Four-Star Safety Tristin Hughes Trending Towards Hokies

Virginia Tech football is in the hunt for a Class of 2027 safety. 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety Tristin Hughes — listed as an athlete on 247Sports — is trending towards the Hokies, according to On3.

Commitment date set !!! pic.twitter.com/bCbAMUYn8W
— Tristin Hughes 4⭐️ (@_tristinhughes) March 25, 2026

Hughes is ranked as a three-star prospect on the main 247Sports recruiting database, listed as the No. 20 athlete in the class and the No. 10 recruit from the state of Ohio. The composite rankings currently list him as the No. 326 recruit in the Class of 2027, the 14th-ranked athlete and the No. 13 Ohio recruit. Rivals currently ranks Hughes as a four-star recruit (86.61 overall), the No. 374 nationally-ranked player, the No. 33 overall safety (No. 1 in Ohio) and the No. 14 Ohio recruit.

Rivals currently lists Virginia Tech with a 90.2% chance to get a commitment from Hughes, giving Kentucky, Louisville and Syracuse 3.3%, 1.7% and 1.4% marks, respectively. Virginia Tech landed one safety in its previous recruiting class: three-star Tyrell Grant Jr. The Hokies currently have seven safeties on their roster, with seniors Jordan Bass, Tyson Flowers and Sherrod Covil set to graduate this year (barring redshirt):

Tyson Flowers (r-Sr.)
Jordan Bass (Sr.)
Sherrod Covil (Sr.)
Quentin Reddish (r-So.)
Brennan Johnson (So.)
Sheldon Robinson (So.)
Tyrell Grant Jr. (Fr.)

With Virginia Tech potentially losing as many as three players — and a presumable day one starter in Flowers — the Hokies landing Hughes is critical to ensure added depth for a rather unproven unit.

According to his 247Sports page, Hughes visited Virginia Tech on May 29, 2025. According to Wolverines Wire, Virginia Tech and Michigan both extended offers to Hughes after a regional camp conducted in Indianapolis.

Here's a full list of the schools that have offered him, per 247Sports:

Arizona State
Bowling Green
BYU
Eastern Michigan
Iowa State
Kent State
Kentucky
Louisville
Maryland
Miami (Ohio)
Michigan State
Ohio
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Purdue
Syracuse
Toledo
UConn
UMass
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Virginia Tech currently has one commitment in the Class of 2027: three-star defensive lineman Alexander Taylor from Baltimore, Maryland. The 6-foot-2, 260-pound recruit announced his commitment to Virginia Tech on March 19. The Hokies' recruiting class currently ranks No. 63 at the time of writing. Virginia Tech's 2026 recruiting class was highly productive, jumping all the way up to No. 33 on 247Sports after the hiring of James Franklin as head coach on Nov. 17.

Hughes is set to announce his commitment on Thursday, April 2.