An All-ACC season and an All-America nod weren't enough for Hokies cornerback Dorian Strong to try his hand in the NFL quite yet.
Strong announced on social media Thursday night he's returning to Blacksburg in 2024 for what will be his fifth year of college.
https://twitter.com/Dstrong_25/status/1735463225553006989?s=20
Strong had one of the best coverage seasons in Virginia Tech history in 2023. Opponents completed just nine of the 32 passes thrown in his direction (28.1%) for 83 yards. He had three interceptions and broke up seven passes, posting an NFL passer rating against of just 14.1, tops among qualified ACC cornerbacks.
His efforts earned him only a third-team All-ACC selection that felt like a slight, given his stats, though he was chosen as a second-team All-American by the Action Network.
"I don’t take it personally," Strong said last week of his All-ACC standing. "Because at the end of the day, I know what I bring to the table, and regardless of what people think about me, like, who cares? I know every ACC team I played against, I got their respect after. Coach [Derek] Jones come here and told me what the coach said about me. I know I got every single team we played’s respect. And the teams that I didn’t play, shoot, they just got lucky."
https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/1735470910285464063?s=20
Strong's return bolsters what was already a solid Hokies secondary, which has to deal with the departures of veteran safety Nasir Peoples, who exhausted his eligibility, and nickelback Derrick Canteen, who entered the transfer portal.
He and rising junior Mansoor Delane form one of the top returning cornerback duos in the ACC and possibly the country, with a next wave of corners like Dante Lovett, Braylon Johnson and others coming up the ranks.