Kirven looks back on on a unique recruitment and decision to commit

No prospect in the class of 2017 had quite the strange twists and turns as Woodberry Forest's John Kirven. In fact, he may have had one of the most unique recruitments in recent memory.

But the only thing that matters is that he ended up exactly where he wanted to be.

Kirven, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound prospect whose older brother Caid played basketball at UVa, committed to the Wahoos as a tight end last fall, well before Bronco Mendenhall was hired. Things changed for him once he started to have conversations with the new coaches about how he'd fit at that position.

"I was set on UVa at first when I committed to Mike London's staff," he told CavsCorner. "And then as time went on, the new coaching staff talked to me about tight end and all and I had to make the tough decision to decommit and open up my recruiting again."

But that is one of the reasons that he ultimately landed at UVa: The coaching staff was honest enough with him to let him go through the recruiting process with his eyes open.

"My recruitment really started picking up," Kirven said. "I was getting new offers from I think eight or nine schools. So, obviously I had a lot of options. And one of them ended up being UVa again and playing D-end."

That the Cavaliers posed that possibility ended up providing another dramatic shift in how his recruitment played out.

"At first, I wasn't so sure about it," he admitted. "The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. And they were really convincing about it, about how I could be a really good defensive end."

"I don't think they saw me as a tight end in this class," he said. "Coach Mendenhall saw me as a Chris Long type of defensive end. They're the ones who saw me at defensive end and I'm taking their word for it."

That didn't mean he wouldn't have to work, though. In fact, Kirven said he camped at UVa twice and got to see first hand just how much Mendenhall and his staff expect from their players.

"Yeah, the camps at UVa are definitely very different," he said with a laugh. "It was very, very hard. I actually ended up going to two of their camps and the first one, I threw up in like the first hour and then I got back into it. But the second one, I was full-time defensive end for that one. It was very uptempo, very high energy. It was a lot of fun, working with the coaches. I learned a ton because they really are great coaches.

"I got the offer after I camped there," Kirven added. "Obviously, though, I had to think about it a lot."

The possibility of being a defensive end at UVa was enticing. But it wasn't something that the three-star recruit was ready to accept on the spot. Much like his recruitment to that point, he had to make sure it was the right move.

"I've always loved playing defense and I'm a really physical player, so that part fit," he explained. "I have all of the physical attributes that come with playing that position, the size and strength. Once I get the technique down, I think it'll be a good fit for me. But I had been a tight end for so long, I had to think about it first."

By the time Kirven made the decision to commit to UVa, two of his high school teammates, quarterback Lindell Stone and ATH Terrell Jana, had committed to the school he once had recruited them to join. Now, they were the ones doing the recruiting.

"Yeah, I mean that was a weird way it worked out, huh?," Kirven joked. "We would talk about it every now and then but they honestly didn't put any pressure on me or anything. They knew in the end that I would make the right decision. I'm just really excited to continue to play with them for a few more years."

And as if his recruitment hadn't already been unique enough, he waited a few days after committing to Mendenhall and announced his decision on the Fourth of July.

"I probably made the decision either late Thursday night or the Friday before," he said. "I called them and committed on Saturday and decided to hold off to announce it. It just kind of happened that way.

"Coach Mendenhall was actually on vacation," Kirven added. "And he told me that it was definitely the best news he's heard all week. I think it really made his day and I'm glad it did. I'm really excited to play for him."

That's one of the most intriguing aspects of Kirven's recruitment. It was Mendenhall's staff, after all, that told him he should look around at other options because they didn't see him as a fit at tight end.

That level of honesty weighed heavy in Kirven's ultimate decision to commit to the Wahoos again.

"Yeah, that was huge," he said. "I was really glad and really thankful, honestly, that they were so honest with me. They didn't just string me along or let me get there and then switch me to a different position. They gave me the information I needed so that I could know going in what I'm going to get.

"Them being honest with me allowed me to go through the recruiting process the right way," Kirven added. "They talked to me ahead of time instead and trusted me to make the right decision for me."

With his future at UVa now on the defensive side of the ball Kirven says he'll focus on that as well as TE during his senior year.

"I'm going to be playing both ways this year," he said. "I'll primarily be a tight end because that's what I've been working out and where I can help our team at the most. But I'm also obviously going to be working on getting better at defensive end as well."

While it may have been a winding road, Kirven doesn't focus on that aspect to the way his recruitment ended and restarted. He still has a different perspective on the whole thing.

"Most people who are rising seniors," he said, "they don't know where they're going to be going to college this early. So I really appreciate that. It's great to know that I'll be going to UVa. It's an awesome feeling."