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WAR ROOM-- 1.13.17

BradFranklin

CavsCorner Publisher
Staff
Sep 2, 2003
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Short Pump, Va.
The WAR ROOM is back and this edition is full of football recruiting scoop! With the dead period over, visits are back on and we'll tell you what we're hearing and how things look for UVa as the Wahoos look to close out the 2017 recruiting class. We'll take you through some of the storylines that are on the board, break down some recruitments where the Cavaliers are both surging and bowing out, and also tell you about some upcoming visitors. We'll also get into a host of recent offers that have gone out and break down who the Wahoos are looking at as things start to ramp up for the class of 2018.


As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!


The stretch run in '17
UVa has already done most of the heavy lifting in assembling its 2017 class. Bronco Mendenhall and the Cavaliers have a good group thus far but obviously are looking to add several more recruits to the mix. Our best guess right now is that five isn't out of the question.

The "big" recruiting weekend is set for a week from now but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to discuss now that the dead period has ended and kids can get out on the road for visits. Word is that three-star wide receiver Josh Johnson , a 5-foot-10, 170 pounder from College Park (GA) Woodward Academy, is expected to be in Charlottesville soon, potentially this weekend. The Louisville commit is good friends with UVa legacy commit Joey Blount and you have to like Virginia's potential in flipping him. At this point, we don't have a great feel on timing, though, so this one will need to play out a bit.

Elsewhere at that spot, it has seemed for some time that UVa was most focused on a couple of other receivers in former South Carolina commit Shawn Smith and Louisiana native Davontavean Martin. While we've heard Smith will be in town next weekend for his official visit and that the Hoos will be looking to close, it seems like admission concerns has ended UVa's recruitment of Martin and the sides have parted ways. In our view, if Virginia is able to land either Johnson or Smith as we expect, that's a solid net at that position in this class.

Realistically, much of the focus in 2017 remains in the trenches. Four-star Rivals250 standout Mekhi Becton is still the top target and he should be given the location, the position of need, and the fact that he was in Charlottesville in 2016 more often than a lot of the media members who cover the team. As visit dates get tossed about, it's understandable that fans have some anxiety. No one we've talked to, both in terms of UVa sources or just in-state voices, seems to think he lands elsewhere even though he's not planning to take an OV to Virginia. That's going to create some (serious) apprehension and it's understandable. Word is that he'll be in Louisville this weekend to check out the Cards before seeing Oregon and Virginia Tech in the coming weeks. All we can tell you is to let the process play out.

Shortly after he committed to Maryland, it seemed clear that UVa wasn't done pursuing three-star Southampton lineman Tyran Hunt and given the details we heard at the time, it made a lot of sense. The Cavaliers were the odds-on favorite for him and there are rumblings out there that UMd went negative in a big way. Now, that's not to say that the kid didn't have his own reasons for liking what he saw from the Terps and perhaps there were a great many of them, but we don't think it's outlandish to say the negatively played a role. Then when Mike London left College Park to be the new big whistle at Howard, there was even more reason to think UVa could have another shot. Yet, on Thursday night, Hunt announced on Twitter that he would be enrolling early at Maryland, thus ending any real hope UVa (or others) might have had to flip him. So ends one of the weirder recruitments we've seen in a while and given just what's happened this year, that's saying something.

So, what else is there in the trenches for UVa outside of Becton? Well, let's start with the three other line targets from Hawaii: Three-star Honolulu defensive end Miki Suguturaga, fellow three-star defensive end Aliki Vimahi, and three-star offensive lineman Mo Unutoa. Now, to recap, we've said in the past that we weren't very confident in UVa's ability to land these guys given that they took their OVs in November and went back home without committing. We still feel like the chances are much greater that UVa doesn't get them. But at the same time, there have been enough rumblings out there to make us think that the chance that Virginia signs one or two are better than they were a couple of months ago.

