Three-star ATH Kollie talks UVa, visits, and his long-term plans
For a lot of people, the last 10 weeks or so have been anything but busy. That hasn’t been the case for a lot of college football recruits, as many have gone against the conventional wisdom and committed early despite being unable to take any college visits this spring.
For three-star Jonesborough (TN) David Crockett standout Prince Kollie, it’s been an eventful few months even though he remains uncommitted.
The 6-foot-1, 197-pound athlete has been among the hottest recruits the past few months, picking up offers with regularity.
Last weekend, he dropped a top 10 that included Auburn, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, UVa, and Wake Forest.
When CavsCorner caught up with Kollie recently, he was still adjusting to the new way ahead, with visit plans likely scrapped for the spring and summer. One of the few trips he was able to take prior to the NCAA-imposed dead period was one to Charlottesville for junior day in early March.
Led by outside linebackers coach and co-DC Kelly Poppinga, the Hoos have made him a priority for a while.
“We’ve been in contact a lot,” he said of Virginia. “It was Coach K-Pop that first reached out to me. He’s the one that extended the offer to me and it was my first one. It was a great conversation, we had like a 20-minute talk, and he offered me.
“He had come out to our school to talk to me as well, so it wasn’t the first time we had talked,” Kollie added. “He saw me in person and he went back to talk to the staff. He really liked me, they liked my film, and so not too much later when we were on the phone I found out about that offer.”
The process, he said at the time, was something that came with plenty of pros and maybe just a few cons.
“It’s been surprising, it’s been a blessing, and it’s been overwhelming,” Kollie explained. “All these coaches, they want you. So, they’re going to do their best to get you. The process, me and my family were new to it at first so we’re all still learning and everything. I’m enjoying it right now.
“It’s kind of been surprising, to hear from all of the schools that have interest in me,” he added. “But I’m just thankful for it and blessed to be here.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, was something he couldn’t have foreseen when that first offer came in. And with it, so went his plans as the dead period continued to impact his schedule.
“It really did,” Kollie said. “It really put a wrench in it. It really stopped all the plans I had. I had visits lined up to go see a bunch of schools and then the virus happened. So, it’s done a lot of damage as far as that but whenever we’re allowed to go see all these schools, I’m still going to do my very best to do that.”
Many programs have found a way to make lemonade, turning to virtual visits as a method of communication that allows prospects and their families to still learn more and talk to coaches. For Kollie, that hadn’t been something he felt like he was getting too much out of.
“It’s very different from being there in person,” he said. “It’s hard to maintain your attention. But you’ve still got to find out about the school, so it’s good like that.”
The aforementioned trip to UVa, his first, did allow him to see things up close.
“We got to see the facilities, which was great,” he recalled. “It was a junior day, so they put together a little kickball tournament for the prospects. That’s the only time I’ve ever heard of something like that on a visit. But I actually went to another presentation by one of their academic and educational people to learn about how they do things, so that was really good.”
Though he didn’t get a chance to sit down one-on-one with head coach Bronco Mendenhall, Kollie said that he and Poppinga spent time together and that’s a big reason why the Cavaliers interest him so much. Of course, with linebackers at UVa and the kind of versatility the staff likes to find, there’s always a chance ILB’s coach Shane Hunter will be alongside Poppinga.
“It’s a great relationship,” Kollie said. “We’re very comfortable with each other. We talk a lot. Me and Coach Hunter, the other LBs coach, we talk a lot too. It’s a great relationship with UVa.”
As far as fit, Poppinga and Hunter sound like they who would very much like to have a guy like Kollie in their groups specifically.
“Really, it’s both [positions],” he said. “They both see me in both spots. They don’t really fight it doesn’t seem but I can tell just from talking to them that they would both love me in their room.”
As with a lot of guys at his position, Kollie grew up playing a different spot. But Mother Nature seems to have had other ideas.
“Personally, I used to think I’d be a better fit at safety,” he said. “But my body’s developing and I’m starting to like linebacker a lot. All up until this last year, I’ve been playing safety. I’ve been a DB, at least until last year. Then I came up in the trenches because somebody had to do it.
“In games and for the team, I want to play linebacker and be that guy in the middle,” Kollie added. “Stop the run, do what it takes. But I’ll still be doing some DB drills to keep me fresh and keep my versatility up.”
To this point, there’s been a lot variation on the specific fit he's heard from schools but the vast majority like him at backer.
“Only one school had offered for safety and that was Virginia Tech,” he said. “All of the others are outside linebacker or inside linebacker.”
As things move forward, Kollie said that he believes he’ll take visits in the fall once those are opened back up.
“I’ve given it some thought, about when to commit and everything,” he said. “Me and my coach have talked about it. Right now, I’m going to wait it out so I can take some visits and things.”
So what’s he looking for in a future home?
“How my parents feel about it, of course, is going to be big for me,” Kollie said. “Academics are important to me, of course.
“But for me,” he added, “really the big thing is chemistry and the vibe between the whole community and not just coaches, not just players. I want to know how everybody treats each other outside the football rooms, outside the locker room. That’s a big thing for me.”
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