Virginia flips Boston College commit, Charlottesville DB Sanker

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia didn’t go far in gaining its 17th football commitment for the Class of 2021. The Cavaliers flipped Charlottesville’s Jonas Sanker, who had previously committed to Boston College last month.

Sanker is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete from Covenant School, a rising senior who played on both offense and defense for the Eagles. Covenant participated in eight-man football for the local high school.

Described as a good overall athlete with speed, Sanker played quarterback and defensive back, but was offered as a defensive back by Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall and co-defensive coordinator Nick Howell.

As a junior DB for Covenant, Sanker scored three defensive touchdowns while picking off four passes, forcing three fumbles and recording 46 tackles. Offensively, he passed for 1,590 yards and 22 touchdowns (only two interceptions) and rushed for 1,116 yards and 24 TDs.

Prior to committing to Boston College, Sanker also had offers from Army, Navy, Air Force, ODU, Temple, UMass and Ohio, along with numerous FCS programs.

He announced his decision to commit to Virginia via his Twitter account on Sunday:

Commited #Thestandard21 @NickHowellUVA pic.twitter.com/RbRSCCN8dN

— Jonas Sanker (@JonasSanker) July 12, 2020

A three-star prospect according to 247/Sports, Sanker was impressed with Virginia’s improvement over the past two seasons and the Cavaliers’ desire to land more in-state players in addition to the coaching staff’s track record for developing defensive backs.

Sanker is the fifth recruit to decommit from Boston College’s new staff, including Kani Walker, T.J. Guy, Jalen Kitna and Josaiah Stewart.

He is the second commitment to UVA from Charlottesville, joining Monticello High School wide receiver Malachi Fields. He is also the fifth commitment from the state (see the list all 17 UVA commitments in chart below). In addition, Richmond’s Lorenz Terry (Varina H.S.) committed to UVA in the Class of 2020 but plans to enroll at Fork Union Military this fall before joining Virginia’s Class of 2021.