Breaking down UVa's success thus far in the class of 2025

Heading into May, Tony Elliott and his staff have quietly put together a very solid 2025 recruiting class. As of today, UVa’s haul ranks 25th nationally after finishing 92nd last year with a small class and 59th the year before with 16 signees.

So far, UVa has 11 pledges in what should be more of a full-size recruiting class. Transfer additions will be a big part of recruiting going forward of course and will help in the short term, but Elliott has talked about wanting to be a developmental program and “building through the draft,” meaning high-school recruiting.

There’s plenty of work to do both on and off the field over the remainder of the year to secure this solid class and grow it as recruiting heats up in the summer months.

As we put a wrap on the month of April and move further ahead in the cycle, we’re taking a look at a few key storylines from UVa’s 2025 class to date.

UVa hasn’t signed a four-star player (or higher) since signing three in the 2021 class. Elliott and his staff have seemingly broken through in their third recruiting cycle with a pair of four stars in the fold.

The Hoos got their first four-star commitment back in November, when receiver Isaiah Robinson made the call for UVa just after the 2023 season ended. Robinson plays at Trinity Episcopal in Richmond and chose the local Cavaliers over offers from UNC, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and others, and interest from many more programs. Listed at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, he has the talent to develop into the next great Virginia receiver in a position group that has been encouraging since Adam Mims took over for Marques Hagans. Robinson is scheduled to take an official to UVa in June.

UVa also has a commitment from 6-foot-3 athlete Chris Spence, too. The four-star from Baltimore picked UVa back in February and has a bunch of offers from the likes of Michigan and Virginia Tech. He projects as a defensive back and has some position flexibility. Spence is the type of player that could end up back on the recruiting radar through the cycle, as other schools may try to get back involved, but Rivals’ Adam Friedman spoke with him earlier this month and Spence seems solidly committed to the Hoos at this time.

There’s a long way to go until Signing Day but it’s encouraging to see the Cavaliers get commitments from sought-after players like Spence and Robinson and be able to lock down those verbals early in the process.

Both of those aforementioned four-stars live within three hours of Charlottesville. And in this 2025 class, UVa’s staff has done a nice job closing recruitments with players in their natural recruiting footprint.

Of Virginia’s 11 commits, two are from Virginia, both from the Richmond area (Robinson and recent pledge Xay Davis). But three more come from the DMV or North Carolina, with many more targets on the radar from nearby areas.

In addition to finding players close to Charlottesville, UVa has done a good job pulling talent from prep schools that are natural recruiting grounds for a school with UVa’s academic profile. Virginia has a pair of commits from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, has another from an Exeter (NH) prospect, and one more from Lipscomb Academy in Nashville.

Getting into these schools, as well as closer-to-home academies like Woodberry Forest, Trinity Episcopal and others, is encouraging for this staff and could lead to further success at those feeder programs down the line.

Virginia is still working to rebuild in the trenches, adding depth and talent to a group that was depleted when this staff took over. The offensive line is in a much better place now from a development standpoint, but Terry Heffernan could still use a lot more help in future cycles.

The good news is that in this class, Heffernan and the Hoos have already closed two priority offensive line targets in Jon Adair and Grayson Reid. Adair was another early commit for UVa, making the call back in December. The Nashville product is listed as a guard and picked the Cavaliers over offers from FSU, Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and others. Reid is another guard, who plays at Maret School in DC. He picked Virginia in February after pulling in offers from Maryland, Pitt, Virginia Tech and others.

Virginia added a pair of tight ends to the class as well, boosting another position that could use a long-term talent infusion. The Wahoos reeled in three-star Justin Zames from Tampa in March and followed that up with a commitment from Willem Thurber in last week. Zames and Thurber are big targets at 6-foot-4, 237 pounds and 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, respectively. And both players were surely intrigued by UVa’s blend of academics and high-level football, with both having pulled in a bunch of Ivy League offers in addition to the FBS programs that were interested.

So what’s driving UVa’s improved recruiting over the past couple of cycles? Perhaps the relationships the staff has developed at key high schools and with priority targets are starting to pay off. And perhaps the fact that this staff finally has a true recruiting cycle to work in has paid dividends as well, after a pair of challenging cycles to begin their tenure at UVa.

But it’s worth noting that Virginia’s new football facility probably isn’t hurting on the trail, either. The new building, which is nearing completion ahead of an early June opening, has been shown off to visiting recruits and sold as an indication of the school’s seriousness about competing in the sport going forward. The current and previous staffs have been saddled with one of the worst facilities in power-conference football, with the McCue Center lacking amenities and flash that even many G5 schools can show off to recruits.

It’s not a coincidence that UVa has some official visits set up for the day after the facilities grand opening on June 6th, and there’s no doubt that the staff and players can’t wait to move into the new building full time this summer.