Virginia beats out Michigan, Penn State, VT for 4-star corner Spence

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Elliott’s 2025 recruiting class gained some major momentum on Tuesday when one of the state’s top 10 prospects committed to Virginia.

Chris Spence, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound cornerback from Chesapeake, announced on his Twitter account that he is a Cavalier. Spence presently plays at Mt. Zion Prep in Lanham, Md., where he stars as a corner and a wide receiver.

Rated a 4-star by Rivals, Spence had his choice of college football powerhouse offers but chose Virginia over national champion Michigan, Florida State, Penn State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

Quality cornerbacks aren’t easy to come by, so landing Spence is a really big deal for Virginia defensive backfield coach Curome Cox, who has been recruiting the state’s No. 7 ranked recruit (in the ‘25 class) for two years. Former UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall’s staff initially recruited Spence before the coaching change.

Spence is rated the No. 34 corner in the country for his class by 247 Sports and No. 51 by On3.

Spence is the fifth commitment to the Virginia 2025 recruiting class, joining QB Cole Geer (Deerfield, Mass., Academy; WR Isaiah Robinson (Trinity Espiscopal, Richmond); and offensive linemen Grayson Reid (Washington, D.C., Maret) and Jon Adair (Nashville, Lipscomb).