Before the transfer portal formally opened on Dec. 4, I penned a column on the eight players that Virginia could not afford to lose.
The Great 8: linebacker Kam Robinson, safety Jonas Sanker, wideout Malachi Fields, quarterback Anthony Colandrea, cornerback Dre Walker, offensive linemen McKale Boley and Blake Steen, edge rusher Chico Bennett Jr.
Good news for UVA fans: none of those guys (hold on, let me check the portal again and make sure that’s still the case; yep, still true) ended up in the portal.
Coach Tony Elliott’s first two seasons were marked by high-profile departures – four starting O linemen just as Elliott was taking the job in December 2021; three-year starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong this past offseason.
Elliott’s prep recruiting has left a lot to be desired – the class that he rolled out on Wednesday ranks 15th in the 17-team ACC, and 77th nationally, per 247Sports.
The success in keeping the high-profile guys in-house this offseason is noteworthy.
As to what’s behind the good news …
“I think last year, we’re in two different spots. Last year, we were coming off a situation that was unfathomable, and then you had guys that were in a position where they had finished their degrees and then they have that. There’s opportunities out there from an NIL standpoint. It was a lot of different factors,” Elliott told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday held to discuss the 2024 prep signing class.
“This year, I think the guys had been through now, I’d say almost a normal year, right, with the staff, better relationships,” Elliott said. “I think the guys saw the investment in them from a program standpoint, both in-house and then also within the NIL space, trying to improve those opportunities for them. They felt like they could get whatever they needed from a development standpoint with the staff.
“So, I don’t know if we did anything different as much as we just had another year of time together,” Elliott said. “It was a little bit more of a normal cycle even though we did have some external things that we had to deal with. And I think that the guys also are a little bit more educated on what the reality is out there. I don’t think that perception is the reality when it comes to going in the portal for NIL and all those type of things. So, I think they feel good about the development opportunities the relationships the direction that we’re headed and then the work that was done by the athletic department and our supporters to help them have opportunities from an NIL standpoint.”
Elliott’s point in that lengthy answer about perception not being the reality when it comes to the portal is playing out for the 14 members of the 2023 UVA roster who decided to enter the portal.
None of the 14 have yet found a new school; the grass isn’t always greener perhaps being the lesson there.
It’s also notable to point out here that two of the guys on my can’t lose list – Robinson and Colandrea – have been active on social media in trying to help the staff land guys off the portal.
“I’m grateful for those guys, because those were a couple of the early individuals to believe in what we’re doing here as a program and what our program is about holistically, and then they had early success, and they want to, you know, they want to be advocates for what’s going on within the program,” Elliott said.
“I’m not on Twitter as much, so I don’t see what they’re doing, but I appreciate the work that they’re doing,” Elliott said. “It’s just a testament to the fact that they’re having a good experience. They feel like they’re being developed. They feel like they’re being taken care of. They’re having opportunities to grow, and they believe in the direction that we’re headed, and good players want to play with good players. And so, they’re doing their part as well to help recruit the top guys that have an opportunity to come back.”
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Chris Graham
