Virginia Football Recruiting Notes: Cavs Host QB, LB Targets

By: Chris Horne |
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Class of 2019 linebacker Brandon Smith has now visited UVA four times within the past year. ~ Photo from Smith’s Twitter account.

A class of 2018 quarterback and a class of 2019 linebacker stopped by the University of Virginia today. Both prospects have been offered a scholarship by Cavalier head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Louisia County (Mineral, VA) sophomore Brandon Smith wrote on Twitter that he “enjoyed watching early morning workouts and talking with coaches.”

This is the fourth visit to Virginia for Smith, a 6’5”, 200-pound prospect. Trips to Clemson, Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State are on the schedule in the coming months.

Leesburg (FL) junior quarterback Wyatt Rector tweeted about his UVA experience earlier this evening. Judging by the 6’4”, 220-pound signal caller’s tweets, the experience was a good one.

Rector, who was offered by UVA late last month, reportedly holds offers from South Florida and Southern Mississippi as well. He passed for 1,132 yards and 11 scores and rushed for 1,011 yards and 17 touchdowns his sophomore season but missed most of his junior year with a torn ACL.

Last Week’s Recruiting News

Blake To Announce

Crystal Lake Central (Crystal Lake, IL) junior offensive lineman Wyatt Blake narrowed his list to four — Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern and Virginia — and revealed plans to announce his pick this Friday, March 17.

UVA, which hopes to sign another big class of offensive linemen in 2018 after signing five prospects in 2017, is not the favorite according to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball feature. The predictions there side with Northwestern in this race.

Blake is a 6’5”, 305-pound junior.

UVA Makes Johnson’s Top 8

Massive offensive tackle prospect Justin Johnson revealed his top eight schools last week and UVA made the list. The Imhotep Institute (Philadelphia, PA) junior also included Boston College, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Temple, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin.

“I would first like to thank my family and coaches for helping me and supporting me during my recruitment process,” Johnson wrote in a tweet, which you can see by clicking here. “I am very appreciative for all the universities and coaches who have invested so much time in me as a recruit. My recruitment isn’t fully shutdown but is getting pretty close. After careful consideration with my family I am pleased to announce my top eight schools in alphabetical order.”

We plan to catch up with the 6’7”, 345-pound prospect for his future plans as well as a possible decision timetable. Meanwhile, check out Johnson’s junior season highlights below.

More New Offers

We have uncovered several other scholarship offers that went out during the March 4 Junior Day and beyond.

– Class of 2019 offensive lineman Derek Green. Mendenhall offered Green on March 4, which again was the day of a Cavalier Junior Day. Virginia becomes the first to offer the 6’5”, 305-pound standout out of Southwest Onslow High School (Jacksonville, N.C.).

– Class of 2018 offensive lineman Jacob Isaia of Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV). The 6’3”, 275-pound junior also boasts offers from BYU, Dartmouth, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nevada, San Diego State, UCLA and UNLV. He participated at The Opening Regional in Los Angeles (CA) this past weekend and performed well (picture below).

– Class of 2018 wide receiver Ugo Obasi scored an offer from Illinois on February 1. The first two weeks of March have been very good to the wide receiver/safety out of Milford Mill Academy (Baltimore, MD).

Since March 1, the 6’2”, 170-pound junior has picked up offers from Duke, Buffalo, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Columbia, Dartmouth, Monmouth, Virginia, Marshall, Temple and Towson.

Lineman Visits

Sequoyah (Canton, GA) class of 2018 offensive lineman Noah Sherburn was in Charlottesville last Friday to explore UVA. Sherburn, a 6’3”, 295-pound junior, does not have an offer from the Hoos at this time.


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