UVa among first schools to target 2023 D-lineman Lora
It was less than a month ago when Rodney Lora was talking recruiting with a Woodberry Forest School teammate at indoor track practice.
“I remember telling Landon [Ellis] one day at practice, ‘All these coaches, all they do is talk about how great their school is, but they never really offer,’” recalled Lora. “An hour later, I got my first offer.”
Old Dominion was that first school to offer. A second offer from Buffalo came later that same day. Nine days later, Virginia became the first Power 5 school to offer the 2023 defensive line prospect.
Fast forward to Wednesday, and Lora has five offers, including three from Power 5 programs. Other Power 5 schools are entering the picture on seemingly a daily basis. His recruiting has accelerated in a way that even Lora, who missed much of his junior season at Woodberry Forest following an early-season bout with turf toe, was not expecting.
“Finding out that coaches liked my film when I only played three games,” he admitted, “it was actually very surprising to me.”
Wake Forest and Vanderbilt are the latest schools to extend offers to Lora, with that Wake offer coming last week and the Vandy offer coming on Tuesday. Lora also heard from coaches from both Syracuse and Rutgers on Tuesday, and he says Virginia Tech has also entered the picture.
Wake has offered the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Lora as an offensive linemen. The remaining schools, including UVa, are recruiting the New Jersey native to play on the D-line. UVa coaches envision Lora as a defensive tackle, he says.
Lora was caught off-guard by his Virginia offer, which came during a phone conversation with new UVa head coach Tony Elliott. The conversation began with Elliott selling the school before, as Lora recalls, “He would tell me, ‘Yeah, I wish you could come down here and enjoy this school, but in order to come down here, we’re going to have to give you an offer, right?’”
Lora was drawn in by the energy exuded by both Elliott and UVa assistants Garett Tujague and Keith Downing, who have remained in almost daily contact with the recruit via text message. Lora is locked in to make his first visit to Virginia on March 26th.
He’s gotten glowing reviews on the school from both Woodberry Forest teammate Armel Mukam, who attended a UVa Junior Day in January, and from Ellis, who accompanied Mukam on that visit. The Tigers’ head coach is Jackson Matteo, who played five years at UVa and later served as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.
And Lora has one other connection to the school: Former UVa wide receiver Terrell Jana, who played with Lora’s older brother Derek at Woodberry Forest.
“He came to my house. He stayed a couple nights with my brother. We have a really good connection. He’s a great guy,” Lora said. “He was just telling me, ‘You know I’m biased about it, but [UVa] has it all.’”
That turf toe injury that limited Lora is now fully healed. A shot put and discus thrower, he was No. 1 in the state in the shot-put during indoor track season and finished the year all-state. While preparing for outdoor track, he’s also lifting and doing field work with Matteo in preparation for his senior season of football.
Lora says he’d like to make a college commitment this summer or, at the latest, by the end of his senior season. He’s planning to visit Wake Forest with Mukam and Matteo later this month, a few days after his trip to UVa. He’s exploring the possibility of hitting some mega-camps this summer, with coaches from several schools in attendance, and talked about swinging through Pennsylvania to compete at camps at both Pitt and Penn State.
He also expects that list of five offers to keep growing.
“Out of nowhere, coaches have been calling and telling me that it’s coming soon,” Lora said. “To be able to play at a level like this—especially now, ACC and SEC—it’s just a blessing. It’s amazing.”