Virginia Recruiter of the Year: Anthony Poindexter

Anthony Poindexter did a great job bringing in talented players from his primary recruiting territory in the Northern Virginia, D.C. and Maryland area. Dex was the point man on the recruitments of Andre Levrone, Brendan Marshall, Kirk Garner, Zach Bradshaw, Micah Kiser, and Donta Wilkins. That accounts for almost thirty percent of Virginia's 2013 class. Poindexter has long had a reputation as not only one of the best recruiters in the area, but in the conference and nation as well.

Poindexter has been recruiting for Virginia since the Groh years, and has made significant in-roads in the "DMV." Having been recruiting at Good Counsel for some time had to help Poindexter create good relationships with the trio of commits the Hoos got from the prep powerhouse in Maryland. Virginia and Poindexter pulled Vincent Croce from the school in 2011, and were involved with 5-star Stefon Diggs last year. Getting in good at Good Counsel can always pay dividends, and grabbing 3 solid players from the school this year was a nice haul for Dex. The recruitment of Micah Kiser was similar, as UVa has ties to that Gilman School as well. Poindexter snagged Darius Jennings from the school and actively pursued other players from Gilman. Kiser has been on UVa's radar for some time, and the Cavaliers filled a major area of need with his signature.

Zach Bradshaw chose Penn State over UVa in South Carolina last year, before the NCAA dropped the hammer on the NIttany Lions in August. Bradshaw elected to decommit from Penn State, and re-open his recruitment. Poindexter had been recruiting Bradshaw for some time, and Virginia immediately got back involved. The Hoos landed Bradshaw later the same day. Bradshaw was a former high school teammate of current Cavalier defensive back Brandon Phelps, another player signed by Poindexter in 2011.

After Virginia made some changes to the coaching staff, the remaining coaches were left to keep the 2013 class together. Poindexter did a great job picking up the slack, and helping to keep the commits in the fold. Donta Wilkins, a player that Poindexter recruited out of Northern Virginia, had some misgivings after Jim Reid and Jeff Hanson were let go. Coach Dex assured Wilkins and his family that UVa would be fine and that he would fit in well with the new staff. In the end, none of Poindexter's commits wavered, including Wilkins. Poindexter was instrumental in making sure that the Hoos kept Tim Harris, Malcolm Cook and Tyrell Chavis in the fold, after they were starting to open things up after a 4-8 season and staff shakeup.

The staff collectively did a great job limiting attrition after a tough year, and adding a talented 2013 class. Anthony Poindexter led the way in the recruitments of a good chuck of the group, and helped ease the tensions of other committed prospects following some adversity. In the years to come, UVa needs to be able to pull talent from the DMV area in order to have successful recruiting cycles. With Coach Dex at the helm, Virginia fans should have nothing to worry about on that front.