Signing Day capsule: Keshawn King
Not a HokieHaven.com subscriber? Join today for access to all our premium content and message board community.
Does Virginia Tech has its running back of the future? It just may in signee Keshanw King of Orange Park (Fla.) Oakleaf.
The 6-1, 195-pounder committed this Summer to moderate fanfare, but vindicated the staff's faith in him with a huge senior year for his high school team.
Rankings
Four-star, No. 44 player in Florida and No. 24 running back nationally.
Other suitors
Arkansas, Cincinnati, FIU, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Pitt, Purdue, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Temple, Tulane, Wake Forest
Recruitment story
Virginia Tech was an early offer for King, coming through in the Summer. However, it was tough to gauge his overall interest in the program in those stages. That changed when he set up a visit for the Blacksburg BBQ Bash at the end of July. He made it to campus a couple days before the event, and made it clear that he was feeling the Hokies. In fact, he pulled the trigger a couple days before the Bash itself, beginning the weekend with a bang. Other offers came through during his outstanding senior year on the field, and he considered some of them (including taking an official visit to Ole Miss), but stuck with the first major school to show him love.
Game breakdown
King is a do-it-all back who had to be just that for a high school team that was unable to provide him a ton of help in the blocking game. He's agile in the hole, able to set up his blocks and find openings in the line of scrimmage, and can break tackles or run through some of them without slowing down. He's an upright runner who shifts into another gear when he hits the open field - though he'll never be known as a true blazer. He can also catch the ball out of the backfield, and the workload he can take on in all phases of the game makes him the prototypical feature back for an offense that likes to run with power.
Statistically speaking
Oakleaf finished 5-6. King ran 188 times for 2017 yards (8.1 per carry) and 30 touchdowns, caught eight passes for 44 yards (5.5 per grab) and another score, and returned two kickoffs for 121 yards and a touchdown.