South Stanly DE picks Hokies over Wolfpack

South Stanly defensive end Justin Taylor has committed to Virginia Tech, picking the Hokies over fellow finalist N.C. State.

“He’s only played one year of football,” said South Stanly coach Luke Little this evening. “He’s real raw. But everyone who looked at him was just so impressed by the way he hustles, and he’s real athletic.”

Once people got a look at the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Taylor during spring evaluations in May, the offers started coming in. He went from none to eight in less than a month.

“He just plays so hard; he’s like a kind of wild man on the field,” Little said. “You can teach football, but you can’t teach effort.”

Taylor, who has 4.65-second speed in the 40-yard dash, loved basketball and had to be talked into playing football. The results have been so impressive that he’ll play some TE this fall as well as DE.

But Virginia Tech knows what it has. They plan to use Taylor as a pass-rushing defensive end, Little said.

--Stan Olson