No. 1 Recruit in West Virginia Layth Ghannam Commits to Virginia Tech

The number one player in the state of West Virginia for the class of 2023 OL Layth Ghannam announced on Saturday morning that he will be committing to Virginia Tech over West Virginia.

“First off I would like to thank all the coaches and programs that recruited me, and gave my family and I the opportunity to experience this process,” wrote Ghannam on Twitter.

I want to thank my family, coaches, teachers, trainer and most importantly my teammates for sticking with me through his whole journey. With that being said I have decided to commit to Virginia Tech! Go Hokiesz.”

Ghannam (6-foot-5, 280 pounds) visited West Virginia multiple times including taking his official visit this past weekend. Ghannam was an in-state target for West Virginia, hailing from Charleston, West Virginia.

The offensive lineman included West Virginia in his top four schools that he was considering, along with North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech.

Ghannam was listed as a 4-star recruit by 247Sports and On3, but was listed as a 3-star prospect by Rivals. He’s listed as the No. 1 recruit in the state on both 247Sports and On3. Rivals doesn’t have a West Virginia ranking.

Losing the No. 1 recruit in your own state never looks good for a public school like West Virginia, who is the largest school in the state. Add in that Ghannam committed to a rival in Virginia Tech, and it looks like a big loss for Neal Brown.

All that being said, in today’s modern day game, recruiting in-state is significantly less important than it was even just 20 years ago. Especially a state that doesn’t have as much talent (West Virginia) as others (Florida, Texas).

Plus, West Virginia still has a solid recruiting class for 2023 with six three-star recruits surrounding Rodney Gallagher III, one of the highest rated recruits in school history.