Cavaliers pick up edge rusher from Matoaca, chooses UVA over West Virginia

Posted on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2021, 9:26 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

All it took was one live workout to convince UVA defensive line coach Clint Sintim that he wanted prospect Keyshawn Burgos in a Cavalier uniform.

That was back in June when the Matoaca High School rising senior came to Charlottesville to go through a thorough workout with Sintim, a former UVA defensive star and former NFL player. As soon as that workout ended, Sintim nodded his approval to Bronco Mendenhall, who extended the offer to Burgos, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound defensive end from Chesterfield.

On Thursday, Burgos committed to the Cavaliers.

Rated the No. 25 overall prospect in the state, and the No. 42 edge rusher in the nation, Burgos is what Sintim was looking for in a future pass rusher.

He chose UVA over West Virginia, Army, Navy, ODU and Richmond. The 3-star is Virginia’s 12th commitment to the recruiting class of 2022 and the Cavaliers’ second commitment of the day.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Wahoos landed Lexington, Ky., running back Xavier Brown, the No. 10 overall prospect in the Bluegrass state (see related story). Brown chose Virginia over Wisconsin.

Burgos is coming off a solid junior football season (Matoaca played an abbreviated schedule in the spring), when he was second team, all district. His most spectacular play of the season was returning a fumble for a touchdown.

It was quite a stretch for Burgos, who won the state’s Class 5 championship in the 220-pound weight class, only two weeks before his football season began.