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Blue-chip running back Ronnie Walker updates recruitment, includes Virginia Cavaliers football in top 10

Hopewell product is a major target for Mendenhall, Hoos

Student Sports

Good news on the recruiting front has continued for the Virginia Cavaliers football program and its fans.

After UVA landed a commitment from offensive-tackle-to-be Bobby Haskins on Friday night, Hopewell running back Ronnie Walker announced that the Hoos remain in the running for his commitment.

Walker is a consensus-top 10 prospect in the Commonwealth for the class of 2018. He’s rated 4 stars by 247, ESPN, and Scout, with Rivals rating him a high 3-star. Each service includes him among the top handful of running backs in the country, as well: as high as 10th for Scout, with ESPN the low at 22.

Just about every school in his top 10 poses a threat of some sort. Some can boast more plentiful recent success (Michigan State, UNC, Blacksburg Cow College), some can match Virginia’s academic prowess (Duke, Northwestern), and others can make a similar pitch about getting in on the ground floor of a rebuilding program (Purdue and new coach Jeff Brohm stand out the most here).

This is as close to a must-land prospect as there is for Coach Mendenhall and the staff in the McCue Center. Walker has been on Grounds more than some fourth-years, and Virginia has reportedly been the leader for a while. A commitment for UVA would both land a phenomenal talent and signal that the new staff has acclimated to recruiting in the Commonwealth. But missing out would make the third such prospect—in-state blue chip, with UVA in the lead—to slip through Virginia’s fingers, after Mekhi Becton went to Louisville and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah headed to Notre Dame.

Hopefully on-field success will come as early as this fall in Charlottesville and Walker will see Virginia as a total-package destination.