Hokies remain alive for five-star defensive end KJ Henry

VT is looking for a bit of star power in the 2018 class, and defensive end KJ Henry could still provide that. The North Carolina product included Virginia Tech on his top five list today.

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and South Carolina join the Hokies on Henry's trimmed list. He had offers from just about every major program in the country, and eliminated the remainder of them.

The 6-5, 220-pound Henry is the No. 2 weakside defensive end and No. 15 overall prospect nationally. He has taken multiple visits to Virginia Tech, most recently for the spring game back in April (he visited Ohio State's Friday Night Lights camp a couple weeks back, instead of making it to VT's BBQ event).

He is the No. 2 player in the state of North Carolina, where Virginia Tech is trying to plant a major flag. The Hokies have pledges from five Tar Heel State prospects, including No. 5 Tre Turner and No. 13 Alan Tisdale, good friends of Henry. The Hokies' #NC2VT movement is a major selling point in their recruiting pitch to Henry, who could be the highest-ranked player to sign since No. 9 overall Kendall Fuller (now of the Washington Redskins) in the 2013 class.

Henry also had a slight change of plans in announcing his top five: after previously intending to commit on National Signing Day, he now hopes to enroll early at the school of his choice.