The Shadow
CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP) – Winning, facilities and tradition are all things that help a program sustain itself by attracting stars of the future.
Some of those elements helped Virginia coach Mike London and his staff get commitments from 25 blue-chip athletes on National Signing Day, and London says early commitments from some of the biggest names on the list also helped greatly in convincing others to follow suit.
Defensive end Eli Harold of Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, considered by many the top recruit in Virginia, was among the high-profile early commitments who, once his decision was made, became “basically a cheerleader for the rest of the class,” London said Wednesday.
He said Harold knew Demeitre, a 6-foot-3 athlete from Florida, and others from the Tidewater area where he lives.
“It just kind of snowballed that a lot of these guys knew each other,” London said of his third recruiting class.
Four of them, including linebacker Kwontie Moore, know each other well because they played on the same team at Norfolk Christian.
“It’s just one of those things that worked out for us,” London said. “They had players that we wanted.”
Another prize in the class, defensive end Mike Moore from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md., knew not only some of the other players being wooed by the coaches, but some of the coaches. He’s the son of Shawn Moore, one of the best quarterbacks in Cavaliers history and the team’s wide receivers coach, and was recruited by Anthony Poindexter, another assistant and one of the best players in Virginia history.
Shawn Moore stayed out of it, he said, but accompanied his son on recruiting trips to Notre Dame, Florida and Tennessee.
He thinks the chance to be around his father during his career was a factor, “but I think he really wanted to go to the school that he felt was the best fit for him, and at the end of the day, because it was Virginia and because I was here was a bonus,” he said.
The Cavaliers signed 13 players from Virginia, and two big names from elsewhere.
Greyson Lambert, a highly touted quarterback from Jesup, Ga., didn’t count in Wednesday’s total of 25 signess because he enrolled in January, while 6-2, 210-pound wide receiver Canaan Severin also is viewed as a four-star talent from Marlborough, Mass.
London said the class satisfied several high priority needs, especially for length and pass rushing, and that in many cases, players suited to play numerous positions will be allowed to determine where they begin. Five of the signees – Brim, Maurice Canady of Richmond, Anthony Cooper of Virginia Beach, Max Valles of Sicklerville, N.J., and Wilfred Wahee of Norfolk – are listed as “athletes” on the roster provided by Virginia.
Giving players a choice in where they start out, London said, makes them more willing to switch positions if called upon to do so.
