In-state prospect Sam Faniel has committed to the Hokies. (Nick Brown)

Sam Faniel 
Tight end, Class of 2027 
Benedictine, Richmond, Va. 
6-5, 215 

Virginia Tech and James Franklin picked up an in-state commitment from Benedictine tight end Sam Faniel on Saturday.


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Faniel unofficially visited Blacksburg in April and was on an official visit this weekend when he committed. He chose the Hokies, but also officially visited Arizona State and had trips scheduled to Florida State, Texas A&M and Alabama.

He's a four-star prospect by On3, which ranks him as the No. 17 tight end in the 2027 class. He's a unanimous top-10 talent in the Commonwealth of Virginia, though 247Sports and ESPN have him as a three-star. The 247Sports composite rankings have him as the No. 406 recruit in the country.

Faniel's Power Four offer list also included Auburn, Cal, Colorado, Duke, Florida State, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, NC State, Nebraska, Northwester, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, UCF, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

A dual-sport athlete who also excelled on the basketball court, he was invited to the 2026 Adidas Polynesian Bowl Combine in Las Vegas and will play in the 2027 Polynesian Bowl in January. He's the younger brother of Alex Faniel, a quarterback prospect in the 2017 class from Glen Allen who converted to tight end at Ole Miss. His cousin, Dylan, also played at Army.

As a junior at Benedictine, Sam hauled in 26 passes for 347 yards and seven touchdowns. He earned all-conference honors, which he shared with three signees in the Hokies' 2026 class — Maddox Cochrane, Buddy Wegdam and Davion Brown — and fellow 2027 commit Demarcus Brown. He's also a three-time state champion.

Faniel is the 16th commit in Virginia Tech's 2027 class and the third tight end, joining Jordan Karhoff (Columbus, Ohio) and Braxton Salster (Jacksonville, Ala.).

Sam Faniel links: 

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