Virginia adds Michigan offensive tackle to commitment list

By Jerry Ratcliffe

They say that sometimes a football program’s best recruiters are players already in the program, and that may have been the case in Virginia’s latest commitment.

Jim Harris Jr., a three-star offensive tackle from Muskegon, Mich., announced on his Twitter account Monday that he had committed to UVA, choosing the Cavaliers over Cincinnati, West Virginia, Pitt, Indiana, Vanderbilt and a host of Mid-America Conference teams.

During his official visit in mid-June, Harris was completely blown away by everything Virginia, but was particularly impressed with his host, Cavaliers offensive lineman Ugonna Nnanna, who transferred to UVA a couple of years ago from Houston.

“We talked a lot during my visit because he was my host that weekend and he answered a lot of my questions,” Harris told Joel Bissell of MLive.com. “He told me playing at Virginia could really change my life. All of the players and staff there that I’ve talked to seem like genuine people and I can tell they want what’s best for me on and off the field.”

Harris is rated the No. 75 tackle in the nation in 247Sports’ composite rankings and the No. 21 overall prospect in the state of Michigan. The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder helped pave the way for an offense that put up 5,400 yards (4,600 of that on the ground), as Muskegon’s Big Red won the state title.

“Some of the commits that were there on my visit, like Grayson Reid (offensive lineman from Washington, D.C.) and Jon Adair (OL from Nashville, Tenn.) were on me the whole time to join the class and I really felt a strong connection with those guys. Everything about Virginia and the atmosphere there made me feel right at home so I decided that I didn’t need to wait any longer to make my decision.”

Harris canceled a scheduled visit to Pitt and became UVA’s 16th commitment to the recruiting class of 2025.