July 11th Camp Notes

The Virginia Tech coaching staff held their first summer camp four weeks ago, back on June 6th. Now, it's time for the coaches to hold their 2nd summer camp next weekend... and if the indicators are right, this camp will be a big one. The June 6th had a small turn out due to a few factors, the SAT's were that Saturday and Wake Forest and a few other surrounding schools were also holding camps that day.

However, next weekends camp will be uncontested, which will lead to some big names possibly showing up.

Perhaps one of the more nationally known recruits, Florida commit and 5 star athlete Matt Elam could be making his way to Blacksburg with his teammate Robert Clark. Elam is ranked as the 5th best player in the 2010 class according to Rivals.com but has admitted that he will more than likely follow his teammate around why he takes his visits.

Clark is a talented athlete in his own right as he holds 11 total offers including one's from Louisville, Auburn, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. There's no guarantee that these two guys will come next weekend but it's a safe bet that they will visit sometime this summer.

Virginia Tech commit Mark Leal will be heading up to Blacksburg next weekend and he will bring his teammate and 4 star wide receiver James Louis along with him. Louis already has a VT offer in hand and currently has Tech in his top 5. With both Jayron Hosley and Mark Leal recruiting him for VT, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tech pull out in front for the "Eddie Royal like" wide receiver.

The Hokies still need to find another offensive lineman in this class and one player to keep in eye on is Jake Schaap from the great state of New York. Schaap is a bit on the short side for a lineman at 6'2", but he makes up for it with his strength and use of leverage on the line. Jake could play either guard or center at the collegiate level and if he earns a VT offer, look for him to go ahead and commit.

Braxton Deaver, a tight end out of Charlotte, North Carolina, will be on campus next weekend. Deaver is an interesting prospect as he has a similar mold to that of Logan Thomas in last years class. Braxton does have good hands and seems to be pretty athletic on film so I wouldn't be too surprised to see him earn an offer as well next weekend. Currently the tight end has four scholarship offers from Vanderbilt, East Carolina, Wake Forest, and Marshall.

Dominique Guinn-Bailey, a defensive end out of Churchland High School in Portsmouth, VA, will attend the camp next week. Dominique pulled in his first offer earlier this week from UVA so it will be interesting to see how the Hokies respond next weekend. The coaches are still looking to take one more defensive end in this class so Guinn-Bailey has a good chance to earn an offer.

Speaking of defensive ends, Kareem Martin will be on campus next weekend as well. Martin is a 3 star recruit out of Roanoke Rapids, NC. The talented defensive end has an impressive offer list as he holds an offer from Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina, NC State, Penn State, Stanford, UVA, Virginia Tech, ECU, and Wake Forest. Kareem seems to be fairly open to all schools right now but hopefully Tech can make an impression on him next weekend. He certainly would be a nice pickup and would complete a great defensive line hall for 2010.

Tech will also be hosting a few talented 2011 recruits next weekend. Corey Marshall is going to be a highly recruited defensive tackle from Dinwiddie next year but it wouldn't surprise me to see Marshall wrap up his recruitment fairly early especially since the Hokies have already verbally offered him. Marshall is a tad undersized right now at 6'1", 255 pounds but he's just a rising Junior so he still has two years left to fill out his frame a little more.

Dominique Patterson will be a name to watch next weekend as he could be a player that earns an offer by competing in the camp. Patterson is a little on the thin side at 6'2", 205 lbs but he has a nice frame and has the speed to play either outside linebacker or rover at the collegiate level. Since he doesn't currently hold any offers, if he were to receive one from Tech, he could end his recruitment next weekend as well.

Two cornerbacks to watch next weekend will be from Bethel high School here in Virginia and Kyle Fuller from Maryland. Fuller is the younger brother of a Hokie great Vincent Fuller who of course, played here back in 2002 and 2003. Walker's recruitment has been surprisingly slow so far even though he seems like a talented player on film. With Louis Young committing to Stanford, Tech still needs to find one or two more cornerbacks in this class so Rijo has a great chance to earn an offer. Fuller already holds an offer from Virginia Tech but has added a Duke, Kansas, Maryland, and Syracuse offer since then.

Finally, Nick Dew, the ESPN 150 member will be on campus next weekend. Dew stated that he will more than likely commit to Virginia Tech this summer but wanted to take his time and make sure he was making the right choice. Dew is a heat seeking missile at safety (so you can see why Coach Foster likes him so much) and will more than likely be a rover, free safety, or outside linebacker at Virginia Tech.

That's a brief rundown of some of the confirmed recruits that will be on campus on July 11th. There will probably be around 100 kids there overall including most of those who have committed in the 2010 class already. Zack McCray, Nick Acree, Tahrick Peak, Derrick Hopkins, Ricardo Young, Mark Leal, and Caleb Farris will all be in Blacksburg next weekend as well.