Isaiah Brown-Murray 
Cornerback 
East Carolina 
5-10, 191 
2 years remaining (r-Jr.) 

Virginia Tech received a commitment from East Carolina cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray on Saturday night.

The Charlotte, N.C, native tallied 63 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in three seasons with the Pirates. He deflected 11 passes over that span, intercepting one, while forcing a fumble and recovering one.

He led ECU’s defense with 830 snaps this season, per PFF. He graded out well, too: 74.0 overall, 74.1 in run defense, 80.4 in tackling and 73.2 in coverage. Those marks ranked 13th, 12th, sixth and 13th at his position in the AAC, respectively.

For comparison, here’s where his grades stack up against Hokies cornerbacks Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane:

In some ways, he’s a mix of Strong (coverage) and Delane (run defense, tackling). More than anything, though, he’s played 1,246 snaps in his career and is immediately the most experienced player in Tech’s cornerback room. With Strong and Delane gone, Dante Lovett has the most returning career snaps with 244.

Brown-Murray slid into ECU’s No. 1 cornerback role in Week 4 at Liberty after Shavon Revel, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick, tore his ACL in the third game of the season. The redshirt sophomore notched his first career interception against the Flames and returned it 34 yards, and he also forced his first career fumble that game. In the next outing vs. UTSA, he recovered a fumble for the first time.

A product of Hough High School in Cornelius, N.C., Brown-Murray was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class and a top-40 prospect in the state. He held Power Four offers from Arkansas, Louisville and Kansas while being heavily pursued from Group of Five schools like Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Marshall and Old Dominion. He showed his versatility as a senior by scoring five all-purpose touchdowns: one interception return, two punt returns and two kickoff returns.

With the addition of Brown-Murray, the Hokies have eight scholarship cornerbacks for the 2025 season. He’ll slot in alongside Lovett and ahead of a young trio of Thomas Williams (r-So.), Krystian Williams (r-So.) and Joshua Clarke (r-Fr.). They’re all expected to see time in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Minnesota on Jan. 3. Tech also has three incoming freshmen at that position in Knahlij Harrell, Jordan Crim and Jahmari DeLoatch.

He’s the fifth transfer portal addition of the offseason for the Hokies, joining Clemson safety Sherrod Covil Jr., Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart, Central Missouri running back Marcellous Hawkins and Hampton defensive tackle Jahzari Priester.

For more information on Virginia Tech’s comings and goings in the portal, click here for Tech Sideline’s roster management page.

Isaiah Brown-Murray links: 

247Sports 
East Carolina bio 
ESPN 

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Erik Reynolds II knocked down five 3-pointers and put up 25 points to help Saint Joseph’s pull away from Virginia Tech to earn an 82-62 win on Saturday.

The victory gave the Hawks their first back-to-back wins since they won three straight in November.

Reynolds hit from behind the arc with 27 seconds left in the first half to send the Hawks (8-4) into intermission with a 32-30 lead. After the Hokies got two free throws to start the second half, Reynolds’ layup kicked off a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 42-32. Derek Simpson’s second 3 of the half made it a 47-34 lead with under 16 to play. Ben Hammond hit from deep to get Virginia Tech within 10 at 54-44, but Anthony Finkley answered with a 3 and Reynolds followed with a layup as the Hawks pulled away.

Reynolds was 10 of 19 from the field, including 5 of 11 from deep, with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Simpson was 4 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 18 and Rasheer Fleming was 8 for 8 from the line to add 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Finkley chipped in 13 points by hitting 3 of 4 from deep. Saint Joseph’s was 15 of 32 from long range.

Hammond finished with 11 points and Ben Burnham was 3-for-3 from distance off the bench to add another 11.

Saint Joseph’s plays host to Delaware State December 28 before opening Atlantic 10 Conference play against UMass on New Year’s Eve.

Virginia Tech (5-7, 0-1) returns to Atlantic Coast Conference play New Year’s Eve at No. 5 Duke.

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A new flock is taking over Ptarmigan Country Club.

The club outside Fort Collins was purchased this month by Heritage Golf Group, a Virginia-based operator that expanded into Colorado two years ago. Records show the company paid $6.1 million for the land.

Heritage now owns 39 private or semi-private courses across the country, including The Golf Club at Bear Dance in Larkspur, Plum Creek Golf Club in Castle Rock and Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. It bought those three clubs in 2022.

It bought the private club at 5416 Vardon Way from Ryan Flack, whose family owned and operated it for more than 20 years.

“It was a good long-term relationship and the timing was right. We’re very thankful that they selected us,” said Heritage Chief Acquisition Officer Scott McMartin, who has known Flack since he started operating the club.

Ptarmigan, which opened in 1987, features an 18-hole course designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus. It also has a swimming pool, racquet courts and a clubhouse.

Ron Flack, Ryan’s dad, bought it in 2004 for $4.8 million, records show. He and his son revamped several parts of the clubhouse during their tenure, according to the Ptarmigan website.

The older Flack died this past summer, in part leading to the sale, McMartin said. Ryan Flack did not respond to a request for comment.

“It was a combination of high comfort level with Heritage, the right price and the timing with the family. It was just an opportunistic situation,” McMartin said of Flack’s decision to sell.

McMartin said Heritage will improve several aspects of the club, which is already underway with the clubhouse. While the course is in good shape, his team is evaluating whether to give some bunkers a face-lift.

“Once we acquire a property, we go in pretty big with capital,” McMartin said. “We don’t like to stretch it out over years.”

He said Heritage has been looking to expand into Fort Collins because of its growing population and it being a university town. Ptarmigan also fit McMartin’s criteria when it comes to a new club: private with full amenities in a residential area. He said the company also likes to target legacy family-owned clubs that want a dependable exit.

McMartin said Heritage is under contract to buy two more clubs in the eastern U.S and interested in buying more clubs along Colorado’s Front Range.

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