Days Ahead Of The Early Signing Period, Virginia Football Looks To Add To 2019 Class

By: Chris Horne |

This is the final weekend before Division 1 football’s Early Signing Period, which takes place next Wednesday through Friday. Virginia football appears poised to add to its current class of 2019 haul.

Under the 2018-19 football recruiting calendar guidelines, FBS schools can host high school seniors on official visits this weekend. However, a Dead Period begins Monday, December 17, and runs through January 10. Official visits are not permitted during this time.

The primary focus position-wise in the past few weeks has been on wide receiver – specifically on ones with size – as well as the defensive line, but defensive back has been targeted as well. At receiver, Virginia may be on the verge of flipping Iowa State commitment Nathaniel Beal III, who hails from Strake Jesuit in Houston, Texas.

Beal, who committed to the Cyclones last summer, was offered by UVA in early November and, according to 247Sports, visited Charlottesville earlier this month. It’s noteworthy that 247Sports has two “Crystal Ball” predictions of Beal to UVA, with one of those predictions coming from the network’s Iowa State insider. It’s also noteworthy that Beal had posted on his Twitter profile that he was an Iowa State commit … that is, up until Friday (December 14) morning. Now, the note is no longer there. Though nothing is official, UVA appears to be trending for the 6’5”, 205-pound consensus 3-star recruit.

Louisiana native Dontayvion Wicks is also on Virginia’s wide receiver target board. Wicks, a product of Plaquemine High School, measures in at 6’3”, 205 pounds. He confirmed to TheSabre.com that he will take an official visit to Charlottesville this weekend after scoring an offer from the Cavaliers earlier this month.

New Mexico and Louisiana-Lafayette are other offers Wicks is considering. He has taken an official visit to New Mexico, but Virginia appears to be in good shape heading into the weekend.

Beal and Wicks would add more size to the wide receiver position. Virginia already has a good-sized wide receiver recruit in this class in Dorien Goddard, a 6’3”, 215-pound prospect out of Class 4A state champion Greeneville High School in Tennessee.

Within the past two days, the Hoos have had two wide receivers announce that they are transferring. Redshirt freshman Riah Burton announced his plans via Twitter on Thursday (December 13), while redshirt sophomore Cole Blackman announced his plans on Friday (December 14).

Defensive Line Recruiting

Virginia threw its hat in the ring by offering a scholarship to Devin Baldwin, a 6’5”, 260-pound defensive lineman out of Michigan, on Thursday. Baldwin, who also recently received offers from Rutgers and Wake Forest, announced on Thursday that he has de-committed from Western Michigan.

247Sports and Rivals report that Baldwin will be in Charlottesville on an official visit this weekend. What the talented lineman’s plans are after this visit are unclear at this point.

Baldwin wasn’t the only senior defensive lineman to land a Virginia offer this week. Hanahan (S.C.) standout Cooper Dawson, a 6’5”, 250-pound prospect, announced his offer from the Cavaliers on Thursday. Dawson has taken official visits to Army, Central Florida, Tulane and Syracuse, with the latter coming last weekend. UCLA and UVA offered this week.

Fork Union DB On Grounds On An Official

Fork Union Military Academy (VA) postgraduate Jamel Hamm is on Grounds on an official visit this weekend. As of this writing, the 6’4”, 200-pound defensive back has not been offered a scholarship by the Hoos, but if that changes he may quickly accept.

Hamm, an Ohio native, scored an offer from U-Mass earlier this week. Based off his tweets he is not returning to Fork Union, so he may be looking to enroll in college in January. Stay tuned for more following this weekend.

Hamm played alongside Virginia class of 2019 linebacker/athlete commit Jairus Satiu at FUMA this season. Click here for Satiu’s highlights. See below for Hamm’s.

HD Woodson Corner Visiting, Too

HD Woodson (Washington, D.C.) senior cornerback Tenyeh Dixon is on an official visit in Charlottesville this weekend as well. Dixon, who is a Temple commit, received a Virginia offer recently. Check out his highlights below …