Midlands football QB standout AJ Brand commits to ACC school
AJ Brand will get a chance to play quarterback at a Power 4 school.
The Irmo High School rising senior committed to Virginia Tech on Sunday on Instagram live announcement. He did the announcement at Bull and Bones restuarant in Blacksburg, Va. He had an orange Virginia Tech shirt underneath his black hooded sweatshirt.
Brand picked Virginia Tech over South Carolina and Oregon State. He recently took official visits to Virginia Tech and USC.
While Oregon State was a late school in the mix, it ultimately came down to the Hokies and Gamecocks. And the biggest difference was that Virginia Tech recruited him as a quarterback, while Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks wanted him to play defensive back.
South Carolina doesn’t have a quarterback committed for the 2025 class. Landon Duckworth is committed for the Class of 2026. LaNorris Sellers, a redshirt freshman, will be the team’s starting quarterback when August practice begins.
Meanwhile, Brand is the second QB in Virginia Tech’s class, joining Kelden Ryan of Desoto, Texas.
247Sports Composite and On3 rank Brand as a three-star prospect and 18th-best player in the state for the Class of 2025.
Brand has family ties to state of Virginia. His father and current Irmo coach Aaron Brand played at Halifiax High in Virginia and then at Emory and Henry in college where he was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2023.
AJ Brand is coming off a record-breaking season as quarterback for the Yellow Jackets. He set school records for total offense (4,045 yards), passing yards (2,932), touchdown passes (45) and total TDs (62).
Brand was named Class 4A Lower State Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-state. He helped the Yellow Jackets to the Class 4A Lower State championship game. Irmo will be moving up to Class 5A this season.
Brand also plays basketball and was a member of Irmo’s 2023 4A state championship team. He is expected to enroll in the winter at Virginia Tech but won’t play basketball this year.
Brand becomes the third Class of 2025 quarterback from Palmetto State committed to a Power 4 School. Richland Northeast’s Will Wilson is committed to N.C. State and Westside’s Cutter Woods is committed to Wake Forest but recently was offered by South Carolina. Woods took an official visit to South Carolina over the weekend.
This story was originally published June 23, 2024 at 1:11 PM.
