Back in January of this year, Penn (Mishawaka, IN) junior Ben Knutson learned through his coach that the University of Virginia football program was expressing interest. The 6’8”, 275-pound prospect did not know at the time that he would commit to the Hoos five months later, but he admits his interest was piqued.

“One day, coach told me a coach from UVa had asked to talk to me,” Knutson said. “It was during basketball season that I started communicating with them, and we have been in contact a while. They told me they were really interested to see me. After I did my homework, did research and learned a little more about it, it really appealed to me.”

Plenty of schools closer to home, including in-state programs Indiana and Purdue, extended scholarship offers to the Penn product. Knutson, though, found what he was looking for when he took an unofficial visit to UVa Memorial Day weekend.

“I had visited a bunch of other schools,” Knutson said. “I felt like I owed it to the East Coast schools that had offered to give them the same shot as the Midwest schools that had offered. I was able to get a good read on each school that offered, with Virginia fitting best with what I wanted. At the end of the day, Virginia was where I wanted to go.”

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