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them inside. There are tall guys that start out as wide receivers, but become big enough to be an H-back or a tight end." In addition to Harold, the Cavaliers also pulled in another outside pass rusher who had coaches from across the country knock- ing on his door. However, when it came to Michael Moore Virginia had a distinct advantage. The 6-4, 260-pound pass rusher from DeMatha Catho- lic High School in the Washington, D.C., area was not only Rivals.com's No. 11 strongside defensive end in the land, he was also the son of former Virginia quarterback and current assistant coach Shawn Moore. That created an interesting situation for Shawn Moore, who had to approach Mi- chael's recruitment as both a father and a coach of a school that desperately wanted the young man's services. Anthony Poindexter, like Shawn Moore a legendary UVa player and current assis- tant coach, took the lead of the recruitment of Michael Moore and was able to seal the deal. "Michael was a player that de- served to be recruited on his own merits, not just because of who his dad is," London said. "We never want to assume anything about any players, you want to recruit them hard and when they make a deci- sion it's because they wanted it. "Poindexter was the lead re- cruiter because that was his area. The bonus was that Shawn can give us some information. As a dad, he took him on some of the visits and saw what other schools had to say." Though the 757 has long been a talent-rich area, and one London has personal ties to, the Cavaliers didn't ignore the rest of the state and continued a solid pipeline of players out of the Richmond area. "It's no secret I'm from that area. There are deep-rooted relationships that cover years and years," London said of Hampton Roads. "Richmond being 50 minutes away, that's im- portant. We want to be on the best players in the area. We were fortu- nate to get a few players that fit our profile. We try to identify the in-state players, and if they show a legiti- mate interest in you then we try to get them to a visit on Grounds here. "When I look at this class, every- Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes defensive end Eli Harold is rated as the nation's No. 22 overall player and No. 4 weakside de- fensive end by 247Sports. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL one of those guys wanted to be here and we wanted them." Those players from Richmond included a pair from powerhouse Varina High School, a place that in the past has served as a major pipeline of talent to Virginia Tech. London has impressed Varina head coach Stu Brown since taking over at UVa, and he said the Virginia coach did an amazing job landing stars Maurice Canady, a 6-1, 180-pound athlete, and Tyrell Chavis, a 6-4, 285-pound offensive lineman. Canady was ranked as the nation's No. 51 athlete by 247Sports, while Chavis was rated as the No. 22 offensive guard in the country. "We send a lot of players to Division I programs out of here," Brown said. "We've got six players in the pros, and these two are as good as any of them. "Tyrell has SEC tal- ent. I think he's going to have to prep at Fork Union first. He's still got some work to do there, but he absolutely dominated here. He shouldn't have even been on the field in high STAR WATCH Player Eli Harold Stars Rankings 5 5 Kwontie Moore Greyson Lambert Michael Moore 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Canaan Severin Courtnye Wynn Anthony Cooper Boston College Clemson Duke Florida State Georgia Tech Maryland Miami NC State Virginia Tech Wake Forest 4 4 4 school football — he was that dominant. "I know I'm biased, but I think Maurice Canady was the best player in the Richmond area. Two years in a row we lost our starting quarterback, so he never got to play his natu- ral position. The best player in Richmond was Maurice, and he's a good kid, too. He showed he's unselfish by switching positions. Virginia got a steal." The Cavaliers also landed a pair of well- regarded quarterbacks in the class, Matt Johns and Greyson Lambert. The nation's No. 9 pro-style quarterback according to 247Sports, Lambert — who had scholarship offers from schools such as Alabama, Geor- gia and South Carolina — enrolled early at Virginia and is already on Grounds for spring practice. "In my mind we should always have a 4.5 MaxPreps No. 5 DE and No. 42 overall 4 4 Rivals No. 5 WDE and No. 50 overall ESPN No. 15 DE and No. 124 overall 247Sports No. 1 ILB and No. 37 overall Rivals No. 3 ILB and No. 91 overall ESPN No. 7 ILB Scout No. 12 MLB and No. 271 overall Scout No. 9 pro-style QB and No. 171 overall 247Sports No. 9 pro-style QB 4 MaxPreps No. 10 DE and No. 64 overall 4 247Sports No. 28 WR and No. 216 overall 247Sports No. 21 DT and No. 229 overall 247Sports No. 31 WR and No. 235 overall Rivals No. 23 athlete RANKING THE ACC ACC Rank/Grade (National Rank) School 3 (14) 8 North Carolina 7 (43) Virginia 6 (35) 2 (9) 9 1 (6) 10 12 (81) 4 (22) 5 (27) 3 (20) 5 (28) 4 (22) 12 9 (58) 6 (35) 2 (10) 8 (51) 7 (41) 11 (67) 5 (23) 9 (60) 7 (41) 12 (73) 4 (27) 10 (64) 1 (2) 11 (71) 3 (17) 10 (64) 2 (11) 8 (58) 6 (36) 1 (9) 3 (10) 11 12 1 (2) 8 6 4 (25) 10 2 (8) 9 7 5 Rivals 247Sports Scout ESPN MaxPreps 11 3 (12) — — 1 (6) — — 5 (25) 4 (16) — 2 (7) — — 247Sports No. 9 SDE and No. 183 overall Rivals No. 11 SDE and No. 191 overall Scout No. 30 DE and No. 251 overall ESPN No. 35 DE Scout No. 1 OLB and No. 26 overall 247Sports No. 4 WDE and No. 22 overall great quarterback at Virginia," Cavaliers of- fensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor said. "We run a pro-style offense that is interesting to guys who want to have an NFL career. When we look at these young men, they have to be able to be the kind of guy who is capable of being the face of your program." London hinted that there may be players in the class that can see ac- tion on the field almost immediately, but reminded everyone that just be- cause a player is highly rated as a prospect doesn't mean the transition to college football is ever without a few bumps along the way. "To sit here and tell you who is going to play without knowing any part of our offensive and defense, I don't want to put any pressure on anybody," London said. "If you look at some of these guys who played in these All-American games, they've played against some of the best high school players in the country, but when you are rush- ing against Oday Aboushi or Mor- gan Moses it's different." With back-to-back dynamite classes, the Cavaliers look to be in a good spot going forward, but Lon- don and his staff realize that can change quickly and Virginia must seize the momentum from positive results on the field and on the re- cruiting trail to keep it all heading in the right direction. "It's important for the consis- tency of the program to continue to attract some of the best players, not only in the state, but nationally," he said. "The 2013 class will be as important as this class. If you can continue to keep those kind of play- APRIL 2012 ◆ 19