Five prep All-Americans highlight a football recruiting class composed of 20 student-athletes, as announced by Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
“We’re really pleased with this class,” head coach Frank Beamer said. “It’s a solid, good class with a lot of players who have great potential. In a year that we had limited scholarships, I’m happy we were able to add some quality recruits late in the process. We look forward to getting these guys on campus and to begin working with them.”
Tech announced 20 players total Wednesday, including eight players from Virginia, all of whom ranked among top 32 in the state according to The Roanoke Times. Highlighting this year’s in-state group are two talented players – Dinwiddie High defensive tackle Corey Marshall (No. 5 by The Roanoke Times) and South County High defensive back Ronny Vandyke (No. 11 by The Roanoke Times) – who both earned SuperPrep and PrepStar All-America honors.
Ten players from seven different states, plus two from the District of Columbia, joined the Hokies. Defensive back Kyshoen Jarrett, from Tannersville, Pa., is a SuperPrep and PrepStar All-American and is listed as the No. 12 defensive back in the country by Rivals. Defensive tackle Kris Harley, from Indianapolis, Ind., is also an All-American by SuperPrep and PrepStar, is a member of the ESPNU 150 and is ranked as the No. 12 defensive tackle in the country by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. The Hokies got a rare signing from a Minnesota product in Chanhassen defensive back James Farrow, who is ranked as the No. 40 athlete in the country and the No. 2 player in the state by Rivals.
Defensive end Matt Roth, from St. Augustine, Fla., is rated as the No. 14 weakside defensive end in the country by Rivals coming out of Nease High, while wide receiver Robert Lockhart, who hails from Boca Raton, Fla., is ranked the No. 42 wide receiver in the country by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. Defensive end Wedley Estime and defensive tackle Luther Maddy both hail from Delray Beach, Fla., and attend Atlantic High. They become the fifth and sixth players, respectively, from Atlantic High to sign with Tech in the past decade. Estime is ranked the No. 140 defensive end in the country by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc, while Maddy is the No. 130 defensive tackle in the nation by the same outlet. With the four players from the Sunshine State signing, it marks the 21st time in the past 24 years (1988-2011) that Tech has signed at least one player from Florida.
Two players come to Tech from the District of Columbia: defensive back and SuperPrep All-American Adeboye Aromire and tight end Darius Redman, both of whom attended H.D. Woodson. Aromire is rated as the No. 3 player in D.C. and the No. 37 cornerback in the country by Rivals, while Redman is listed as the No. 65 tight end in the country by Scout.com. Joining Redman, two other highly rated tight ends also signed Wednesday. Christian Reeves, from McDonough, Ga., is rated the No. 29 tight end, and the fastest tight end in the country, by Rivals, while Ryan Malleck, from Point Pleasant, N.J., is ranked the No. 40 tight end in the country by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. Wide receiver Kevin Asante, from Charlotte, N.C., had 1,003 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior at Mallard Creek High, earning second-team All-Observer honors from The Charlotte Observer.
Six other players from the state of Virginia are ranked in the top 32 in the state by The Roanoke Times. They are: Cave Spring High defensive back Michael Cole (No. 15), Harrisonburg High running back Michael Holmes (No. 16), Dinwiddie High tight end Chris Hall (No. 18), Manchester High offensive tackle Jake Goins (No. 21), Liberty Christian Academy wide receiver Demitri Knowles (No. 27) and Nansemond River High defensive end Dewayne Alford (No. 32). Cole, who was a first-team all-state selection, is ranked as the No. 86 safety in the country by Scout.com, and Holmes, the two-time Group AA state player of the year, is rated the No. 77 running back in the country by Scout.com. Hall, who played quarterback his final two seasons of high school, is listed as the No. 83 “athlete” in the country by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc., while Goins is ranked the No. 67 offensive tackle in the country by Rivals. Knowles, who is also a track standout as a sprinter, is rated as the No. 183 wide receiver in the country by Scout.com, and Alford is ranked as the No. 123 defensive end in the country by the same service.
Of the 20 players in the class, 11 are projected to play on the defensive side of the ball (six on the line, five defensive backs). Of the nine players slated for offense, five are coming in as offensive linemen or as tight ends.
“On offense, tight ends were a priority for us in this class and I think we came away with some potentially outstanding players at that position,” Beamer said. “They all have work to do, but I feel certain they’ll put the effort in.
“Defensively, I think the linemen we added are explosive kids … guys who can really run and redirect. I think some of those guys could help us next fall. In general, I think we added some players who will really strengthen our defense.”
Aromire is the only player in this year’s recruiting class who enrolled at Tech in January, thus did not sign an NLI on Wednesday and is already participating in offseason workouts. Two others who were part of last year’s signing class – Justin Taylor and Caleb Farris – also enrolled in January. Nineteen players signed with Virginia Tech on Signing Day.
The list:
- Dewayne Alford, de, 6-3, 225, Nansemond River HS, Suffolk, Va.
- Adeboye Aromire, cb, 6-0, 180, H.D. Woodson HS, Washington, D.C. *
- Kevin Asante, wr, 6-0, 185, Mallard Creek HS, Charlotte, N.C.
- Michael Cole, db, 6-1, 200, Cave Spring HS, Roanoke, Va.
- Wedley Estime, de/olb, 6-3, 215, Atlantic HS, Delray Beach, Fla.
- James Farrow, cb, 6-0, 170, Minnetonka HS, Chanhassen, Minn.
- Jake Goins, ot, 6-5, 288, Manchester HS, Midlothian, Va.
- Chris Hall, te, 6-5, 232 , Dinwiddie HS, Petersburg, Va.
- Kris Harley, dt, 6-1, 275, Warren Central HS, Indianapolis, Ind.
- Michael Holmes, rb, 6-1, 200, Harrisonburg HS, Harrisonburg, Va.
- Kyshoen Jarrett, cb, 5-10, 175, East Stroudsburg South HS, Tannersville, Pa.
- Demitri Knowles, wr, 6-0, 175, Liberty Christian Academy, Lynchburg, Va.
- Robert Lockhart, wr, 6-2, 175, West Boca Raton HS, Delray Beach, Fla.
- Luther Maddy, dt, 6-1, 280, Atlantic HS, Delray Beach, Fla.
- Ryan Malleck, te, 6-5, 240, Point Pleasant Borough HS, Point Pleasant, N.J.
- Corey Marshall, de, 6-2, 252, Dinwiddie HS, Petersburg, VA
- Darius Redman, te, 6-4, 240, H.D. Woodson HS, Washington, D.C.
- Christian Reeves, te, 6-3, 215, Eagles Landing Christian School, McDonough, Ga.
- Matt Roth, de, 6-3, 225, Nease HS, St. Augustine, Fla.
- Ronny Vandyke, db, 6-3, 200, South County, Lorton, Va.
* already enrolled at Virginia Tech
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