Virginia Football Recruiting Notes: Handful Of Official Visitors Expected On Grounds

By: Chris Horne |

The University of Virginia football program is expected to host at least five prospects on official visits this weekend. Two of the prospects – speedy cornerback Jaden Harris and offensive lineman Trent Ramsey – have posted their arrival on social media.

Harris, a 6’0”, 175-pound senior out of Riverwood High School in Atlanta, Georgia, shared his arrival on his Instagram page. UVA is Harris’ second official visit within the last two weekends, as he traveled to Kansas State last week. He claims scholarship offers from both schools – UVA offered on November 16 – as well as Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Miami and Vanderbilt, among others. Many of these scholarship offers have come in during Harris’ senior season.

Carrollwood Day (Tampa, FL) offensive line prospect Trent Ramsey tweeted about his arrival in Charlottesville on Friday. UVA has been in serious pursuit since July, when it extended a scholarship offer.

The 6’5”, 280-pound senior, who attended high school in Arizona before heading east to Tampa, took summer official visits to California and West Virginia. Other claimed offers include Arizona, BYU, Florida State, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Penn State and Pittsburgh, among others.

Ramsey isn’t the only offensive line prospect in on Grounds for an official visit. Offensive guard Tapuvae Amaama, a 3-star senior out of Skyridge High School in Lehi, Utah, is at UVA too.

Virginia already boasts three commitments out of Utah in this class in skill position twins Dominique and Marcus McKenzie, and offensive lineman Joe Brown. Could the 6’4”, 320-pound Amaama be the next? In addition to the Hoos, Amaama, who goes by the nickname of “Snoop,” is considering offers from BYU, Colorado State, Miami, Syracuse and more. Oklahoma is among the schools showing interest.

Multiple outlets report that Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) cornerback Gavin Gibson and 3-star Thayer Academy (MA) outside linebacker/defensive end Samuel Okunlola will also be in Charlottesville this weekend on official visits.

Gibson, a former Navy commit who has narrowed his list to Maryland and UVA, helped Hough remain undefeated and advance in playoff action with a win on Friday night. Virginia initially extended a preferred walk-on opportunity to Gibson on September 11. It took one week for the staff to make that an official scholarship offer.

Gibson discusses his recruitment and much more in this interview on Spotlight 39. A decision should not be far off after this weekend. As of this writing, Maryland is the favorite according to 247Sports experts.

ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC … Samuel Okunlola boasts scholarships from schools in all five Power 5 conferences, including some of the nation’s top programs such as top-ranked Georgia and Clemson. Per 247 Sports, the 6’4”, 225-pound senior is expected on Grounds this weekend to further explore UVA.

Samuel’s younger brother, Samson, may be at UVA too. Samson, an offensive line prospect, is rated a 4-star prospect and considered one of the top overall prospects in the class of 2023.

Commits Visiting

Offensive line prospect Joe Brown, running back Xavier Brown, linebacker Trey McDonald and wide receiver Dakota Twitty are three “Hoos22” commits who will be in Scott Stadium Saturday.

Stay tuned to The Sabre for more recruiting news from this weekend, including confirmation on what prospects made it to Scott Stadium to see the Hoos take on the Hokies in the Commonwealth Cup.

More UVA FB Recruiting News

– The offensive line is an area UVA would like to address with its remaining scholarships in the class of 2022. The Cavaliers have two commitments in this class, from in-state standout Brody Meadows and Joe Brown, although Brown is planning to take a two-year LDS mission and won’t enroll until 2024 (the McKenzie brothers are planning on taking this route as well).

The weekend of the Notre Dame game, Virginia hosted Brighton (Salt Lake City, UT) offensive tackle prospect Tyler Knaak. The 6’7”, 300-pound senior has narrowed his list to five schools – Arizona State, Southern Cal, Oregon State, Utah and Virginia – and plans on taking an official to Utah this weekend.

Knaak revealed this week that he will announce his college decision on December 15, which is the first day of the Early Signing Period for the class of 2022.

– Defensive back is another position UVA is looking to address. However, the Cavaliers lost out on one of its remaining targets on Friday (Nov. 26), when DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) senor Zilan Williams announced his pledge to Rutgers.