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It’s official. Quarterback Phillip Sims , who starred at Oscar Smith High School (Chesapeake, VA) before spending two seasons at the University of Alabama, is transferring to the University of Virginia. UVa’s official athletics website, VirginiaSports.com, announced the news in a release this afternoon.
“Virginia football welcomes Phillip Sims to our family,” UVa football head coach Mike London said in the release. “Hopefully he will have a productive career here at UVa as his previous accolades have shown.”
The 6’2″, 210-pound Sims is certainly well known in the state of Virginia. He started for four years for one of the state’s top high school football programs, amassing a 48-4 record in that span and guiding the Tigers to a state championship in 2008. He left Oscar Smith as the Virginia high school all-time leader in passing yards (10,725 yards) and touchdown passes (119).
ESPNU ranked Sims as the top quarterback in the nation in the 2010 class, while Rivals.com and Scout.com ranked him as the no. 2 signal caller in the country.
Sims enrolled at Alabama in January of 2010 and went through spring practice before ultimately red-shirting his freshman season. He was the backup to A.J. McCarron on the Crimson Tide’s national champion squad this past season, finishing the year with 163 yards and a 64-percent completion percentage.
“The reason for me leaving is nothing more than a personal matter,” Sims said in a statement released last Friday. “I just need to be closer to home to support my family at this time and that needs to be my priority right now. I would still like to continue my football career, and hopefully I can do that and also be there for my family.”
When Sims will be eligible to play for the ‘Hoos is unclear. He reportedly is applying for a hardship waiver, which if granted would allow him to be eligible this coming season. If granted, Sims would have three seasons of eligibility at UVa. If denied, the talented signal caller would sit out the 2012 season and have only two years of eligibility remaining starting with the 2013 season.
Rising junior Michael Rocco enters the 2012 season as the projected starter for the Cavaliers, while rising sophomore David Watford enters as the backup. Freshman Greyson Lambert , who enrolled at UVa in January, and incoming freshman Matt Johns will also be on the roster this fall.
Another Oscar Smith Transfer
Another former Tiger, 6’4″, 200-pound wide receiver Quinta Funderburk e, is transferring after one year at the University of Arkansas.
Funderburk, who red-shirted this past season, was one of the most highly recruited prospects in the Commonwealth’s class of 2011. As a senior, he totaled 65 receptions for 1,464 yards.
UVa offered Funderburk out of high school, and with Sims now in the fold, it would surprise no one if the Cavaliers were on his list of schools being considered.
