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Another recruiting class in the books, and somehow, Virginia Head Coach Mike London and recruiting extraordinaire Chip West have put together a fine class, notwithstanding the Cavaliers coming off a 2-10 campaign that found them winless in the conference.
How do the experts break down the class? Here's where Virginia's 2014 recruiting class ranked against the four major scouting services:
Service | Ranking |
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ESPN | 25 | 2 | 4 |
11 |
247 | 32 | 2 | 2 |
11 |
Rivals | 40 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Scout | 49 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
As you can see, it's a pretty wide range of rankings among the, ranking as high as an impressive 25, and as low as a lackluster 49. Worth noting is that Virginia had a fairly small class, at just 17 signees, the fewest in the ACC. Among ESPN's Top 40, only Michigan had the same or fewer, with 16. Top-ranked Alabama pulled in 27 recruits, while Tennessee had a whopping 35.
The class is highlighted by unanimous 5-star and consensus top 10 recruits Andrew Brown and Quin Blanding. Brown is an early enrollee who has the honor of being the Gatorade National Player of the Year for Football. Meanwhile, Blanding could single-handed change the face of Virginia football for years to come, and with the two of them joining in the same class, the possibilities are endless.
Anyone who can win two games in a season and pull in two five-star recruits should be given some sort of Nobel prize. In this case, it's Chip West, who is ranked by ESPN as the No. 9 recruiter in the nation ($), second in the ACC only to Florida State's Tim Brewster. West was also ranked No. 9 by 247Sports. By the way, on 247Sports' list of top 20 recruiters with public salaries, West is the lowest paid, at a measly $220,00 a year. Among the top 10, tTop-ranked Bryan McClendon from Georgia makes the second least, with $265,000, while No. 3 Kirby Smart makes $1,150,000 from Alabama. Roll Tide.
Florida State led the ACC on National Signing Day, with 28 recruits and the No. 3 class in the country by ESPN, No. 4 by Rivals and 247Sports. Here's how the ACC looked (Yes, I'm aware that Notre Dame is not in the ACC):
School |
ESPN Rank |
Rivals Rank |
247 Rank |
Average |
Florida State |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3.67 |
Notre Dame |
11 |
11 |
10 |
10.67 |
Miami |
10 |
12 |
12 |
11.33 |
Clemson |
12 |
13 |
18 |
14.33 |
Virginia Tech |
31 |
25 |
27 |
27.67 |
North Carolina |
32 |
23 |
29 |
28.00 |
VIRGINIA |
25 |
40 |
32 |
32.33 |
NC State |
38 |
30 |
34 |
34.00 |
Pittsburgh |
44 |
44 |
45 |
44.33 |
Boston College |
42 |
42 |
52 |
45.33 |
Louisville |
53 |
46 |
47 |
48.67 |
Georgia Tech |
54 |
48 |
54 |
52.00 |
Syracuse |
60 |
52 |
50 |
54.00 |
Duke |
51 |
58 |
58 |
55.67 |
Wake Forest |
63 |
58 |
62 |
61.00 |
How do you feel about the 2014 recruiting class? Does this class give you faith for the future of Virginia Football? How long before these highly-touted (I originally typed tortured...oops?) classes really start having an impact on the team?