When it comes to college football, flipped commitments are fairly common. Teams continue to recruit players even when they pledge to another program, with the hope that they’ll ultimately change their mind. This happens significantly less in college basketball, but we had a rare case occur yesterday when four-star guard Joe Bamisile flipped his commitment from Northwestern to Virginia Tech.
After speaking with my family, i’ve decided to decommit from northwestern. i want to thank the Virginia tech staff for having me. #gohookies turkey ? ? pic.twitter.com/jDVTxiK0D2
— josEph (@rexjoee) July 25, 2019
Bamisile’s stock has risen significantly over the past year, as he went from a borderline top-200 player to a bona fide top-75 talent. For Monacan High School in the 2018-19 season, he averaged 28.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game over 23 contests.
According to the Richmond Times, Bamisile spoke to his family and decided that he wanted to play closer to his home in Richmond, Virginia. There was no tampering involved in his recruitment, as Virginia Tech coach Mike Young did not actively recruit Bamisile following his commitment to Northwestern.
With a fairly barren roster following former head coach Buzz Williams’ decision to leave for Texas A&M, Bamisile will be a huge building block for the Hokies alongside incoming freshman Jalen Cone and redshirt freshman Landers Nolley in the backcourt. He’ll go a long way towards helping Virginia Tech get back to the state they were in prior to Williams’ departure.
