By most accounts, Virginia Tech had a pretty underwhelming National Signing Day. Solid but not spectacular.

The Hokies missed out on five-star linebacker Stephone Anthony, who decided to sign with Clemson on ESPNU, and they had one big-time offensive recruit — quarterback Lafonte Thourogood — back out of his verbal commitment and sign with Vanderbilt of all places.

But all in all, it was a solid class, and like I wrote in two stories for Thursday’s edition of The News & Advance, rankings and stars don’t always translate into success on the football field.

Consider: Tech has win four ACC titles and been ranked in the final AP top 10 four times in the last seven years and it has done it all without a top 10 recruiting class.
This year’s class is ranked 35th in the nation and sixth in the ACC by Rivals and 39th in the nation by Scout.com.
*Thourogood’s change of heart had much to do with new Vanderbilt assistant coach Chris Beatty. Beatty used to be the head coach at Landstown High in Virginia Beach and he has strong ties to the Hampton Roads area.
*The Hokies signed only eight players from Virginia, which goes against their recent trend of stocking up on in-state players. They signed four players from Florida, two from D.C. and one each from North Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia.
*Based on Rivals’ rankings, Tech signed only two of the top 10 players in Virginia and only six of the top 30. UVa signed four of the top 10 and 13 of the top 30.
*Tech worked its Delray Beach, Fla., pipeline extra hard this year, signing two players from Atlantic High, the same school that produced former Hokies David Clowney, Brandon Flowers and current Tech players Jayron Hosley and Mark Leal.
*DT Kris Harley is probably the highest-regarded recruit in Tech’s class. He is ranked No. 141 on ESPNU’s top 150 list and No. 174 by Scout.com. Harley comes from the same high school — Warren Central in Indiapolis — that produced tailback Darren Evans.
*DE Matt Roth comes from the same high school (Nease in Ponte Vedra, Fla.) that produced former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
*Virginia Tech posted bios of each recruit on its website as the players signed Wednesday. Among the details listed in the bios were the host players for each recruit.
It seems that Lynchburg natives Logan Thomas and Zack McCray, who are first cousins and both former Brookville High standouts, should get some credit for some of Tech’s biggest signees.
Thomas hosted defensive end Corey Marshall and tight end Chris Hall, and McCray hosted wide receiver Demitri Knowles, cornerback James Farrow and defensive tackle Kris Harley.
*Another interesting nugget from one of the bios — Hall has bowled three perfect games. Very nice.