
Hokies Sign 31 to Letters of Intent by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com Virginia Tech received 31 letters of intent from football prospects today, the largest recruiting class in Frank Beamer's tenure at Virginia Tech. The class includes 22 players from the state of Virginia, also a record for Beamer at Tech. Although not all of the recruits will be enrolling this year, it marks the biggest recruiting class Tech has ever signed. The class features a number of highly-touted players, and as usual, a few sleepers that have an opportunity to defy the experts and excel at the college level. Virginia Tech's recruiting class is headed up by seven 4-star recruits, including four of the top five players in TSL's Virginia Top 30 list. The #1 player in the state is offensive tackle Vinston Painter. The Hokies also signed #2 Dyrell Roberts of Smithfield and #3 Ryan Williams of Manassas, completing a clean sweep of the top three in the state. #5 is wide receiver D.J. Coles of Goochland. The only top five player in the state that is not heading to Blacksburg is quarterback Mike Glennon, brother of Sean Glennon. He is headed to NC State. The Hokies signed one other top 10 recruit, #9 Marcus Davis of Ocean Lakes High School. Davis was considered an athlete for most of the recruiting process, likely a future receiver. However he played quarterback his senior year of high school and was very impressive, out-dueling Florida State commit E.J. Manuel in one of his games. Quarterback will be Davis' initial position at Virginia Tech. The top five in-state signees are offensive players. None of these players are expected to play on the defensive side of the ball for the Hokies. A couple, such as Ryan Williams and Dyrell Roberts, have a chance to contribute in their first season. Roberts is the most likely candidate, given Tech's needs at wide receiver. Virginia Tech also signed 4-star linebacker Quillie Odom from Hargrave Military Academy. Odom was originally a member of the 2007 recruiting class, but failed to qualify. Since then he has bulked up to 225 pounds and has developed into a standout linebacker for Hargrave. Another 4-star recruit is Myrtle Beach linebacker Bruce Taylor. Taylor verballed to the Hokies way back on September 14, 2006 over offers from UNC, South Carolina, Florida State and Clemson. He has bulked up to 6-3, 240, and could possibly play defense end for Virginia Tech. The final 4-star recruit, who decided on Virginia Tech this morning, is defensive end Leon Mackey of Hargrave Military Academy. Mackey fills a major need on defense and has the chance to play right away. Tech's class also includes some sleepers that the coaching staff evaluated and decided to offer. Some of these players are underrated because they committed to Virginia Tech so early, before other coaches had a chance to fully evaluate them. Examples are Eric Martin and Jeron Gouveia. A complete table listing every signee of Virginia Tech's 2008 recruiting class is below. We'll have more detailed coverage of this class in the coming days, beginning tomorrow with Chris Horne's breakdown and analysis of all 31 players.
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