2024 WR Keylen Adams shares look into his Recruitment and Game

"Brodie" is the nickname given to the 757 native Keylen Adams who is a sophomore wide receiver at Green Run High School. Keylen is a not only a standout WR in the state of Virginia, but also in the nation.

Keylen Adams was thrilled to receive his first offer from the University of North Carolina, which came in June of last year. He was quite excited, to say the least, on getting the notice from Chapel Hill to announce that he would be receiving his first scholarship offer to play football at the next level. Coach Dre Bly, a 757 native as well, pushed the Tarheels to give Adams his first offer after hearing and seeing great things from the young wide receiver.

Soon after the Tarheels extended the offer to Keylen, the Hokies made sure to offer a scholarship to the in-state native months after. Keylen explains how he felt early on in his recruitment process with, "I was excited because I felt that I was working hard to get it". The dominoes started to fall even more for Keylen when other programs like Florida State, Virginia, Maryland, and Pittsburgh all began to extend offers as well.

Keylen stated that some schools that haven't offered him yet, but he is hoping to hear from are, "Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU, and Alabama".

Now in terms of picking a school and his most important factors for that decision, Keylen said, "Academics first and foremost. And then, I want to play early, so I would look more into the depth charts of these schools and see where I can play earlier. Because some guys will go to certain schools and not end up playing until their senior year, but others can go to the same school and start early, so it depends on how hard you work. Then I would say how far the school is from home.

When thinking about what he might want to study once he gets to college, Keylen said he was thinking about engineering as a possibility. However, with lots of time left, he is still trying to decide what he ultimately wants to study during his next chapter.

And when he isn't focused on academics, Keylen is putting in his time to the Green Run Football team. In fact, the Green Run Stallions had their first scrimmage of the season against the Deep Creek Hornets with the Stallions taking the game 19-6. "It was good, there is always room to get better, but I feel like as a team we did good...And we had a few mistakes, but we're fixing those in practice right now", said Keylen in response to the scrimmage against Deep Creek. The Deep Creek Hornets had one of their better seasons in recent history last year by going 7-2, with their only losses coming from Maury and Oscar Smith respectively.

"I feel like it was a good warm-up game for this season to get us ready. That's the point of a scrimmage anyway, to see where we're at as a team in game-like situations", said Keylen.

The 2020 football season, or lack of one, took a toll on the Green Run team. "The practicea were either cold or very rainy. It also was rushed compared to a normal season. We had our 3 days of helmets, and then got our pads, then in about a week or two it was full equipment for games. Now though, we had a summer camp with the weight room and conditioning, then once we started practice it was more organized", explained Keylen.

The 2024 WR also feels that he has taken a step up in his leadership skills for his team. He says that he models some of that from teammates like WR Tayon Holloway (UNC Commit), QB Xavier Davis, and Safety Tyler Baker. Green Run also brings in former Bayside DL Lemar Law Jr, who is committed to play for the Hokies. Keylen says the pair have talked a bit, but nothing too serious, as his recruitment won't really open up until his junior year due to NCAA rules prohibiting communication between coaches and recruits until then.

Nonetheless, the Green Run team, especially Keylen, are excited to have a full, fall season that they get to play more games in. He says that he is ready to have a better year than last year, with more opportunities to show everyone what he can do. Keylen stated that he is ready to display his strengths of catching/ball security, route running, and his IQ for the game of football when he lines up on offense this season. "I like to watch a lot of NFL receivers. Not even so much their game film, but like them during practice actually going over stuff", explained Keylen on his approach to viewing top receivers. He gives props to Jerry Jeudy, former Alabama wide receiver, to being his favorite NFL receiver.

His goals for the 2021 season are to get more kick returns, double-digit touchdowns, and a really good block. And as for the team as a whole, the answer was clear, to win a state championship.

When asked about if he had exposure to the Virginia Tech program early on, Keylen had this to say, "Yes and no. The first time I heard of Virginia Tech I was in sixth grade playing for the Mustangs. And our coach actually took us to a game and at the time I thought we were just going to a game, but the older kids were taking visits there. They took us on a small tour and such, but I was young and playing football for fun at the time". He plans on visiting Blacksburg and Virginia Tech once he is allowed to take visits.

"I definitely want to go. When I went it was nice, just from the little bit that I saw. It was a nice experience", further explained Keylen.

Keylen said growing up he worked out at the TNDOGYM, which is ran by Giavanni Ruffin (former ECU standout). There, he spoke and worked out with UNC DB Tony Grimes who gave him advice on the game and on recruitment. He states this relationship with Tony Grimes as kind of getting a taste of the college recruiting process before it was his turn.

Currently, Keylen is ranked as the top player in the state of Virginia and 11th in the nation for the class of 2024. "I tend to not think about it, but it doesn't put much pressure on me. If I go out and play how I've been playing then hopefully I will keep going up the rankings", was Keylen's response to the pressure ratings bring on. He also stated that he believes he holds well when compared to others nationally, especially at camps.

When asked about his offseason, Keylen was slated to play 7v7 football for Team Thoroughbred out of the 757 under Coach Alex and Coach Q. However, COVID-19 but an abrupt stop to those plans. He hopes to join the 7v7 team after this season though.

And lastly, to break up the interview, Keylen was asked to pick a pregame hype song/artist. "The old Chief Keef. Like 2012 Chief Keef", was the answer Keylen gave. And it is clear to see that if Keylen Adams and the Green Run team goes as hard as "Old Chief Keef" went on his tracks, that we will be hearing a lot about the Stallions here soon.