Here we are, folks. It's been over two months since Mike London and company have had the undivided attention of Virginia fans, but the day has finally arrived: National Signing Day. While the Cavaliers finished just 4-8 last season, the Wahoo fan base couldn't help but stay excited for the program.
The Class of 2011 will officially be Coach London's first recruiting class as head coach of Virginia. At the time of this post, the Cavaliers have 24 commitments in the class. Two of them, QB David Watford and DE Daquan Romero, will technically be in the Class of 2010, as they enrolled at UVa in January.
Considering Virginia finished the season with just four wins, fans must be pretty excited about the hype surrounding this class. Of the 24 commits, three of them are considered four-star recruits by all the major scouting services: CB Demetrious Nicholson, CB Brandon Phelps, and RB Clifton Richardson. Of the 21 remaining, 17 are considered three-star recruits. DT David Dean is considered a three or four star, depending on the service.
The class is currently ranked No. 21 (as of January 28) by ESPN, No. 29 by Scout.com and No. 32 by Rivals. Remember, this is coming off a four-win season.
The big storyline of the anticipated recruiting class is London's presence in the 757. Right off the bat upon arriving at Virginia, London made sure to schedule one of UVa's spring practices at Old Dominion, a two-year old football program in Norfolk, Va. that has found immediate success. London's dedication to the Tidewater region -- an area well-known for being talent-rich. At least nine of this year's anticipated class hails from Tidewater, as compared to the three of last year.
And that includes Nicholson, Richardson, and Dean, not to mention Watford, who is the first signee coming from Hampton High School since Marques Hagans in 2001 after a falling out between former Virginia head coach Al Groh and Hampton head coach Mike Smith.
Still, Coach London and his staff are still waiting to hear back from three highly-recruited players in particular: 5-star linebacker Curtis Grant, four-star athlete Darius Jennings and four-star athlete Dominique Terrell.
Jennings, who is down to Virginia, Ohio State and Wake Forest, plans to announce at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Terrell is down to Virginia, West Virginia and Miami, and will announce at 11:30 a.m.
Grant, the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, is down to Virginia, Ohio State, North Carolina and Florida and will announce live on ESPNU at 1:50 p.m. Most sources say that he is down to just the Cavaliers and the Buckeyes.
We plan on staying on top of the recruiting trail throughout the day and will be posting updates both right here on Streaking the Lawn as well as on Twitter. Each update will be posted as a separate entry, complete with stats, player notes, quotes and where available, highlights videos -- everything you need to determine for yourself whether you believe the hype.