Photo Credit: Jake Roth
Check out the latest Virginia Tech football recruiting notes including updates on priority target/four-star DL Kelvin Gilliam plus a couple other names to keep an eye on.
4* DL Kelvin Gilliam
Four-star DL Kelvin Gilliam is one of Virginia Tech's top overall targets with the Hokies making that quite clear to Gilliam. To date, that heavy pursuit is not going unnoticed.
Gilliam told us that the Hokies are among six schools currently standing out in his recruitment along with Penn State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Florida. Additionally, the Hokies are among four schools recruiting him the hardest along with Penn State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
Tech's strong standing in Gilliam's recruitment is built around the consistency in their recruiting of him and the "family vibe" that he has felt from Virginia Tech. Additionally, Tech's heavy push has been felt with Tech throwing the kitchen sink at him having the head coach (Justin Fuente), defensive coordinator (Justin Hamilton), future position coach (Darryl Tapp), and area recruiter (Ryan Smith) all in regular contact with him.
Gilliam is looking at trimming down his list sometime "this month" with the star Richmond area recruit confirming that "some of those schools" that are standing out to him already being certain to make the cut, one of which being Virginia Tech.
We'll have more on Gilliam soon, but what is definitely clear is that the Hokies remain among the frontrunners in the Highland Springs star's recruitment.
3* TE James Carnie
James Carnie may not be a top tight end target for Virginia Tech but if the Hokies miss on a couple other targets, Carnie could be quickly in line to receive a Virginia Tech offer.
Carnie told us that he has been receiving a "good amount" of interest from TEs coach James Shibest and RBs coach Adam Lechtenberg with Carnie having "several conversations" with VT coaches in recent weeks. Carnie also told us that the Hokies' assistants "like" what he brings to the table a lot, but are not ready to extend an offer to him just yet.
Part of the intrigue with the tight end from Nebraska is the fact that in his first year at TE, he recorded 32 catches for 474 yards and 4 touchdowns. That combined with his size at 6'5'' gives plenty of reason to believe that Carnie could be a high-upside pass-catching tight end that could fit very well in the Hokies' offense.
Carnie is currently committed to Miami-Ohio, but is receiving plenty of interest from not just VT, but also Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas State, Iowa State, Northwestern, Boise State, and others. His offer list includes lots of MAC schools plus New Mexico, Air Force, Colorado State, and others.
Keep an eye on James Carnie as a potential offer depending on how this cycle develops.
3* DT Tyler Quinn
The Hokies are keeping their eyes on an intriguing defensive lineman from Texas, three-star DT Tyler Quinn.
Quinn told us that the Hokies are continuing to show interest in him with Quinn speaking with defensive line coaches Bill Teerlinck and Darryl Tapp, and assistant Beau Davidson. During that conversation, Tech's coaches made it clear to Quinn that they want to continue to "build our relationship" as they continue evaluating his tape and determining if they want to extend him an offer.
To date, Quinn has received 17 offers though none of them have been from Power 5 schools yet. However, the Hokies are definitely showing lots of interest and could seriously jump in his recruitment with an offer. If they did, Quinn told us that the Hokies would "definitely be one of my top schools."
Keep an eye on Tyler Quinn as a potential defensive tackle offer to watch out of the Lone Star State.
