The Dotted Line is your source for live coverage of National Signing Day, keeping you informed of what football recruits are coming to Virginia and its ACC rivals, as well as which local prospects are signing with programs around the country. Keep up with this running blog all day Wednesday.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 11:31 p.m. -- We're wrapping up signing day after getting it all started around 7 a.m. Jerry Ratcliffe analyzes the day's events, saying the way Mike London wears his heart on his sleeve helps attracts recruits.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 9:29 p.m. -- The Daily Progress' Jerry Ratcliffe has a recap of a Virginia Signing Day that lacked surprises, not that there's anything wrong with that.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 9:20 p.m. -- Former Virginia assistant Al Golden hasn't been at UVa for several years now, but perhaps he never let the rivalry with Virginia Tech go, or perhaps he's just embracing the bitterness between Miami and VT that goes back their Big East days.
The current Hurricanes coach is at odds with the Hokies over a pair of recruits that wound up signing with the U, and isn't happy with how a VT assistant tried to get one to reconsider.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 9:11 p.m. -- Want to learn a little bit about each of UVa's new recruits? Well then, click this link:
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 9:02 pm. -- Across the country, former St. Anne's-Belfield star Kyle Long finally became a Division I football player, signing with Oregon after a stint at a California junior college. He's the only offensive lineman in the Ducks' 2012 class.
"Just a tremendous prospect that will have an opportunity to come in and play right away,'' Oregon coach Chip Kelly said Wednesday. "Athletically he can play defensive line anywhere in the country but I think he's looking toward the next level.''
Here is a link to the full story:
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 6:51 p.m. -- It's interesting to look at the difference of opinion between the major sites that focus on recruiting coverage. ESPN, for instance, doesn't think much of Virginia's class and doesn't even have it ranked or on the cusp of a ranking.
Most services rate Virginia and Virginia Tech in the same neighborhood. Rivals.com has the Cavs and Hokies both with nice classes, VT at No. 20 nationally and UVa at No. 26. The problem for both is that ACC rivals Florida State, Miami and Clemson all rate quite a bit higher. Once thing most analysts agree on is that Florida State, ranked in the top 1 or 2 in many polls, cleaned up.
247Sports may have earned some fans among the Virginia faithful, ranking the Cavs No. 20 in the nation and third in the ACC, ahead of both Clemson and Virginia Tech.
Recruiting rankings, of course, are far from flawless, but programs that haul in Top 25 classes tend to field Top 25 teams. Virginia has its second straight Top 25 class, so it will be interesting to see if it leads to consistent success on the field for a Cavaliers program that probably over achieved on the field this season based on the recruiting rankings of its upperclassmen.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 5:23 p.m. -- Whitey Reid uploaded a video from London's press conference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D5xWsTc5Ik&feature=youtu.be&a
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 5:20 p.m. -- UVa offensive coordinator Bill Lazor talked to a group of reporters about quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns:
"In my mind we should always have a great quarterback at Virginia. (He went on to list several advantages UVa has, including weather, location, ACC affiliation, offensive system, program history, etc.)
"We run a pro-style offense that is interesting to guys who want to have an NFL career. When we look at these young men, they have to be able to be the kind of guy who is capable of being the face of your program. We want the ultimate guy and we are going to recruit that way. I think you're talking about the right kind of guys."
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:52 p.m. -- EVEN MORE FROM MIKE LONDON:
ON SIGNING SHAWN MOORE’S SON: Michael was a player that deserved to be recruited on his own merits, not just because of who his dad is. We never want to assume anything about any players, you want to recruit them hard and when they make a decision it’s because they wanted it.
Poindexter (was the lead recruiter) because that was his area. The bonus was that Shawn can give us some information. As a dad, he took him on some of the visits and saw what other schools had to say.
