Virginia hauls in 5-star kicker from Miami’s Gulliver Prep

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia has secured one of the top kickers in the country in its recruiting class of 2022, keeping open its pipeline of prospects from Gulliver Prep in Miami.

Will Bettridge, rated a 5-star placekicker by Kohl’s Kicking and Kornblue Kicking, announced on his Twitter account Thursday that he’s a future Cavalier. He is UVA’s 10th commitment for the Class of ‘22.

The Floridian chose Virginia over Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Air Force and Army. UVA was the first Power 5 school to offer Bettridge a full scholarship. Florida State and Michigan offered him as a preferred walk on, while LSU, Georgia Tech, Air Force and Army offered full rides.

According to Kohl’s Kicking, Bettridge has 60-yard range with his placekicks, and made 20 of 27 field goal attempts (74.1 pct.) in his three years thus far at Gulliver. He also has 70-plus distance on his kickoffs with a 4.0 hang time. He also made 94.9 percent of his extra point kicks, converting 113 of 119.

As a first team all-state kicker last season, he made 91 percent of his field goal attempts.

Kornblue Kicking ranks Bettridge the top place-kicker in the nation for the Class of ‘22, while Kohl’s rates him the No.7 kicker in the class.

Bettridge is an athlete who also played basketball and baseball.

He hails from Gulliver Prep where former UVA linebacker Earl Sims (played for Al Groh) is head coach. Sims has sent at least three previous players to Virginia, including Mandy Alonso, sophomore corner/wide receiver Sean Moore and sophomore linebacker D’Sean Perry.