When James Franklin arrived at Virginia Tech, one of the first jobs in front of him was clear: upgrade the roster with players who could raise the ceiling right away. In Jaquez White, the Hokies may have landed exactly that kind of defender.
White arrives from Troy with a track record that suggests he can step into the lineup and hold his own immediately in the secondary. He’s not a one-stop transfer story, either. His path has been built the hard way, with stops that never looked flashy on paper but kept producing results on the field.
Coming out of Pierce County (GA) high school, White wasn’t widely recruited, even though he earned All-State recognition as a senior and played three sports. He took the DII route and enrolled at Washburn in Kansas, where he wasted no time making an impression.
As a freshman, White started 11 games and put up 37 tackles along with four pass breakups. The next year, he was voted a captain, and he followed that with another productive season: 39 tackles, two blocked field goals and an interception in 10 games.
After those two years, White entered the transfer portal before the 2025 season and landed at Troy. That move paid off in a big way.
In his lone year in the Sun Belt Conference, he started all 12 games, became a fixture in the defense and finished with 67 tackles and three interceptions. Those numbers earned him All-Sun Belt Second Team honors.
White then hit the portal again and quickly became one of the more sought-after defensive backs available. He ultimately chose Virginia Tech over Tennessee after official visits to both schools.
This spring, White worked his way to the top of the cornerback depth chart. He did suffer an injury during the spring game that initially looked serious, but it proved less severe than first feared, and he was cleared to return to football activities over the summer.
In Other News...
Oregons QB Search Just Took An Early Recruiting Hit
The quarterback hunt for the 2028 class got a lot more interesting for programs trying to get in early, and Virginia Tech was among the schools watching closely. Christopher Vargas, the five-star passer from St. Johns Prep in Massachusetts and the No. 1 quarterback in the Rivals300, had drawn attention for the kind of upside that can shape a recruiting class, with his interest giving the Hokies a real chance to make noise against bigger national brands.
Instead, Vargas is headed elsewhere after weighing a group that included Ohio State, Oregon and Virginia Tech. He pointed to the Buckeyes coaching staff, culture and Ryan Days track record developing quarterbacks, a combination that now forces the Hokies and Ducks to pivot quickly and keep building out their boards at the position. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Adds Edge Rusher Who Could Help Faster Than Expected
Virginia Tech has added another piece to its defensive front through the NCAA Transfer Portal, bringing in edge rusher Cortez Harris as James Franklin and defensive line coach Sean Spencer continue to reshape the room. Harris arrives with the kind of long-term upside the Hokies can use, especially after showing enough in his early career at Penn State to keep evaluators interested as he moves on to Blacksburg.
The appeal here is not just depth, but the possibility of getting help sooner than expected from a player whose recruiting profile once made him a coveted target across the country. Harris was a standout in high school before a season-ending injury interrupted that momentum, and Virginia Tech is now betting it can turn that background into production on its defensive line sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]