Virginia adds Georgia pass rusher as third commitment in three days

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Georgia high school standout Chase Morrison had planned on taking several visits before settling on a college football home.

After all, he held offers from Duke, Wake Forest, Air Force, East Carolina, JMU, Tulane, Liberty, Marshall, Virginia and others, so why not look around? Turned out, his visit to Charlottesville was enough.

The 3-star edge rusher from Roswell, an Atlanta suburb, decided on his official visit that UVA was where he wanted to be. Morrison made it official on Wednesday when he announced his commitment to the Cavaliers on his Twitter account, making him Virginia’s third commitment in three days (see related stories on this site).

Morrison, who was the 2022 Georgia Region 7-AAAAAA Defensive Player of the Year, and who sparked Roswell to a state semifinals appearance with a 12-2 record, was so blown away on his official visit last weekend that he decided to commit.

Apparently, he and his mother were taking in a UVA presentation during the visit, when he reached his decision.

“I just looked over at my mom and said, ‘I’m going to commit. It just feels right. It feels like home. I don’t need to see any more,” Morrison told Jeremy Johnson of On3.com.

Morrison had planned to set up other visits, but that wasn’t any longer necessary.

Im home‼️ @caprewett @roswellrecruits @CoachHatter67 @Mhoward38 @RecruitGeorgia @RustyMansell_ @JeremyO_Johnson @ChadSimmons_ @BrianDohn247 @MohrRecruiting @UVAFootball pic.twitter.com/1gu2O3zzy6

— Chase Morrison (@chasefm46) June 7, 2023

While he made an unofficial visit to UVA in March, this trip convinced him to be a Cavalier. It didn’t hurt that legendary Virginia edge rusher Chris Slade would be his position coach as well. Slade is still the ACC’s all-time leader in quarterback sacks.

“I’ve been heavy on Virginia ever since I first talked to Coach Slade,” Morrison told On3. “He’s a very real coach. When I went up on an unofficial the first time, I loved talking to Coach (Tony) Elliott. It was a good conversation

“Coach Slade is a huge part of why I’m going there. He holds the sack record there and he’s got 50-plus sacks in the NFL. He’s got what I need to get to the league and do the best I can do.”

Morrison racked up 109 tackles, 11 sacks and 19 tackles for loss last season for Roswell. He also broke up five passes and forced two fumbles.

In the 247Sports composite rankings, Morrison is the No. 61 edge rusher in the country and rated the No. 96 prospect in the state of Georgia.

He is 6-foot-5, 240 pounds.