Only Scratching the Surface, High-Ceiling DE Justin Beadles Signs with the Hokies

In the blink of an eye, Justin Beadles fell in love with the Hokies. He visited Virginia Tech for the first time ever on December 14 and signed with Tech four days later. The towering 6'5", 232-pound defensive end from Sandy Creek HS in Tyrone, GA chose Tech over Arizona State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Boston College and Maryland among other offers.

The 247Sports Composite ranks the WDE prospect a 3-star (0.8519, and 247Sports considers considers Beadles the 72nd ranked player in the Peach State. Beadles was largely off the recruiting board for the Hokies, and most everyone else, until this fall. He committed to Arizona State on July 25, but de-committed on October 14.

"Yeah, [my recruitment] spiked up quite a bit after I de-committed," said Beadles. "It picked up quite a bit again towards the end of November when I put my final tape out."

Towards the end of November is when the Hokies took notice of Beadles and offered him a scholarship.

"When VT called him, he ran to my classroom and pulled me out and was like, 'Hey coach, we need to talk, we need to talk!'," said Sandy Creek defensive line coach Connillious Godfrey. "And we spent about 25 minutes talking about Virginia Tech, the pros, the cons, and things of that nature. And just the opportunity to sign with a Power 5 school like that."

For Beadles, it was the allure of playing for a young, energetic defensive coaching staff led by Justin Hamilton that sold him on the Hokies.

"The brotherhood of the team and the way the coaches got along with the team [was my deciding factor]," said Beadles. "I asked the players individual away from the coaches to see what kind of answer I would get, and all of the players said the players love the coaches. I also like the defensive coordinator."

"When I look at him, I see a young defensive coordinator, and when you see a young defensive coordinator that tells me you're looking at a gunslinger. Somebody who is going to bring the dogs every play with all sorts of blitzes, QB spies, and with me playing on the defensive line I can drop back into coverage, too."