ASKED IF IT WAS A RELATIVELY STRESS-FREE SIGNING DAY: It’s never stress free. I watched some of the basketball game last night, picked up my son, got some Five Guys, watched Jay Leno do his opening monologue, watched some Sally Jessy Raphael. We worry about things we can’t control. Relatively speaking, with guys that said they were coming, we had our official visit weekend and it was a love fest then. But you are always worried if somebody got to your young men. Now I’m not worried, because they are all signed, but until that happened it’s kind of an anxiety and an anticipation of what’s to come.
ON THE CELEBRATION EVENT TONIGHT: Part of it is an appreciation to people out there. When we did the Wahoo Walk at the (Georgia) Dome, we were amazed at the people that were there. As an appreciation to the people the like the program and the way it’s going, it’s a way to say thank you.
I’m proud of the Charlottesville community and I want them to be proud of this team as well.
London ended the press conference by pointing out his father and brother in the back room, credited them as inspiration.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:42 p.m. -- London's press conference, continued:
ON GUYS THAT MIGHT PLAY RIGHT AWAY: To sit here and tell you who is going to play without knowing any part of our offensive and defense, I don’t want to put any pressure on anybody. If you look at some of these guys who played in these all-American games, they’ve played against some of the best high school players in the country, but when you are rushing against Oday Aboushi or Morgan Moses it’s different.
ON GETTING RAPID-FIRE COMMITMENTS: Let’s face it, players recruit other players. We like to think stadium size and bowl rings and stuff like that, but good players recruit other players. This particular class it kind of snowballed. Today, I was nervous because we wanted to have those faxes in hand, but there are a lot of programs still waiting on guys to decide where they are going to school.
ON RECRUITING THE RICHMOND AREA: Richmond being 50 minutes away, that’s important. We want to be in the best players in the area. We were fortunate to get a few players that fit our profile. We try to identify the in-state players and if they show a legitimate interest in you then we try to get them to a visit on Grounds here. When I look at this class everyone of those guys wanted to be here and we wanted them.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:35 p.m. -- More from London:
ON IF HE HAD EVER SIGNED FOUR FROM SAME SCHOOL BEFORE: Short answer, no. When you look at some of these private schools and guys that might have been in public school one year or two years and they end up at a private school. As it worked out this year at Norfolk Christian it worked out for us. They had players that we wanted and fit our profile.
They won a state championship in football and basketball. It’s a growing school. Like a lot of schools that covet some of the best players in the area they were able to put together a program they were proud of.
ON RECRUITING HAMPTON ROADS AREA: It’s no secret I’m from that area. There are deep-rooted relationships that cover years and years.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:30 p.m. -- More London quotes
ON RECRUITING PHILOSOPHY: It’s important for the consistency of the program to continue to attract some of the best players, not only in the state, but nationally. The 2013 class will be as important as this class. If you can continue to keep those kind of players involved with your program and coming in that’s important.
ON WHAT KIND OF PLAYER HE WANTS: Being a football player. We wanted to move more toward athleticism, length. The philosophy on defensive linemen is recruit defensive ends and when they get bigger you can move them inside. There are tall guys that start out as wide receivers but become big enough to be an H-back or a tight end.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:24 p.m. --
LONDON OPENING STATEMENT: Very excited about this particular class. If you look at it, there is height, there is athleticism. They are long-bodied, long-armed athletic type guys that can run and played multiple positions at their schools. There are wide receivers, defensive backs and there are linemen … those are things we wanted to address.
The staff did a great job of getting out there and establishing these relationships.
A lot of these guys committed early in the summer on our junior days and we maintained the commitments on basically all of them
LONDON ON ELI HAROLD: Obviously being the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia, he’s in our back yard. Having the opportunity to have him commit early, basically he became the cheerleader. His ability to overcome the things that he has and become a leader of his school and did an excellent job in his ACT and SAT scores. When you meet him he’s a fantastic young man and a success story is waiting to be written for him.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 4:19 -- Mike London's press conference is getting started. We'll have updates as he speaks.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 3:28 -- We're starting to see rankings of the top classes now that most letters of intent are in. Mike London tweeted earlier the Cavs have another Top-25 class, which is true depending on where you shop.
