2005 Recruiting War Room #4: Defense

Since the last Defense War Room, UVa has added two more top targets in William Fleming inside linebacker Darryl Gresham and St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) cornerback Mike Brown. Gresham’s commitment gives UVa an excellent set of linebackers that also includes Salem (N.J.) star inside linebacker Lamont Robinson , and outside linebacker prospects Antonio Appleby and Denzel Burrell . UVa remains in good position for several other top linebacker prospects, including Bergen Catholic star Brian Cushing . UVa appears to be in great shape with Cushing right now.

Also since the last War Room, the fate of 2004 signee Olu Hall has been learned. Hall will now attend Hargrave Military Academy. Though he said he would like to enroll in January 2005, there is a good possibility Olu will have to go to Hargrave for an entire year. If he does, that gives UVa 21 commits for the 2005 class and only four spots remaining (although they could take a few more depending on qualification issues). With that in mind, the Cavaliers will likely take the best players available on their board. There are a lot of highly-rated players remaining, so it will be interesting to see which ones UVa’s coaches peg as top targets.

The coaches likely couldn’t be happier with the class they have landed thus far for defense. They’ve gotten excellent help at the linebacker spot, a solid defensive line recruit in Kevin Crawford , three versatile “athletes” who could play defense or offense, and two outstanding defensive backs in Brown and Chris Cook . Brown brings outstanding speed and explosiveness to the secondary.

UVa has offered and is in serious contention for the following players…

...