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Three-star ATH Hardy found the right fit on his own timeline

Three-star ATH Will Hardy committed to the Hoos last weekend after a whirlwind of a process.
Three-star ATH Will Hardy committed to the Hoos last weekend after a whirlwind of a process. (Photo courtesy of Will Hardy)

Three-star ATH Will Hardy had heard plenty about UVa. He knew the Cavaliers were the first to come through with an offer. And he knew they had been in his top three, alongside Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, for a while.

He needed a little more information, though. And despite trudging through his recruitment amid a months-long dead period, he had an idea about how to get it. And that’s where Atlanta-area products Joey Blount and Nick Jackson helped their fellow Georgia native get the extra intel he needed.

“Actually,” Hardy told CavsCorner this week, “before I officially committed and I was really thinking about it for about a week, I asked if I could get Joey’s number. We talked for 30 minutes and just I asked him some real questions. Like, what's it really like being a player? And he was honest. He was real honest about how hard they work. You’ve got to really love football to go play at an ACC-level school. And he was also honest about the academics. They were tough but it was good, he said. And so that was great and really helpful.

“And then I actually also had a call with Nick Jackson,” he added. “So he's from down here in Atlanta too and it was a similar call, similar ideas. Those two calls were really assuring about everything I’ve been hearing about UVa and after that, and just more prayer and thought, that's when I made the decision.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Hardy committed to Virginia soon after, becoming the third member of the 2022 class. It was the culmination of a recruitment that spanned mere months an included no “real” visits due to the pandemic.

But the Greater Atlanta Christian safety couldn’t be happier with how things went, from that first call with co-DC Nick Howell all the way to his recent decision.

“Honestly, I didn't get looked at a ton before my junior year, if really at all,” Hardy explained. “And then junior year I had a really good junior season, kind of took a big step in my game and then, you know, released my film. Then in January, it was basically my first time really communicating with colleges and out of nowhere my dad, who is actually our head coach so it’s easy to communicate with him and get on the phone with coaches, got a call from Coach Howell. At the time he was the safeties coach and right after watching my film, they offered me on the spot.

“So, it was really surprising to me, really exciting,” he added. “It was really the first step in my process, which was a huge step and it was awesome. And then from there, they were my first offer so I had a lot of time, building relationships with the coaches and then learning a lot through the Zooms. We would do a Zoom every other week. It was just very helpful and everyone there, everyone on the staff had the same mindset. They are all just top notch people that I could see myself working along with. It was awesome.”

When Bronco Mendenhall moved Shane Hunter from coaching ILBs to safeties, it meant that Hardy had to get to know a new position coach. But it also helped him grow even more comfortable with the Hoos.

“So I would say it's a little surprising at first, to have the coach I've been talking to kind of changing roles,” he said. “I didn’t talk to Coach Hunter before that and then once I got to know Coach Hunter, I really built a relationship with him. I love everything Coach Hunter's about. I'm very, very glad I get to have him as my position coach. He's just such a good dude. I can't wait to get up there and actually work with him.”

While the comparisons to Blount surely came, Hardy actually heard a different player that UVa’s coaches saw in him.

“So the first call with Coach Howell, because they were at BYU when he was there, was Coach Howell he told me I reminded them a lot of Daniel Sorenson, who is now on the Chiefs,” he said. “And then like a week later we started watching film and we were breaking down specifically Joey and the way they’ve used him. And it’s basically the same way that they see myself in the defense, which is really cool.”

That Howell and Co. were the first to offer left a lasting impression but in the end, it was part of his decision but not the most important one.

“I don't think it was the biggest factor,” Hardy explained, “but it really did show that they believed in me, that they didn't think I was good just because another school thought I was good or something like that. They saw how I played and they loved it. And I think it was really cool that that was my first offer. And that's part of the reason I really like Virginia.”

An “unofficial” unofficial visit to Charlottesville helped give him a feel for a lot of thing about UVa. But he and his family are already familiar with the Commonwealth.

“Spring break was early April and actually my brother is a quarterback at Richmond and we went up there,” he recalled. “We drove there, visited him, and then toured Virginia as well as we could and saw as much as we could…That was helpful just to see the campus because it's hard to make this big decision like that and have no idea where you're going. And so it was really helpful to me.

“Yeah, it's a really cool aspect to it,” Hardy said of his bro being a Spider. “Virginia is eight hours away from our house, but then it's like with my brother there it almost lessens the trip or just kind of brings home to a different spot, which is cool. And then I think we'll play each other twice, which is going to be so cool. He's a freshman quarterback, we’re two years apart so I think we'd probably play both times. I talked to him about it and that same week, just thinking about the process, and he was so supportive and loving. I look up to him a lot. He’s a hard worker, does everything right. And so his opinion and values, I really appreciate. Us playing each other or even us being close is the thing he cares about the most. He just wants me to go to the right spot. But I think that that is a super cool part to it. I think he knows that Virginia is a great spot for me.”

Luckily, Hardy will get an even better feel for things soon when he makes the trip back up .

“I cannot wait for the official, man,” he said. “I’m very glad I'm going up there. I think there's going to be a lot of guys that can go up there with that are very interested in UVa. I'll try to get them to come with and be a part of the program, but I'm just excited to meet the coaches, see everything UVa’s got to offer.”

All told, the last few months have been a blur but things are finally starting to move. Doing so without the stress of recruiting is in and of itself a gift Hardy didn’t expect to receive.

“It feels so good,” he said. “Not just to be done, but to be like committed to a spot where, you know it's a great spot for you. I mean, like four or five months ago all I wanted to do was be able to play college football and to be going to a place like Virginia, such high-level football and such high-level academics and somewhere I can just see myself fitting in right from the get-go. It’s such a blessing. I'm very glad and blessed to be committed.”



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