It’s a summer Friday so lately that means it’s time for a Virginia football recruiting win. The Cavaliers made it four straight Fridays with a commitment when Anthony Colandrea pledged to the program, becoming the first quarterback recruit of the Tony Elliott era.
Colandrea announced his decision on Twitter.
Childhood dream. #Gohoos pic.twitter.com/IfHJutY5kH
— Anthony Colandrea (@acolandrea10) July 8, 2022
A 6’1”, 177-pound prospect out of Lakewood High School in Florida, Colandrea threw for 3,252 yards and 27 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions as a junior. He rushed for 362 yards and 5 touchdowns as well. Lakewood posted a 10-3 record and made it to the third round of the Florida 4A playoffs with Colandrea at QB. Check out his Hudl profile here.
Colandrea received widespread interest on the recruiting trail and emerged with the UVA offer in June. He visited earlier this summer. He had offers from Kentucky, Buffalo, Hawaii, Florida Atlantic, Utah State, and Richmond among others. He originally committed to Middle Tennessee State. A three-star recruit, he’s rated as the No. 55 quarterback nationally by 247Sports.
Virginia signed two quarterbacks in the 2022 class with in-state prospect Lane Davis and California recruit Delaney Crawford picking the Hoos. Both were recruited by Bronco Mendenhall and his former staff. The Cavaliers had evaluated and offered multiple 2023 quarterbacks between the old staff and the new coaches, including Avery Johnson (Kansas State), Kenny Minchey (Pittsburgh), and Malachi Singleton (Arkansas). Elliott and new quarterback coach Taylor Lamb had also looked at Dante Reno (South Carolina) among others.
Colandrea’s commitment to the Hoos kept their recent late-week success rate going.
On Friday June 17, receiver Amare Thomas started the streak. On Friday June 24 and Friday July 1, Tekai Kirby, Rodney Lora, and Kamren Robinson kept it going. Colandrea made it four Fridays in a row this week and pushed UVA’s 2023 class up to 11 commitments. In addition to the recent Friday commits, Miles Greene (DL), Donte Hawthorne (RB), Jarvis Lee (DB), Cole Surber (OL), Noah Vaughn (RB), and Keandre Walker (DB) have joined the list.