247 Sports gives UVa the top ranking, putting the Wahoos at No. 20. This is also the only of the major recruiting services that ranks the Cavs ahead of Virginia Tech. MaxPreps.com (a part of CBS Sports) ranks UVa No. 25.
Rivals.com has Virginia 26th and Scout.com has the Cavs No. 27 (one spot behind VT). ESPN doesn't have Virginia listed either in the Top 25 or among the teams on the cusp.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 2:50 -- Woodberry Forest star C.J. Prosise sent his letter of intent to Notre Dame this morning and there's already talk that the cornerback could make an impact right away.
Prosise expects to be at the school in early June with the hope of contributing early.
“We talked a lot about special teams, punt returns, kick returns,” Prosise said of his talks with the coaches. “They definitely want to put me somewhere at nickleback or safety. Maybe if I work hard enough, I will get some playing time [early].
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 2:33 p.m. -- Here is a full list of post graduate signees from Fork Union Military Academy:
Robert Lockhart WR– University of Miami
Mike Thomas WR – Ohio State University
LeGrant Williams RB – Delaware State University
Adrian Gamble WR – University of Virginia
Rondell Gilmore-Lane WR – University of Rhode Island
Cordale Jones QB – Ohio State University
Michael Fafaul QB – University of California Los Angeles (preferred walk-on)
Raysean Richardson LB – Temple University
Daley Hall K – East Carolina University (preferred walk-on)
LaMar Montgomery DL – Morgan State
Ryan Doull OL – University of Virginia
Samuel Hartman OL – University of Rhode Island
Taylor Gadbois OL – University of Miami
Quincy McKinney OL – North Carolina State University
Jason Creeden OL – Eastern Kentucky University
Scott Davis TE – Bowling Green State University
Isaiah Battle OL – Clemson University
Tarique Anderson DL– Delaware State University
Rakim Reed TE – Marshall University
Osazuwamen Igbinosun DL– Ball State University
Joseph Wiliams RB – University of Connecticut
Jerrell Adams TE – University of South Carolina
Chris Hall TE – Marshall University
Jordan Montgomery LB – Middle Tennessee State University
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 1:50 p.m. -- One of the big prizes of UVa's 2012 class is Canaan Severin, the No. 23 rated athlete in the class by Rivals.com. His coach at Worcester Academy said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Severin was a great cornerback and wide receiver in high school, but is likely to play wide out for the Cavs.
"He's got great ball skills and in the secondary he had 12 interceptions in the last three years," Worcester coach David Dykeman said. "But as a receiver he is a matchup nightmare for any team. He's too big to be covered by a corner and too fast for a linebacker. He's going to create matchup issues for every team in the ACC."
Severin was highly recruited, but liked Virginia from the start.
"He had 20-plus Division I offers," Dykeman said. "But (UVa defensive coordinator) Jim Reid did an incredible job recruiting him and the opportunity to meet Coach London sealed the deal for him."
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 1:38 p.m. -- Daily Progress correspondent Roger Gonzalez caught up with Goochland kicker Colby Cooke, who signed with Vanderbilt. Here's an excerpt of his story for tomorrow's paper:
Cooke, who is currently in Austin, Texas, playing in the Team USA vs. World game, made 17 of 21 field goals this season, with a long of 51 coming in the state title game, a 20-16 victory.
Cooke had 50 kickoffs this year, 42 of which were for touchbacks.
The future Commodore signed his Letter of Intent on Wednesday on CBS Sports TV.
"It was different,” Cooke said. “I never had experienced something that big in my life before. It's just exciting to finally seal the deal on the stage, on TV.”
Cooke had offers from Virginia, Richmond and Liberty.
“Vanderbilt isn't just a school that focuses on football,” Cooke said. “They focus on making a family at out of all the players and the coaches, and playing in the best conference in the country in the SEC.”
