the recruit: Brandon Phelps

Name: Brandon Phelps
Position: CB
Hometown: Damascus, MD
School: Damascus
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175

ESPN: 80; four stars; #7 CB; USA #132
Rivals: 5.8; four stars; #20 CB; MD #3; USA #184
Scout: three stars; #58 WR

Other offers: Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Penn State, LSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, West Virginia, UCLA, Pittsburgh, many others

Brandon Phelps is, not to overstate the matter too much, the most important recruit of this class by a long shot. He'll be slotted at a position of immense need, and judging by the offers he got, he brings immense talent to the position. Phelps has already contributed mightily to UVA simply by verballing up: his commitment to UVA over ten zillion other offers cemented the Mike London Can Hella Recruit belief.

Phelps is nominally a two-way player and a hell of a good one; UVA wants him at cornerback because there will be exactly four on the team following the season's final whistle, one of whom really ought to be a safety. Other schools recruited him as a receiver. Not that he won't be a damn good cornerback; in fact, that's mostly all he does these days after straining a hip flexor in Damascus's second game of the year. Damascus is undefeated, and there's enough talent on that team to make up for his absence on offense, so Phelps has focused on defense this year.

His recruitment was a little bit strange, but in the best way possible. Holding enough scholarship offers to choke an elephant, Phelps talked in late June about taking visits everywhere and needing a while to make a decision. Five days later, Phelps was sitting in the family car, talking over his visit with London with his parents (who both happen to be UVA alums.) Out of the car he went, knocked on London's door again, and five seconds later London had made the biggest catch of his recruiting career. In fact, in terms of sheer volume and quantity of offers, Phelps just might be the biggest recruit UVA's ever landed. Even more so than Ahmad Brooks.

The scouting services certainly give him plenty of love, even despite ESPN's application of the UVA bonus in dropping him from an 81 to an 80. Even Scout's far less enthusiastic review (middling three stars) is useful; it's as a wide receiver, and it's a perfect highlight as to why Phelps was usually recruited at cornerback. He's got perfect size for the position, and ESPN's only beef is the occasional lack of "sudden, explosive top end speed or change-of-direction." The rest of the review glows with words like "wonderful athlete," "quick feet and fluid hips," "excellent technique in man-to-man," etc., etc. The whole thing would almost be embarrassingly over-the-top if it weren't backed up by piles of offers from the cream of the crop.

As far as his career at UVA, well, like I said, there will be four returning scholarship cornerbacks next year. As with Jordan Lomax, playing time is available immediately. And when I wrote that about Lomax, Devin Wallace hadn't yet proven himself eminently leapfroggable on the depth chart with a rash of poor tackling. Assuming no early enrollees, the spring depth chart at corner is Chase Minnifield, Devin Wallace, two redshirt frosh, and a host of walkons. There's absolutely no reason to believe that Phelps and Lomax won't be in the mix from the get-go. They'll likely have to prove themselves unready in order to be left out of the conversation. Lomax might have a slightly higher initial readiness because he's not currently injured and DeMatha players seem to be ready sooner than most, but Phelps's ceiling is close to unlimited. Top student, top athlete - all we need to rebuild this program is about thirty more Brandon Phelpses.

the recruit: Jordan Lomax

Name: Jordan Lomax
Position: DB
Hometown: Upper Marlboro, MD
School: DeMatha
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185

ESPN: 78; #20 CB
Rivals: 5.5; three stars; MD #12
Scout: three stars; #63 S

Offers: Louisville, Maryland, New Mexico, Stanford

I love DeMatha. When Jordan Lomax committed back in April, it made four straight years that a DeMatha kid had signed up for UVA. In the fall of 2011 it'll be like a DeMatha reunion. Rodney McLeod should be a four-year starter by then. Jeremiah Mathis is a redshirt freshman making a position switch and still he's listed on the two-deep at DE. Lomax will enter UVA with two of his DeMatha teammates, one of whom committed four days after he did and the other being Kyrrel Latimer, after a year of prep school.

Lomax's recruitment didn't take long; he was onboard with UVA less than a week after getting his offer. And he must be a hell of a recruiter himself, because the very next commitment Mike London received was from his teammate Kelby Johnson. Lomax favored Pitt early but never got a formal offer from them.

It was an injury to Latimer, in fact, that launched Lomax into the spotlight for colleges to see. Lomax started DeMatha's third game of the season in Latimer's place, and shone. DeMatha being the factory that it is, juniors don't usually start, but Lomax played his way into a starting rotation that night. Al Groh and his "Next Man Up" philosophy would be proud. But it's London that impressed Lomax, who simply says the coaching staff "makes you want to go." Only two weeks after his visit to UVA, and one week after his offer, Lomax was ready for the blue and orange.

At DeMatha, he's a two-way player; common among WR/DB prospects but a little bit more impressive at a program like DeMatha's. At UVA, it'll be DB, but it's still a bit up in the air whether that'll be at safety or corner. His size says "cornerback" but at DeMatha, he's a safety, and his attributes as listed by his ESPN evaluation lead you to believe safety is his place. Me, I'm interested in seeing what happens in his senior season when the starting spot in the secondary is his and his alone. ESPN having him as a top-20 CB in the country is pretty high praise, but the other ratings are middling-ish.

Regardless of ratings, you wish all your players could be developed at a program like DeMatha. There's an automatic excitement level in getting a player out of there. They come ready to go, and judging from his showing in his first start (against a really good Friendship Collegiate squad) Lomax is no exception. Of all the DB prospects currently onboard, Lomax is one of the most versatile, and if he proves himself a quality cornerback he could find himself with very early playing time. We'll need a new starting CB in 2011, the position is currently the thinnest on the whole roster, and there is much playing time to be had. You need at least three good CBs, because the nickel package isn't exactly uncommon. Super-recruit Brandon Phelps is also likely to come in as a cornerback, but if there's playing time available, never bet against the DeMatha guy.