects here especially if his recruitment blows up this fall. Currently, Jones only has offers from Virginia Tech and Rutgers with Jones also believing Temple may offer him soon. Jones enters this fall under-the-radar after transferring from Essex High School, a school of under 500 students, to 757 power Bishop Sullivan; a move that will give Jones more exposure to recruiters with Jones also saying his VT offer "opened people's eyes." Jones is an intriguing prospect at 6'3'' and around 275-280 pounds that projects as a defensive tackle even though he has played both DE and DT in high school. Virginia Tech's DT board is also quite short with four-star 757 standout Ben Smiley and FL DT Tyler Davis being the Hokies' other main DT targets at this point, being another sign of how Jones is a high priority. Virginia Tech has started to rebuild some momentum at Bishop Sullivan with the addition of Armani Chatman, but with Bishop Sullivan emerging as the biggest 757 powerhouse, it is important for the Hokies to continue to do well there, making this news on Jones quite encouraging. While Jones may be new at Bishop Sullivan, he should continue to become closer with his teammates and could help VT start a movement from Bishop Sullivan to VT. With Virginia Tech likely to take multiple defensive tackles in the 2019 class, the Hokies have a chance at making a lot of noise in the 757 at DT with VT being the early favorite for Smiley and frontrunner currently for Jones. The Hokies currently don't have any 2019 commits, but Jones appears to be someone who VT may be able to add soon especially after he had a strong visit, has a great relationship with Galen Scott, and has lots of interest in staying in-state. Jones doesn't have any visits currently scheduled, but you can,expect that Virginia Tech will look to get him back on campus sometime this fall with the hope that another visit could set them up to seal the deal for the talented defensive lineman. So far, the Hokies are off to a great start for talented Bishop Sullivan DL and top target Adarious Jones, but still have a long ways to go to get the talented 757 recruit.
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