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 1:17 p.m. -- Virginia Tech fans and coaches had high hopes of landing a top prospect out of Lynchburg, but Brookville High's Korren Kirven picked Alabama instead.
http://www2.vteffect.com/sports/2012/feb/01/brookville-defensive-tackle-signs-alabama-ar-1655329/
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 12:53 p.m. -- Just talked with Eliot Allen, Kelvin Rainey's coach at Stratford High in Houston. Allen, along with some recruiting services, said Rainey may be one of the hidden gems of the 2012 class.
A 6-1, 175-pound cornerback, Allen said Rainey had a combination of strength and speed not often seen at the position (he played some safety for Stratford).
"Talent wise, he's got a lot of it," Allen said. "He's got great speed and play making ability. Not too many corners are that strong and talented."
Rainey didn't field too many offers from BCS-conference schools, but Allen said that was in part because he was a solid commitment to Virginia and his recruitment was more or less done after taking a visit to Charlottesville early in the process.
He comes from a solid football family. Rainey's older brothers play at New Mexico and Arizona.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 12:28 p.m. -- VirginiaSports.com has video of every signee up. We'll have more on the recruits throughout the afternoon and video of MIke London's press conference tonight.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 12:09 p.m. -- Fork Union wide senior D.J. Randle El, son of former Steeler and Redskin Atwaan Randle El, signed with Bryant.
The Rhode Island school recently moved up to Division I and plays at the FCS level in the Northeast Conference. The Bulldogs went 7-4 last fall.
Another local prospect, Sam Patterson of Monticello, signed with VMI at 11 a.m. Here's a Daily Progress story on his commitment.
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/sports/2012/jan/25/monticello-wr-patterson-commits-vmi-ar-1639730/
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 11:48 a.m. -- Scouring the Web and it looks like Virginia should feel pretty good about keeping all 25 commitments on board. Florida State, Cincinatti, Notre Dame and Missouri haven't been as fortunate. All those schools have dealt with top prospects switching at the last minute.
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1325988
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 11:37 a.m. -- All 25 UVa commits are in now with Ryan Doull from Fork Union sending in his letter of intent. No surprises in Charlottesville today.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Woodberry Forest CB C.J. Prosise has sent his letter to Notre Dame. Prosise was the 2011 Daily Progress Central Virginia Defensive Player of the Year.
Virginia made a late push for Prosise with Anthony Poindexter visiting last month, but he's been solidly for the Irish for a long time. It will be interesting to see if the Cavaliers can make greater inroads to Woodberry in the near future. The school has been churning out players the past several years and they all meet UVa's academic standards, but schools such as Stanford and Notre Dame have pulled in the Woodberry stars.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 11:09 a.m. -- Tyrell Chavis is in, leaving just one commit hanging out there. We're trying to get word from Fork Union to see if the holdup on Ryan Doull is anything to be concerned about. Stay tuned.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 10:51 a.m. -- Kyle Long, the St. Anne's-Belfield product and brother of Virginia great Chris Long, has taken a winding road that ends in Eugene, Ore., today. The Ducks are expecting his letter of intent to arrive at just about any time and OregonLive.com has an interesting story on his path.
http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2012/01/oregon_ducks_recruit_kyle_long.html
For more on Long, check out tomorrow's Daily Progress.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 10:19 a.m. -- Kyle Dockins is in. Cavs just waiting on a couple more to make it official on all the previously known commitments.
A quick look around the country shows that Rutgers fans may be breathing a little easier with at least one of their high-profile recruits sticking with the Knights during the coaching change. http://rutgers.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1325766
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 9:00 a.m. -- Gamble is in. Nothing official on his teammate Doull yet.
Eli Harold, the Virginia Beach DE, also made it official. Just as he promised London he would on Twitter late last night.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:44 a.m. -- Hermitage offensive lineman Andre Miles-Redmond joins the official list. By my count the Cavs are waiting on just six more expected letters.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:37 a.m. -- London just tweeted that the Cavs had received their "first" letter of intent from the state of Texas for this year. I believe Rainey is only one Texas player on the commit list. Could there be a surprise coming? Hmm.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:32 a.m. -- Two more for the Cavs. Texan Kelvin Rainey adds to the secondary and Norfolk DE Divante Walker is official, completing the Norfolk Christian foursome.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:22 a.m. -- Mike Moore, son of Cavs assistant and former star QB Shawn Moore, has sent his letter and adds to the growing number of Moores in Charlottesville.
