On the eve of the 2022 football season, the energy of the coaching staff and players will be on winning each week and having a great first season in the Tony Elliott era.

Still, there’s plenty of long-term work being done behind the scenes including in recruiting, a season that never really ends.

On Thursday, college programs were permitted to officially begin the recruitments of 2024 prospects with about 15 months until those players sign letters of intent.

UVa’s staff hit the road to watch prospects on Thursday, with a heavy emphasis on the Commonwealth. Elliott’s staff is attempting to grow roots and build relationships in-state and turn that into putting a quality 2024 recruiting class together. Many targets in the next cycle for UVa are yet to be known with so much time remaining but today we take a look at a few key targets in the Commonwealth that could really make a difference for the Cavaliers in the recruiting rankings and eventually on the field.

The first of two King George players on our list, Chanz Wiggins has been one of UVa’s top 2024 targets for a long time now. The previous coaching staff initiated interest in the 6-foot-4 wideout, and Wiggins has been to Virginia several times. Wiggins was on hand for UVa’s home game against Notre Dame in the fall, and returned in the spring, and got the chance to get to know the new coaching staff better. When Wiggins caught up with CavsCorner in the spring, it seemed that he was impressed with Elliott’s vision for the UVa program. “Coach Elliott is an amazing guy,” he said. “He’s worked for colleges who have had great success and he believes that he can bring some of that success over to UVa. We just have to trust his process and invest in it.”

Wiggins is currently the No. 5 -ranked player in the Commonwealth, and holds offers from UVa, Virginia Tech, UNC, Penn State, West Virginia, among many others. There’s plenty of competition for Wiggins, including many of the same foes that UVa recruits against all the time, but Virginia has been recruiting him for a long time and we’ll see if the Hoos have the staying power to close this one out down the road.

Wiggins’ teammate, Mekhai White is also a top priority for the Cavaliers. White, like Wiggins, has been on UVa’s radar for years and was initially recruited by Bronco Mendenhall’s staff. The three-star prospect like his teammate has been to Charlottesville but there’s a ton of competition here. White holds offers from Georgia, Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, UNC, Tennessee, Penn State, Virginia Tech and many more, in addition to UVa.

Heading into the fall, Georgia seems like the team to beat for him. He picked up an offer from the Bulldogs following a camp in Athens and has since made a return trip to the home of the reigning national champions. Can UVa get back into it, and perhaps convince White to play closer to home? It won’t be easy, but the Cavaliers will surely try.

Lord Botetcourt’s D.J. Toliver is one of several offensive linemen that have early offers from the Wahoos. UVa was in early on Toliver, who plays just down the road from Charlottesville in Daleville. He is a UVa legacy, and the 6-foot-5 three-star prospect has been to Grounds several times.

Toliver visited for a junior day in late January and was back this summer as well. UVa will have to fight off competition from Virginia Tech, Louisville, Duke and others as well. It seems like the Hokies could be in play for him after former Lord Botetcourt lineman Gunner Givens chose to head to Blacksburg a few years ago, and they like UVa have been in on Toliver for some time.

One early 2024 offer that came from the current staff went to lineman Eric Mensah, who impressed on a camp visit to Charlottesville over the summer. A 6-foot-2, 280 pound defensive lineman who plays at Mountain View High in Stafford, Mensah has picked up offers from BC, Virginia Tec,h and Wake Forest in addition to the Cavaliers. And this could be a recruitment that picks up steam big time before he decides.

When he caught up with CavsCorner in August, he wasn’t shy about his lofty goals for the 2022 season. “First and foremost, I want to work and study hard to pass all my classes with honors,” Mensah said. “When it comes to football, my plan for this season is to get three defensive touchdowns, 12 sacks, 150 tackles, 70 assists, 30 tackles for loss, and be one of the leaders to take our school to the state championship.”

Virginia is hoping to secure its second of a set of three talented running-back brothers from the Commonwealth. Kesean Henderson is the younger brother of Cavalier back Ronnie Walker, along with Ohio State phenom Treyveon Henderson, and like his older siblings, stars for Hopewell High School. Henderson has picked up offers from West Virginia, Duke and Coastal Carolina this year, and had early offers from UVa and VT.

It remains to be seen how this recruitment will play out, but it’s safe to say UVa will have its chances to impress the young back. Henderson will surely return to Charlottesville for games this fall, assuming Walker is good to go, and it will be interesting to see how Henderson is prioritized by this staff.

The first and only quarterback on this list, Khristian Martin leads one of the state’s top high school programs as a rising junior. Martin visited Charlottesville for a camp in June and earned an offer during his visit. Virginia joins Maryand, ODU and Virginia Tech, among others, in pursuit. The 6-foot-2 three-star QB has a strong arm and certainly has ACC-level potential, with two years of high school ball remaining.

UVa doesn’t always land talent from Highland Springs but the Hoos did snag Miles Greene in this cycle, and currently have Billy Kemp on the roster. And if Martin has a big junior season, perhaps his stock rises and more out-of-state programs get involved. But UVa will want to get Martin back to Grounds this fall if they can, to continue to build that relationship.

Teammates with Mensah, linebacker Kristopher Jones is already being pursued by plenty of major programs around the country. The Mountain View standout holds offers from schools like Notre Dame and Ohio State, and visited both schools over the summer. Typically that would be “game over” in a recruitment for Virginia, and it certainly could be tough to have staying power against that type of competition. But when interviewed by Rivals’ Notre Dame site following his visit, Jones did name UVa (and the Hokies) as schools in the running along with the Irish and others.

It’s going to be a major uphill climb, but UVa will certainly take their shot at Jones and see what they can do.

Another player in NOVA that has a ton of national interest is four-star lineman Fletcher Westphal. The Leesburg native has interest from nearly everyone. His offer list includes Georgia, Clemson, Miami, Michigan, Oregon and many, many others. Virginia is also on that list, and Westphal has been recruited by UVa for a long time. Having Garett Tujague stick around in Charlottesville could help, as he was certainly building a relationship with Westphal for some time before the coaching change happened.

Westphal has been to UVa a few times, and the key for the Wahoos now will be getting him to continue making trips and convince him to play close to home and have a chance for early playing time. As always when going up against some of the nation’s top programs, that task is easier said than done.