Virginia Tech Basketball: 2025 Four-Star Forward Braydon Hawthorne Set to Visit Hokies on Friday
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Hawthorne, a 6'8" small forward, is the No. 1 high school player in West Virginia according to both 247 Sports and ESPN. Nationally, he is ranked No. 81 in ESPN's Top 100 and No. 71 on 247 Sports. Among small forwards, he is positioned as No. 16 by 247 Sports and No. 23 by ESPN.
NEWS: 2025 4⭐️ Braydon Hawthorne is visiting Virginia Tech tomorrow, he tells @LeagueRDY.
— Sam Kayser (@247HSHoops) April 17, 2025
Hawthorne is one of the top available players in the ‘25 class and was originally committed to West Virginia.
He also visited Kentucky earlier this week. #81 in the ESPN100. pic.twitter.com/ph3VTwXIv1
Virginia Tech emerges as the only ACC school outside of Virginia making a true push for Hawthorne. The Hokies are projected to be serious contenders for the four-star largely due to his strong connection with Chester Frazier.
Formerly an assistant coach at West Virginia, Frazier announced he will return to Blacksburg to join Mike Young's staff as an assistant coach. Hawthorne had initially committed to West Virginia but later requested a release due to significant coaching changes, including Frazier's departure, as well as head coach Darian DeVries' move to Indiana.
To note, former West Virginia power forward Amani Hansberry — who led the Mountaineers with 6.5 rebounds a game — transferred from West Virginia following this season due to the coaching changes and followed Frazier to Virginia Tech. A very similar situation to Hawthorne's decision to look at other schools.
Despite the strong ties, Hawthorne is drawing attention from many top schools outside of just Virginia, including four NCAA Tournament teams from this season: Kentucky — where he visited on Thursday — Michigan, Indiana and Marquette.
If Hawthorne were to commit to Virginia Tech, he would become the highest-ranked high school recruit to join the Hokies since shooting guard Landers Nolley in 2018, per 247 Sports. It would be a big get for the Hokies recruiting class.
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Along with covering the Hokies for Virginia Tech On SI, Taylor also writes for Yardbarker covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA football and basketball. He also runs his own baseball media company, Around the Globe Baseball, covering the MLB. He is currently a Junior at Virginia Tech and majors in sports media and analytics