Photo Credit: Harley Taylor
Three-star OT Tristan Bounds has emerged as one of Virginia Tech's top offensive line targets in the 2021 class with the Hokies being in contact with Bounds "every day." The good news for the Hokies is that they've left a strong impression on Bounds with the Hokies among those at the top of his recruitment.
Bounds told us that Virginia Tech is among three schools currently standing out in his recruitment along with Michigan and Virginia. He had this to say about why the Hokies are currently standing out in his recruitment.
"I think the culture is big for me. At this point, all the schools I am considering are great academically so that obviously, but the culture there as well as me being super comfortable with the staff," Bounds said about why VT is standing out for him.
Part of that is also likely due to the strong relationship he has been building with offensive line coach Vance Vice, who unsurprisingly is leading the charge for the Hokies' pursuit of Bounds. The three-star offensive tackle had this to say about his relationship with the Hokies' offensive line coach.
"It’s great. He (Vance Vice) is a great guy, and has been super helpful in making sure I get to know as much as possible about Tech," Bounds said.
Bounds was previously slated to take a visit to Virginia Tech during mid-March that was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and the NCAA dead period that was instituted as a result of it.
However, Bounds did visit Virginia Tech this past fall for the Hokies' victory against Rhode Island and told us that he hopes to take an official visit to Blacksburg. The fact that Bounds has visited Tech previously should prove a positive going forward especially with a recruiting calendar that has seen valuable spring visit opportunities disappear and may see early summer ones disappear as well.
Bounds also told us that he has scheduled an official visit to Michigan for June 19th-21st while also looking at scheduling an official to Virginia.
For now, Virginia Tech appears to be among the top contenders for Tristan Bounds, but with Michigan and Virginia right there as well, it's clear that the Hokies have plenty of work ahead to try to land one of their top offensive tackle targets.
