Patriot DB Jalen Stroman signs with Virginia Tech (Twitter Photo)
More NoVA athletes have signed their Letter of Intent
by Jim McGrath, recruitNoVA
There was a second flurry of signings yesterday afternoon, as the college Early Signing Day cycle completed its appointed round. While most of the signees had made their intentions known in the morning, several more commitments were discovered over social media on Wednesday afternoon.
In the case of the Hokies, Justin Fuente and his staff received five letters of intent from Virginia athletes yesterday, with two from Northern Virginia. Jabari Parker of Highland Springs was a signing day commitment and the McDonald twins (Jordan and Jayden) of Salem High School (Salem, VA) elected to walk on.
In general, most of the signings went according to plan, and on the tail end of decommitments from Northern Virginia athletes earlier this month, added an element of stability to the day.
WR’s Felton and Hatcher Sign
Two of the best wide receivers from Northern Virginia finalized their college recruiting process yesterday with formal commitments to out-of-state schools.
Tai Felton of Stone Bridge surprised no one with his signing to the Maryland Terrapins. Felton (6-1 170) has been verbally committed to College Park for months, and showed a flash of his speed by being the first official commit to forward his letter to UMD yesterday. He will be enrolling in the next few weeks, and participating in spring practice.
Umari Hatcher of Freedom also committed out-of-state, but will be traveling much farther, as the Eagle (56 rec., 1400 yds., 17 TD in 2019) signed with the Orangemen of Syracuse. Hatcher’s two second-half touchdown catches, including the 36-yard game-winner with 48 seconds remaining, propelled the Eagles to their first-ever region title in 2019, as Darryl Overton’s team topped the Cavaliers 21-16.
More Out-of-State Signings
• Linebacker Mason Woods of Gar-Field (6-1 215) signed with Towson University
• Bishop Ireton lineman James Gillespie (DT 6-2 315) signed with the University of Louisiana-Monroe
• Fellow linebacker C. J. Hoffman of Westfield (6-1 215) inked his college commitment with Howard University
• T. C. Williams running back Robert Longerbeam (c/o 2020, 6-1 170) has signed with the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers
Tech Takes Two
Virginia Tech signed two Northern Virginia players yesterday – Patriot defensive back Jalen Stroman (6-1 190) and Sherando athlete Keli Lawson (6-4 200).
Across the state…
• Old Dominion gained a solid lineman with the addition of guard Skyler Grant (6-3 295) from Riverbend.
• Spotsylvania’s star running back Ty-Shaun Colbert has signed to play for the Virginia Military Institute, and his impact with the Keydets should be immediate.
– Jim McGrath