Vimahi, the 6-foot-4, 244 pounder from Kahuki (HI), seems to be the one most linked with UVa. He is heading to Atlanta this weekend for his planned visit to Georgia Tech and word has been that he's got a visit set up to Utah next weekend. At this point, we're not sure what Suguturaga, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound end, or Unutoa, the 6-foot-5, 280 pounder, have planned. The buzz out there around Vimahi and Suguturaga has been a little more prevalent but we wouldn't count UVa out for Unutoa as of now, either.

Lastly, we'll be keeping an eye on Knoxville (TN) Knoxville Central DE Isaac Buell in the coming week or so. The 6-foot-4, 261-pound lineman has offers from Boise State, Navy, and UVa, among others, and is planning on being in Charlottesville next weekend. We will not be surprised at all if he commits then or shortly thereafter.

It's also readily apparent that UVa is going to be pursuing transfer options as well. We expect the Cavaliers to add a QB and OL through this route if not a NT as well. As with most all transfer situations, details are tough to nail down and some of this won't even become totally clear until that March/April timeframe, as Mendenhall referenced during his sitdown with reporters last month. We know that UVa is in on former Missouri quarterback Marvin Zanders as well as South Carolina transfer Lorenzo Nunez and both are expected to take visits this month.


New offers
The Hoos have been busy over the past few weeks tossing out some offers that we wanted to touch on this week. We'll start in the class of 2017 and in the trenches where UVa has thrown its hat in the ring for three-star offensive tackle Nick Ford out of San Pedro (CA). The 6-foot-5, 270-pound tackle has picked up offers from UVa, Utah, and Washington in the past week or so to go along with offers from Arizona, BYU, Cal, Oregon State, Utah State, and Washington State, among others. As with any and all offers at this stage of the process, the key will be finding a way to get the kid on Grounds. As of yet, we haven't heard either way.

The bulk of the offers UVa has tossed out have been in the class of 2018, where we'll start with three-star lineman Tola Banjoko from Episcopal in Alexandria. The 6-foot-5, 243-pound lineman could play on either side of the ball at the next level and already has offers from Georgia, Missiouri, NC State, Rutgers, and Vanderbilt.

Virginia has also offered three-star Suwanee (GA) North Gwinett offensive lineman Warren Ericson. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman also has early offers from Florida, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia.

Heading out west, UVa is also in on three-star Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Santa Margarita Catholic athlete Malone Mataele, a 6-foot, 167 pounder with offers from BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Hawaii, UCLA, and Utah.

Staying with skill guys, UVa has also offered Plantation (FL) American Heritage wideout Anthony Schwartz, a 6-foot, 175-pound playmaker who despite also having early offers from Fresno State, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, and Temple could be headed the tack and field route in college.

UVa was also one of the early offers for Noah Boykin, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound defensive back out of Washington, (D.C.) H. D. Woodson. Thus far Iowa State, Maryland, Michigan State, Pitt, Syracuse, and Toledo have all offered as well. The Cavaliers also offered his teammate, running back Mychale Salahuddin. The 5-foot-11, 195 pounder also has early offers from Maryland, Ohio, and Toledo.

Virginia also dipped back into the Sunshine State recently when the Wahoos offered Kevin Austin, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound wideout from Coconut Creek (FL) North Broward. He also has offers from Cincinnati, Duke, East Carolina, Florida, Iowa State, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others.

This week, UVa also offered three-star Montvale (NJ) St. Joseph's standout Evan Stewart, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound safety who also has early offers from Navy, UNC, Rutgers, and Temple.

In the last 48 hours, the Hoos have offered a trio of prospects. The first was Atlanta (GA) Marist School tight end John Fitzpatrick. The 6-foot-6, 230 pounder also has early offers from Iowa State, Maryland, Pitt, and Rutgers while receiving solid interest from others in the ACC.

Virginia also became the latest school to offer three-star Spring Branch (TX) Smithson Valley athlete Trevon Moehrig. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Texan has offers thus far from Missouri, Tulsa, and Vanderbilt as well.

Lastly, on Thursday night the Cavaliers offered four-star DeMatha lineman Evan Gregory. At 6-foot-4, 286 pounds, he could probably play on either side of the ball. So far, he's got offers from Maryland, Syracuse, and West Virginia.


That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
 
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