Florida linebacker commits to Hokies

BLACKSBURG

The influx of talent just keeps coming for Virginia Tech's football program, which welcomed 15 freshmen to campus Tuesday, then picked up its third commitment in barely a week from a talented Class of 2012 linebacker.

The Hokies on Wednesday took a pledge from West Boca Raton (Fla.) High's Jawand Blue, a 6-foot, 200-pound prospect rated the No. 18 outside linebacker in the country by ESPN.com and No. 40 at his position by Rivals.com. He chose Tech over at least 15 other Division I scholarship offers, including Michigan State, Mississippi, Pitt, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Blue, who had 99 tackles as a junior, is the 15th player from the 2012 class to pick the Hokies, continuing arguably the hottest recruiting start in Tech coach Frank Beamer's career. At this point in the past eight classes, the Hokies had an average of 5.4 commitments and no more than 10.

Tech also has addressed a glaring need at linebacker - where the Hokies largely whiffed in last year's class - by landing four commitments from 2012 linebackers, including three in the past eight days. Deon Clarke of Richmond and Devin Vandyke of Lorton, both rated four-star linebackers by either Rivals or ESPN, preceded Blue in picking the Hokies.

If all of those players eventually sign in February, they'll join the Class of 2011 players who moved onto campus this week. Freshmen who enrolled in the second summer session are wide receivers Kevin Asante and Demitri Knowles; defensive backs Michael Cole, James Farrow and Kyshoen Jarrett; defensive linemen Kris Harley, Luther Maddy, Corey Marshall, Matt Roth and Dadi Nicolas; tailback Michael Holmes; tight ends Ryan Malleck, Darius Redman and Christian Reeves; and offensive lineman Jake Goins.

Those players attended a team meeting Tuesday, began classes and started the Hokies' strength and conditioning program.

Other members of that recruiting class include defensive back Boye Aromire, who enrolled in January and participated in spring practice, and safety Ronny Vandyke and receiver Robert Lockhart, who will enroll for the fall semester and be available when preseason camp begins Aug. 4.

Two others, defensive end Dewayne Alford and tight end Chris Hall, agreed during their recruitment to "grayshirt," meaning they'll enroll in January 2012.