Virginia offers playmakers from Florida Atlantic, Ball State

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Elliott’s program has been active in the NCAA transfer portal and has extended offers to two offensive playmakers that could be strong contributors to Virginia’s offense in 2024.

UVA has offered Florida Atlantic wide receiver Tony Johnson and Ball State tight end Tanner Koziol. Both have two years of eligibility remaining.

Also, Virginia will get an official visit from former North Carolina wide receiver Andre Greene, Jr., originally a standout from Richmond’s St. Christopher’s. Greene, who has three years of eligibility remaining, was ranked the No. 16 wide receiver prospect in the nation for the 2022 recruiting class.

Greene will officially visit Penn State on Friday, then visit UVA on Dec. 15. He has also been contacted by Tennessee, Florida and Wisconsin. During his last year at St. Chris, Greene had Penn State in his top six, but the Lions didn’t make his final three, which were UNC, Georgia and Clemson. The 6-2, 200, wideout saw limited playing time in the Tar Heels’ offense with only three catches for 26 yards as a freshman and two receptions for 17 yards in 2023.

The Cavaliers gained a commitment earlier in the week from Notre Dame’s leading receiver, Chris Tyree, who had more than 3,000 yards of all-purpose yardage for the Irish during his 49-game career. Tyree is ranked the No. 52 overall prospect in the portal by On3.com and has an NIL value of $293k, according to On3.

Meanwhile, Johnson is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound wideout from Ocala, Fla., who totaled 60 receptions for 669 yards and 7 touchdowns the past two seasons for Florida Atlantic’s Owls.

Johnson holds offers from UVA, Liberty and Cincinnati.

Koziol, is a big target (6-7, 240) who was the Cardinals’ top receiving target in 2023 with 34 catches for 295 yards and 3 TDs. He made 8 catches for 66 yards against Kentucky and had three receptions for 24 yards in the Cardinals’ game against top-ranked Georgia.

He was second-team All-MAC (Mid-America Conference), and the season before was named third-team Freshman All-America by College Football News. During that freshman campaign, Koziol had 7 touchdowns, which tied for fifth-most in all of FBS by a tight end.

For his career, he played in 24 games for Ball State, compiling 69 receptions for 668 yards and 10 touchdowns (9.7 ypc). He also holds an offer from Illinois.