Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, SportsTech announces 2012 football recruiting class

Seven prep All-Americans highlight a football recruiting class composed of 28 student-athletes, as announced by Virginia Tech on Wednesday. The class of 28 is the largest since signing 31 in 2008 and the seven All-Americans are the most since inking seven A-As in 2007.

"I am tremendously excited about this recruiting class," head coach Frank Beamer said. "I think every year you have a good group, but I think this one is special. It'll help us continue to move toward our stated goals. I'm particularly happy with the caliber of player, both from an athletic standpoint and from a character standpoint, that we recruited from Virginia. Plus, we were able to go outside of the state and recruit some high quality kids. We're happy with our tailback position. We thought that was a real need this year. Another thing I feel great about is the quality of walk-ons we were able to attract. We have several kids who had scholarship offers to other places who have decided to come to Virginia Tech. I can't name these players, but going over our history with the John Engelbergers, Cody Grimms and Jarrett Fergusons, I think this is a very positive sign for Virginia Tech."

Tech announced 28 players total Wednesday, including 26 who signed NLIs. Seventeen of those 28 players are from Virginia and all of them are ranked among the top 36 in the state according to The Roanoke Times. Highlighting this year's in-state group are four talented players - Dan River High and Parade All-America running back/outside linebacker Trey Edmunds (No. 8 by The Roanoke Times), Clover Hill High receiver Joel Caleb (No. 2 The Roanoke Times), Centreville High defensive end Ken Ekanem (No. 4 The Roanoke Times) and Oscar Smith High running back J.C. Coleman (No. 6 by The Roanoke Times) - who all earned SuperPrep All-America honors, along with Pennsylvania running back Drew Harris. Caleb, Ekanem, Coleman, Edmunds and Harris all made the PrepStar All-America squad, along with L.C. Bird High linebacker Deon Clarke and Lithonia, Ga., defensive end Jarontay Jones.

Caleb is ranked as the No. 53 overall player in the country and the No. 5 "athlete" in the country by PrepStar and played six different positions as a senior, while Ekanem is ranked as the No. 17 outside linebacker in the country by ESPN Recruiting Nation. Coleman is ranked as the No. 3 all-purpose back in the country and the No. 5 prospect in Virginia by Rivals after rushing for 1,488 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior despite missing three games with an ankle injury. Edmunds is listed as the No. 16 outside linebacker and the No. 9 prospect in Virginia by Rivals. He rushed for 2,596 yards and 33 touchdowns on 283 carries and recorded 143 tackles, including two sacks as a senior.

Four of the state's top nine players according to ESPN Recruiting Nation are now Hokies, including Caleb, who is the site's top player in the Commonwealth. Ekanem (No. 6), South County High linebacker Devin Vandyke (No. 7) and Coleman (No. 9) are all in the top 10, as well.

Eleven players from seven different states also joined the Hokies. A pair of Downingtown East High products - Harris and offensive lineman Jack Willenbrock - will make the trek from Pennsylvania. Harris is listed as the No. 20 running back in the country and the No. 11 prospect in Pennsylvania by Rivals, while Willenbrock is ranked as the No. 59 offensive guard in the country and the No. 32 player in the state by ESPN Recruiting Nation.

Cornerback Donaldven Manning hails from Miami, Fla., and played at Miami Central High. He is listed as the No. 23 cornerback in the country and the No. 27 player in Florida by Rivals. With Manning joining the program, it marks the 22nd time in the past 25 years (1988-2012) that Tech has brought in at least one player from Florida.

Virginia Tech welcomes three players from the Peach State in Lithonia, Ga., wide receiver Joshua Stanford, Fairburn, Ga., defensive back Davion Tookes and Jones. Jones is listed as the No. 23 weakside defensive end in the country by Rivals while Tookes is ranked as the No. 25 cornerback in the country by the same outlet. Stanford is rated as the No. 52 wide receiver in the country by ESPN Recruiting Nation.

Also joining the program from out of the state are North Carolina products Chris Mangus and Dahman McKinnon, Tennessee native Woody Baron, South Carolina receiver Mark Irick and Maryland resident Donovan Riley. Mangus hails from Raleigh and is ranked the No. 25 wingback in the country by Tom Lemming on MaxPreps while McKinnon is a linebacker from Hope Mills who is listed as the No. 38 safety in the country by Scout. Baron is a defensive end from Nashville who is listed as the No. 19 player in his state by Rivals. Irick is a wide receiver from St. Matthews who is ranked as the No. 23 player in the state of South Carolina by SuperPrep, while Riley is a defensive back from Reistertown who is rated as the No. 22 prospect in Maryland by Rivals.