The class if officially filling out. We should have the full list relatively soon. Fork Union's signing ceremony is coming up in minutes with Adrian Gamble and Ryan Doull expected to officially join the UVa class.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:15 a.m. -- Mike London just tweeted: "Courtnye Wynn and Demeitre Brim both will be wearing the orange and blue for the Hoos in the fall."
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 8:11 a.m. -- Wahee is officially a Wahoo. Running back Wilfred Wahee's letter is in Virginia's possession, along with wideout Jamal Brown.
So far now suprises at UVa. All the signees are off the known commitment list. That's not the case everywhere. Michigan got Detroit King running back Dennis Norfleet to switch from Cincinnati to the Wolverines.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 7:59 a.m. -- Sean Karl, Kwontie Moore, Anthony Cooper and Mario Nixon are all officially on the list now. That's two Moore's now if you are keeping track, with a third on the way.
For Virginia it seems the more Moore's the better, just ask George Welsh.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 7:45 a.m. -- More letters arriving at the Virginia football offices. Maurice Canady (Richmond athlete), Kye Morgan (Somerset, N.J. running back) and Max Valles (Sicklerville, N.J. athlete) are on board.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 7:25 a.m. -- Virginia is reporting fourletters of intent already received, not counting quarterback Greyson Lambert, who was already in enrolled at UVa.
Buford, Ga., cornerback C.J. Moore, Chalfront, Pa., quarterback Mark Johns, Malvern, Pa., offensive lineman Micheal Mooney and Virginia Beach linebacker Mike Hall are all officially Cavaliers.
Stay tuned for more throughout the day.
UPDATED TUESDAY, 9:25 p.m. -- Virginia fans can watch the signing of at least one UVa recruit tomorrow. Play On Sports is providing a video feed of the signing of cornerback C.J. Moore from Buford, Ga. You can watch at 7:30 a.m. by clicking this link:
http://www.ghsa.tv/schools/81334/events/28880
UPDATED TUESDAY, 7:17 p.m. -- Another local recruit has made a decision. Daily Progress correspondent Roger Gonzalez found out this afternoon that William Monroe tight end Zach Duprey has committed to Elon.
Duprey, a 2011 All-Bull Run District and All-Central Virginia pick, came on as a Division I prospect at scouting combines last summer and chose to accept an offer to join a FCS program on the rise. He'll sign at a ceremony at WMHS tomorrow at 1 p.m.
UPDATED TUESDAY, 2:28 p.m. -- Daily Progress football writer Jay Jenkins says there likely won't be many surprises for Virginia tomorrow and the players committed to the Cavaliers seem to be solidly in the Cavaliers camp.
But if there is any last-minute excitement, it may come by way of New Jersey. Rutgers hired assistant Kyle Flood to replace new Tampa Bay Bucs coach Greg Schiano in hopes of salvaging what was considered a great recruiting class for the Scarlett Knights.
But some prospects are going to hold off on signing tomorrow and some are considering ACC schools instead of Rutgers. There may be an off chance some are interested in Virginia. Stay tuned.
UDATED TUESDAY, NOON -- Locally, the Signing Day festivities get started early. Fork Union Military Academy is holding a ceremony Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
Senior wide out D.J. Randle El, son of former Steeler and Redskin Atwaan Randle El, and post graduate defensive lineman Shawn Fauntleroy were still weighing offers leading up to the big day.
Of particular interest to Virginia fans are a trio of FUMA stars heading to the ACC. Post grads Adrian Gamble and Ryan Doull appear to be following in the footsteps of former Fork Union standouts such as Morgan Moses by choosing the Cavaliers.
FUMA senior John Tu’uta has committed to North Carolina State and is scheduled to sign with the Wolfpack in the morning.
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