Virginia gets commitment from former Houston offensive lineman Nnanna

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Posted on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, 8:10 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: University of Houston Athletics

Even though Virginia has been without an offensive line coach for weeks, following the departure of Garrett Tujague to NC State, the Cavaliers gained a commitment from an offensive lineman via the transfer portal on Thursday.

Ugonna Nnanna, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound guard/tackle from the University of Houston, announced on Twitter that he had committed to the Cavaliers. Nnanna has three years of eligibility remaining.

A native of Arlington, Tex., Nnanna played in only eight games over three seasons for Houston, but held nearly 20 offers after entering the portal on Dec. 26. He chose UVA over East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, South Florida and a host of others.

He was rated the No. 95 offensive tackle available in the 2023 cycle by the On3.com transfer portal rankings. Originally out of high school in 2020, Nnanna was the No. 1,575 overall recruit in his class nationally by On3’s Consensus. He had a 3-star rating.

Still, he was offered by some decent programs coming out of high school, including Washington State, Air Force, Liberty and others.

He is the lone offensive lineman to commit to UVA through the portal this cycle after Daijon Parker, a lineman from Saginaw Valley State, decommitted from the Cavaliers and instead committed to Iowa. Parker said one of the reasons he backed out of his commitment to Virginia was a lack of an offensive line coach.

Tujague was officially named NC State’s new line coach on Dec. 12, after serving seven seasons at Virginia in the same capacity, developing center Olusegun Oluwatimi to first team All-American honors before Oluwatimi transferred to Michigan, where he won both the Outland Trophy and Rimington this past season.