Virginia picks up second football commit of day with Woodberry’s Lora

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s future defensive line got a boost Friday when one of the state’s top 20 prospects announced his commitment to Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers.

Rodney Lora, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive lineman from nearby Woodberry Forest, announced his decision on his Twitter account. Lora, originally from New Jersey, chose UVA over Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Michigan, Indiana and home-state Rutgers.

Lora visited Virginia football last week, and liked everything about the school and the coaching staff. He also made official visits to UNC, Michigan and Rutgers.

Listed as a 3-star by Rivals, he is ranked No. 20 in the state of Virginia’s prospects for the recruiting class of 2023. 247Sports’ composite has him ranked No. 17 in the state and the No. 78 defensive line prospect in the nation.

He was also offered by Syracuse, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College and Duke. UVA was the first Power Five program to offer him and he visited Charlottesville in late March, then again last week.

Let’s go!🔷⚔️🔶@UVAFootball pic.twitter.com/AOFgAcuPJC

— Rodney Lora (@RodneyLora) June 24, 2022

At Woodberry, Lora is coached by former UVA player Jackson Matteo.

Lora, who is also a top-notched thrower of the discus and shot put, is Virginia’s seventh commitment for ‘23. He was the second player to commit to UVA on Friday along with TeKai Kirby, the son of former Cavaliers star running back Terry Kirby (see related story on this site).