Thirteen other players from the state of Virginia are ranked in the top 36 in the state by The Roanoke Times. They are: Benedictine High defensive lineman Nigel Williams (No. 11), Vandyke (No. 13), Christiansburg High quarterback Brenden Motley (No. 16), Clarke (No. 14), Thomas Dale High defensive back Desmond Frye (No. 18), Northside High tight end Dakota Jackson (No. 22), Lafayette High wide receiver Thomas Smith (No. 24), Woodrow Wilson High receiver Der'Woun Greene (No. 25), Cox High defensive lineman Alston Smith (No. 26), Glenvar defensive end Seth Dooley (No. 28), Riverbend High offensive lineman Adam Taraschke (No. 35) and Blessed Sacrament Huguenot offensive lineman Augie Conte (No. 36). Highland Spring High running back Jerome Wright was named the publication's "Sleeper of the Year".

The Hokies continued their recent success in signing players whose fathers played in the NFL. Alston Smith is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and former Hokie defensive lineman Bruce Smith while Edmunds is the son of NFL Pro Bowl tight end Ferrell Edmunds.

Of the 28 players in the class, 13 are projected to play on the defensive side of the ball (six on the line, three linebackers, four defensive backs). Of the 14 players slated for offense, 10 are coming in as skill players (quarterback/running back/receiver), while four are coming in as offensive linemen or as tight ends.  One player (Edmunds) is listed as either a running back or linebacker.

Coleman and Manning both graduated high school early and enrolled at Tech in January, and thus did not sign an NLI on Wednesday. The two are already participating in offseason workouts. Dewayne Alford, Jr., who signed with tech in 2011 and deferred his enrollment, also enrolled in January. Twenty-six players signed with Virginia Tech on Signing Day.

2012 Virginia Tech Recruiting Class
Name    Position        Ht.     Wt.     High School     Hometown
Woody Baron     DE      6-2     258     Brentwood Academy       Nashville, Tenn.
Joel Caleb      WR      6-3     205     Clover Hill     Midlothian, Va.
Deon Clarke     LB      6-3     200     L.C. Bird       Richmond, Va.
J.C. Coleman *  TB      5-7     170     Oscar Smith     Chesapeake, Va.
Augie Conte     OL      6-4     265     Blessed Sacrament Huguenot      Richmond, Va.
Seth Dooley     DE      6-5     230     Glenvar Salem, Va.
Trey Edmunds    TB/OLB  6-2     200     Dan River       Danville, Va.
Ken Ekanem      DE      6-3     240     Centreville     Centreville, Va.
Desmond Frye    DB      6-2     175     Thomas Dale     Chester, Va.
Der'Woun Greene WR      5-11    175     Woodrow Wilson  Portsmouth, Va.
Drew Harris     TB      6-1     220     Downingtown East        Downingtown, Pa.
Mark Irick      WR      6-4     185     Calhoun County  St. Matthews, S.C.
Dakota Jackson  TE      6-3     250     Northside       Roanoke, Va.
Jarontay Jones  DE      6-2     240     Stephenson      Lithonia, Ga.
Chris Mangus    TB      6-0     180     Broughton       Raleigh, N.C.
Donaldven Manning *     DB      5-9     155     Miami Central   Miami, Fla.
Dahman McKinnon OLB     6-1     210     South View      Hope Mills, N.C.
Brenden Motley  QB      6-3     195     Christiansburg  Christiansburg, Va.
Donovan Riley   DB      6-0     190     Baltimore Poly  Reistertown, Md.
Alston Smith    DL      6-3     270     Cox     Virginia Beach, Va.
Thomas Smith    WR      6-4     200     Lafayette       Williamsburg, Va.
Joshua Stanford WR      6-1     180     Martin Luther King      Lithonia, Ga.
Adam Taraschke  OL      6-5     270     Riverbend       Fredericksburg, Va.
Davion Tookes   DB      5-11    165     Creekside       Fairburn, Ga.
Devin Vandyke   LB      6-0     205     South County    Lorton, Va.
Jack Willenbrock        OL      6-2     260     Downingtown East        Glenmoore, Pa.
Nigel Williams  DL      6-3     270     Benedictine     Richmond, Va.
Jerome Wright   RB      6-1     220     Highland Springs        Richmond, Va.
* - already enrolled at Virginia Tech

All-Americans (7)
SuperPrep - Joel Caleb, J.C. Coleman, Trey Edmunds, Ken Ekanem, Drew Harris
PrepStar - Joel Caleb, Deon Clarke, J.C. Coleman, Trey Edmunds, Ken Ekanem, Drew Harris, Jarontay Jones
Parade - Trey Edmunds