After "Stressful" Wait, 2016 OLB Tavante Beckett Stunned to Earn Coveted Hokies Offer

Rising senior OLB Tavante Beckett of Chesapeake's Indian River HS has been hoping for a Hokies offer for months now, but he could scarcely believe his ears when one finally came his way.

Both Bryan Stinespring and Bud Foster came by his school in person on Tuesday to give him the good news, and it seems the exchange left him a bit dumbfounded.

"I was just so surprised, I looked over at my coach like 'huh,'" Beckett said. "He just goes 'you know that means they're offering right?' I was just so happy, I couldn't believe it."

Blessed To Say I Have Received An Offer from Virginia Tech Today #HokieNation pic.twitter.com/ipmFn4hzDh— Tay (@Tavante4) May 5, 2015

Beckett has long considered Tech one of his favorite programs given the school's stellar reputation in the Tidewater region, and his visit to the team's Junior Day on February 7 only confirmed that belief.

The Hokies had long hinted that an offer was forthcoming, but Beckett admits he was getting a little impatient with anticipation.

"Virginia Tech has always been one of my favorites, but the wait got to me a little bit," Beckett said. "But there's no love lost there, I still really like them."

The fact that both Stinespring and Foster made the effort to come and see him to make the offer in person helped smooth over whatever tension might've existed between the two sides.

"I didn't know what an honor it was to have Coach Foster be there for the offer until later, that was a really big deal to me," Beckett said.

He says the pair made it perfectly clear that the team is ready to start aggressively pursuing linebackers in the 2016 class, and they're hoping he'll join Victor Greene as the second OLB to commit this cycle.

"They say they're starting to offer a lot of linebackers, and they're hoping to get more people on board and fill some of these open spots," Beckett said.

As he starts to ponder the prospect of grabbing one of those spots, he first took the opportunity to share the news about the new offer with his friends currently playing for the Hokies.

While he's since transferred to Indian River after a sudden move, Beckett has longstanding ties to Tech players like J.C. Coleman and Jaylen Bradshaw from his days on the field with them at Oscar Smith HS. Beckett says they were relieved to hear that their team is finally making their interest in the rising senior official.

"They were all just like 'yes, finally,'" Beckett said. "They really want me there with them, and they always said they knew it was coming."

YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM TURRRNNNNTTTTT! BEEN WAITING ON THIS DAY! https://t.co/GOjC9chYp9— J.C. Coleman (@jc_coleman4) May 5, 2015

They're apparently not alone in that respect.

"There were a lot of people in this area that think it was about time that I got (a Tech offer)," Beckett said. "A lot of them think that now that I have it, I'm going to commit, but I'm not ready yet."

But with the spring evaluation period still ongoing for schools around the country, Beckett says he's hoping to wait a bit and see what other interest materializes before making any final decisions.

So far, Delaware and Marshall are his only other offers, but Beckett feels confident that more are coming soon.

"Lots of colleges are coming by these days, and lots seeing my film, and they might not take as long to offer, so I just want to see what happens," Beckett said.

To fend off the advances of Beckett's other potential suitors, the Hokies are hoping to get him back on campus as soon as possible. While a summer visit doesn't seem to be in the cards for Beckett, he says he's absolutely ready to catch some games at Lane Stadium this season.

"They told me they'd let me know when I can get back there, but I'm ready to go," Beckett said. "I really want to see J.C. and Bradshaw practicing out there, checking out the old teammates at a couple games this season. Plus the atmosphere is so crazy there, I love it."

With an offer now in hand, Beckett says the process of planning those visits and the rest of his recruitment process feels considerably less taxing.

"It was really tough and stressful, and everybody saw how it was affecting me, but now I'm just so grateful to have (the offer)," Beckett said.