Tahj Capehart grew up watching the Hokies on television. Now, he will get to be one.
On Saturday during High School Sports Talk Presented by VirginiaPreps.com on ESPN Radio 94.1, the four-star athlete out of Virginia Beach's Bishop Sullivan Catholic announced that he will play his College Football for Justin Fuente in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech.
Capehart is the 15th commitment in the Class of 2017 for Virginia Tech, but the first four-star prospect. The Hokies have lured in 11 three-star recruits so far.
“Definitely the atmosphere around Tech,” Capehart told us intrigued him about the Hokies. "Coach Fuenete when he came in, he showed me about his offense and how he moved things at Memphis to make it a better program. I know a lot of guys up there, so it feels like home when I’m up there.”
Currently on Virginia Tech’s roster area two former teammates of Capehart at Ocean Lakes in Jahque Alleyne and Tre Hubbard.
Also committing live on ESPN Radio 94.1's High School Sports Talk Presented by VirginiaPreps.com was Capehart's teammate Noah Knapp, a Second Team All-State and Second Team All-Tidewater selection a season ago that gave a pledge to the Army Black Knights.
Capehart narrowed his lengthy list of suitors to a Top 10 that consisted of Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He then broke his list down to five options with Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State, West Virginia and the Hokies.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound speedster developed a tight relationship with Hokies assistant Zohn Burden, who hails from the ‘757’ area code. Burden previously coached at Old Dominion and played at Salem High School in Virginia Beach, where he was one of the area’s top pass catchers.
"I really like Coach Burden. He's been recruiting me really, really hard for a long time. He was my first offer at ODU and then he moved to Virginia Tech. Coach [Holmon] Wiggins is the wide receivers coach. He's a great coach. He's put guys in the league before and I just want to be the next guy."
In 2014 as a sophomore, Capehart had 30 receptions for 623 yards and 10 touchdowns in helping Ocean Lakes capture its first ever State Championship. Last year, he had 25 receptions for 606 yards and six touchdowns to go with 32 total tackles, seven pass breakups, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on defense.
"I'm excited for him, excited for our state, excited for the Hokies," exclaimed Bishop Sullivan Head Coach Chris Scott, who also coached Capehart the past two seasons at Ocean Lakes. "I know that staying home is something that became very appeal to Tahj, his mom, dad and family as they were going through the process."
Bishop Sullivan has a lot of buzz about them this off-season, including a highly anticipated date with IMG Academy to close out the 2016 campaign.
“I’m definitely just trying to step up and be a leader and take more of a role on offense," Capehart stated. "I’ll be playing defense, too, at free safety. We’ve got a lot of guys around here. I just want to take my role, teach them everything.”
"Trying to get those big guys like Devon Hunter, who's supposed to be committing soon I heard, and Jordan Williams. Try to get those younger guys to stay home with me, too. Tayvion Land has already committed to Virginia Tech out of Bishop Sullivan. I'm just trying to get some younger guys to stay home with me."
Matthew Hatfield has covered football and basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.
