Recruiting Notes: Virginia Football Junior Day Recap

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Hayfield star athlete Brian Cobbs attended UVA’s Junior Day last Saturday. ~ Photo courtesy of Cobbs’ Twitter account

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall and his staff hosted established targets and extended some new scholarship offers on Saturday, March 4, during the latest of Virginia football’s Junior Day recruiting events. First, here is a rundown of the latest prospects to receive offers from the Cavaliers.

New Offers, Class of 2018

– Center/defensive tackle Daniel Dawkins and linebacker/safety Javar Garrett, a pair of prospects out of The Peddie School in New Jersey, scored scholarship offers while on Grounds. The 6’4”, 300-pound Dawkins’ offer list includes Boston College, Duke, Michigan, North Carolina, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and Virginia, among others. NC State, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, and now UVA have offered the 6’1”, 205-pound Garrett.

– IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) outside linebacker Case Gatlin received good news from Coach Mendenhall last Saturday.

This is the first offer for the 6’4”, 205-pound junior, who played for Champion High School in Boerne, Texas, last fall.

– Junior Mike Barrett revealed on Saturday that he now has an offer from the Wahoos. Barrett is a 6’0”, 210-pound quarterback/athlete prospect out of Lowndes High School in Georgia. Check out his junior season highlights below …

New Class of 2019 Offers Extended

– Virginia becomes the fourth school to offer Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) sophomore cornerback/wide receiver CamRon Kelly, who previously held offers from NC State, Virginia Tech and Maryland. Kelly and his teammate, James Collins, each attended the Cavaliers’ Junior Day.

– St. Augustine Prep (N.J.) sophomore lineman Christopher Mayo also secured an offer from the Cavaliers. UVA is the first to offer this 6’4”, 290-pound prospect, who may be headed to The Peddie School along with the aforementioned Dawkins and Garrett if the below picture is any indication.

Pictured second from the left is Mayo while Dawkins is second from the right, right beside Coach Mendenhall.

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More Junior Day Visitor News

– Avalon School (Gaithersburg, MD) outside linebacker Noah Taylor, currently Virginia’s lone commitment in the class of 2018, was back in Charlottesville for the Junior Day event. Taylor attended the previous Junior Day as well and appears very firm in his commitment to the Cavaliers.

– Virginia is hoping to establish a pipeline at Thomas Jefferson High (Jefferson Hills, PA). Class of 2017 linebacker Zane Zandier signed with the Cavaliers last month. Zandier’s former teammate, junior defensive tackle Devin Danielson, has been offered by Virginia. TheSabre.com confirmed that both prospects attended this Junior Day event.

Pittsburgh may be the team to beat for Danielson, who holds offers from the Panthers and Louisville, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

– Yet another Pennsylvania native, 3-star offensive tackle Blake Zubovic, was confirmed to be in Charlottesville on Saturday. The 6’5”, 290-pound Belle Vernon junior has offers from Boston College, Maryland, Minnesota, NC State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Temple, UVA and West Virginia.

– UVA is currently the only scholarship offer for Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) offensive lineman James Collins. It was the first BCS program to offer Hayfield (VA) athlete Brian Cobbs, who has since added scholarships from NC State, ODU, Temple, Wake Forest and Yale. Coach Mendenhall got in early with these two in-state talents, who checked out what Virginia has to offer last weekend.

– Landstown (Virginia Beach, VA) class of 2018 defensive back Joseph White visited Virginia on Saturday, almost one month after landing an offer from the Hoos. The 6’2”, 175-pound standout boasts offers from three ACC schools – UVA, UNC, and NC State.

– Oxon Hill (MD) defensive lineman Noah Hayes and Detroit (MI) Catholic Central offensive lineman Nick Carey have not been offered by the Cavaliers but did attend the Junior Day. Could be a few names to keep in mind down the road.

– Class of 2017 placekicker/punter Chase McGrath visited Virginia over the weekend. He is also considering Army, South Carolina and Texas Tech. The Cavaliers are looking to add another kicker to go along with Westfield (Chantilly, VA) star Brian Delaney, who signed with UVA last month.

NFL Hoos On Hand

It certainly never hurts for a program to be able to show off its NFL players. Two NFL Hoos were in John Paul Jones Arena for Virginia’s win over Pittsburgh.