Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) cornerback/athlete Cam’Ron Kelly, one of the top class of 2019 prospects in the Commonwealth, revealed via Twitter the details of his impending college announcement. The University of Virginia, one of Kelly’s top eight schools, is looking to pull a surprise and keep the 6’1”, 185-pound rising senior in-state.
I will be committing June 7th @ 10:30 am at Oscar Smith High School in the Auditorium. *Open to the public* (Bring ID's to the front desk) pic.twitter.com/ML7Jz3rB8L
— Cam'Ron Kelly (@CamRonJKelly) May 29, 2018
247Sports reports that the 4-star will make a return visit to Clemson this weekend ahead of next week’s decision. Twitter buzz indicates that Penn State, which had been the heavy favorite in recent weeks, may not have a scholarship available after gaining some recent defensive back commitments. This could open the door for Virginia, which hosted the top talent on an official visit last month. Kelly has also taken official visits to Washington State, Oklahoma and Penn State.
Clary To Enroll Early?
Sandalwood High School (Jacksonville, FL) defensive back/wide receiver prospect Antonio Clary revealed via Twitter earlier this week that he plans to graduate high school early with the intention of enrolling at the University of Virginia in January of 2019. He has since deleted the tweet and we will find out exactly why as soon as possible.
Clary, a 6’2”, 190-pound rising senior, is listed as an “athlete” on his TheSabre.com recruiting card but is likely to start his Cavalier career in the defensive backfield. He is one of seven players currently committed in Virginia’s 2019 Class. Another commit – Dunbar (Fort Myers, FL) running back/H-back Seneca Milledge – has also expressed an interest in enrolling on Grounds next January.
There have been four midyear enrollees in each of Bronco Mendenhall’s first two full recruiting classes as Virginia head coach. Lamont Atkins, Riah Burton, Germaine Crowell and Jamari Peacock enrolled in January of 2017, while Brennan Armstrong, Bobby Haskins, Bryce Perkins and Noah Taylor enrolled this past January.
Smiley Commits To Virginia, Then Retracts
For a moment – 16 minutes, to be exact – Indian River (Chesapeake, VA) defensive lineman Ben Smiley was verbally committed to the University of Virginia.
Via Twitter Thursday evening (May 31), the 6’4”, 285-pound rising senior declared his commitment to Virginia. But Smiley, who would give Virginia a talented in-state prospect at what has become a major position of need in 2019 Class recruiting, tweeted his change of a heart 16 minutes later.
After Talking with Coaches and Parents I will be making my Decision after taking my 5 official visits !!!!
— Ben Smiley lll (@BenSmiley9) May 31, 2018
Where Smiley will take his five official visits remains to be seen. Virginia was been one of his unofficial visit stops earlier this year, and it was this initial visit to Charlottesville in February that thrust the Cavaliers into serious contender status. He currently has a top 10 that includes Alabama, Miami, Nebraska, NC State, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Virginia.
On Friday (June 1) the Hoos missed on another top in-state defensive lineman in L.C. Bird (Chesterfield, VA) prospect Hakeem Beamon, who announced his commitment to Penn State.
Camp Season Returns
– Football camp season is officially underway in Charlottesville! Bronco Mendenhall and company are hosting “Friday Night Lights” Hoos Rising One Day and “Hoos Tough” Offensive/Defensive Line camps today (June 1). We’ll be sure to provide any breaking news that may come from these camps.
While many scholarship offers have already gone out in class of 2019 recruiting, the camps are still very important for the current recruiting cycle. For example, Highland Springs (VA) wide receiver Billy Kemp signed with Virginia in 2018 after picking up an offer during a camp last summer. The 2017 Class featured Mandy Alonso, who scored an offer after competing at camp. Alonso obviously proved to be a nice pickup, starting four games as a true freshman last season.
These camps are also very important – perhaps most important — in recruiting and evaluating younger classes.
The remaining 2018 camp schedule is below. Click here for more details on each camp.
– Friday, June 8 – Hoos Rising One Day and Hoos Tough OL/DL camps
– Thursday, June 14 – Specialist Camp
– Friday, June 15 – Hoos Rising One Day and Hoos Tough OL/DL camps
– Monday, June 18 – Mid Atlantic Invitational and Hoos Tough OL/DL camps
– Friday, June 22 – Hoos Rising One Day and Hoos Tough OL/DL camps
– Flint Hill (Oakton, VA) class of 2019 defensive back Trey Rucker, who claims an offer from Virginia, is expected to compete at tonight’s camp. We’ll with Rucker for comments on his experience in the coming days.
New Class of 2019 Offers
– West Jefferson (Harvey, LA) class of 2019 cornerback Gregory Brooks Jr. claims a scholarship offer from Virginia. The 5’11”, 175-pound rising senior also boasts offers from Arkansas, Colorado State, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, UNLV and Vanderbilt, among others.
Brooks’ first scholarship offer was from the University of Texas-San Antonio, where new Cavalier special teams coach Ricky Brumfield worked before heading to Charlottesville.
– Mill Creek (Hoschton, GA) class of 2019 offensive lineman Jonathan Leech tweets that he now has an offer from the Hoos. Maryland, SMU and Syracuse are among the other schools to come through for the 6’5”, 275-pound prospect, who attends the same high school as Virginia rising redshirt freshman center Tyler Fannin.
