Four-Star Virginia Tech Target Ezekiel Ayangbile Announces His College Commitment

Virginia Tech has been hot on the recruiting trail as of late, but they were not able to beat out the Miami Hurricanes today for the four-star recruit.

Sep 10, 2022; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; A Virginia Tech Hokies helmet sits near the team bench during the first quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

There have not been many teams that have been hotter than Virginia Tech on the recruiting trail, but they were not able to close on one of their top targets today. Four-Star defensive lineman Ezekiel Ayangbile was choosing between the Hokies, the Miami Hurricanes, and the LSU Tigers; Virginia Tech's ACC rival — the Hurricanes — was the school that came out on top. Virginia Tech had been hopeful that family connections would get him to Blacksburg (his dad is former Virginia Tech offensive lineman Duane Brown and Virginia Tech was the first team to offer him), but Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes continue to dominate in the ACC on the recruiting trail.

BREAKING: Four-Star DL Ezekiel Ayangbile has Committed to Miami, he tells me for @Rivals⁰⁰The 6’3 275 DL from Houston, TX chose the Hurricanes over LSU and Virginia Tech⁰⁰“Glory to Him, and Him alone. I made it.”https://t.co/zEYx7RFIpU pic.twitter.com/5rFlRdNhmS

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 8, 2026

Looking at the class

This is a recruiting loss that is going to sting for the Hokies due to him going to a rival school and the family connections, but in recruiting, nothing is ever over, and for a coach of the caliber of James Franklin, Virginia Tech is not going to stop recruiting him until the early signing period is over and he is officially off the board. Still, it will be tough to pull him from Miami, considering how strong the Hurricanes are on the recruiting trail.

The Hokies have still done a great job recruiting over the past couple of weeks, flipping four-star wide receiver Demarcus Brown from Virginia and last night getting a commitment from four-star defensive back Chase Johnson, pushing Virginia Tech into the top 20 of the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

Right now, Virginia Tech has the No. 19 class in the country and the fourth-ranked class in the ACC, trailing Louisville, Miami, and Cal.

They could shoot up though with some commitments over the next few days, including one big one.

Next Thursday, four-star quarterback Peter Bourque is going to make his decision, and it seems that things have been trending the Hokies way for the past couple of weeks for one of the elite QBs in the 2027 class. Virginia Tech is going to have to beat out Georgia and Penn State for his commitment, but things look good right now for Virginia Tech when it comes to landing Bourque, who would be the highest-rated commit in the Hokies 2027 class.

Franklin was brought to Virginia Tech to turn the program around and the No. 1 way to make that a possibility is to be good at acquiring talent from the high school level and from the transfer portal. While today did not go the Hokies way, they are still trending up in recruiting under Franklin.