Football Recruiting
Aidan Howard received a scholarship offer from head coach Mike London this past Saturday. On Sunday, Howard, a 6’4”, 185-pound wide receiver/safety out of Gateway High School (Monroeville, PA), verbally committed to the Hoos.
Howard is the 10th commitment in Virginia’s class of 2016. We’ll catch up with him this week for comments on his decision and more.
Penn (Mishawaka, IN) offensive lineman Ben Knutson committed to the Hoos on May 24. I spoke with the 6’8”, 275-pound prospect about his decision and will have a full report out on him this week.
“For me, a lot of it had to do with the academics at the University of Virginia,” Knutson said. “I want to go into business and obviously Virginia has a solid business program. That really appealed to me. It’s also a nice area and the coaching staff is great. It worked out to be the best situation for me.”
Knutson made his pledge the day after touring the Grounds for the first time. He also considered offers from Illinois, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Purdue, among others.
Burrell Visits
McDonogh (Owings Mills, MD) class of 2016 defensive back Eric Burrell, a 4-star recruit according to Rivals.com, visited UVa this past Saturday before heading to Duke on Sunday. The 6’0″, 180-pound rising senior boasts offers from Arizona, Boston College, Duke, Iowa, Nebraska, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Wisconsin, among others.
Great visit at UVA @CoachMikeLondon pic.twitter.com/UIBbwsVKX2
— Eric burrell (@EricBurrell_) June 6, 2015
Camp Season Is Upon Us
Virginia football held its first one-day camp of 2015 this past Sunday. TheSabre.com was there for coverage, and EDGE subscribers can read news and notes – including information on newly offered rising sophomore Nana Asiedu and class of 2017 tight end target John Kirven — from the event in the latest “Sabre Scoop.”
I will have an individual report on the Asiedu out this week. The 6’5”, 240-pound tight end/defensive lineman prospect, a product of North Stafford (Stafford, VA), did not play football his freshman year but impressed coaches with his combination of size and athletic ability during the Spring Evaluation Period. He did play middle school football and will play football this coming season. As a freshman, though, he concentrated on basketball.
UVa will hold two more one-day camps, on June 20 and July 23. This Saturday, Virginia will host its annual 7-on-7 Tournament and Big Man Camp. We plan to be in Charlottesville for coverage, so stay tuned.
Basketball Recruiting Rankings
Scout.com released its latest class of 2016 rankings last week. All three of Virginia’s commitments are in the Top 70, with Iona Prep (New Rochelle, N.Y.) combo guard Ty Jerome vaulting to no. 55, Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, IN) combo guard Kyle Guy just two spots below Jerome at no. 57, and 6’10” forward Jay Huff coming in at no. 68. All three players are rated as 4-star prospects by Scout.
ESPN will release its latest class of 2016 rankings this week.
We’ll get a closer look at both Jerome and Guy next week, as they will be in Charlottesville for the 2015 NBPA Top 100 Camp.
