Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 3 | January 2020

inside.hokiesports.com 23 He earned a four-star rating from Rivals, a recruiting service, and was No. 10 in the Houston Chronicle’s top 100 prospects in Texas. He had more than 45 tackles and six sacks for a team that won the Class 5A state championship. Wooten, a 6-3, 230-pounder from Stafford, Texas (also a suburb of Houston) was No. 19 on that Houston Chronicle list after recording 73 tackles and six sacks as a senior. He registered 155 tackles and 14 sacks in his career. Those two will team with Derrell Bailey Jr., a 6-6, 255-pounder from Greenback, Tennessee, and Justin Beadles, a 6-5, 232-pounder from Tyrone, Georgia. Bailey had 63 tackles, including 11.5 for a loss, as a senior, while Beadles registered 59 tackles and nine sacks as a senior. A year ago, the Hokies’ signed four defensive tackle prospects to letters-of-intent. This year’s class features these four ends, though any of these could grow into a defensive tackle. The one common trait with all of them was length—all are taller than 6-3 and all possess long arms. Tech’s staff looked closely at that during the process. “I do think relative speed and relative strength is important,” Fuente said. “And we have made a concerted effort to get longer … When you’re trying to keep people off of you, offensive players want those guys in there tight when they’re blocking, and defensive players want them far away. I know that’s oversimplifying it, but that’s part of it. “That doesn’t mean if you’re just tall, you can play, obviously, but trying to continually take up more space on the field and continue to develop some players. They’re all developmental players. They’re all guys that we’ll have to get into the system and lift and feed and bring along, but I think they can restrict some space and ultimately, in the long run, lead to more productive play.” Tech’s staff also went heavy on running backs, signing three tailbacks to go along with the addition of Herbert. The group includes: 6-0, 210-pound Jordan Brunson from Alpharetta, Georgia; 5-10, 195-pound Jalen Hampton from Rockville, Maryland; and 5-11, 225-pound Marco Lee from Columbus, Georgia by way of Coffeyville Community College (Coffeyville, Kansas). Hampton rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior season at Georgetown Prep, while Lee rushed for 820 yards and five scores at Coffeyville. Brunson rushed for 661 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior at Denmark High School. The four tailbacks feature an array of skill sets, but all of them are on the bigger side, with Hampton being the smallest at 195 pounds. This season, Tech’s staff wound up playing Dalton Keene some at tailback just to get a bigger presence in the backfield, and the coaches set out to add size at that position with this class. focus of 2019-20 Techrecruitingclass 2019-20 FOOTBALL RECRUITING NAME POS. HT. WT. HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL/JUCO Derrell Bailey Jr. DL 6-6 255 Greenback, TN Greenback School Justin Beadles DL 6-5 232 Tyrone, GA Sandy Creek Jordan Brunson RB 6-0 210 Alpharetta, GA Denmark Alec Bryant DL 6-3 240 Pearland, TX Shadow Creek Parker Clements OL 6-7 270 Lugoff, SC Lugoff-Elgin Jalen Hampton RB 5-10 195 Rockville, MD Georgetown Prep Khalil Herbert RB 5-9 205 Coral Springs, FL American Heritage (Kansas) Keonta Jenkins DB 6-3 180 Jacksonville, FL Jean Ribault Marco Lee RB 5-11 225 Columbus, GA Hardaway/Coffeyville CC Kaden Moore OL 6-3 305 Bethlehem, PA Freedom Wilfried Pene TE 6-3 240 France St. Thomas More School Lakeem Rudolph DB 6-4 202 Virginia Beach, VA Green Run Tyree Saunders WR 6-0 174 Jacksonville, FL First Coast Dorian Strong DB 6-0 160 Upper Marlboro, MD Dr. Henry Wise Robert Wooten DL 6-3 230 Stafford, Texas Stafford including securing the commitments from two prospects in Texas by Jimmy Robertson Dorian Strong Marco Lee Continued on page 24