On Saturday, Virginia landed its first quarterback in its Class of 2022, and he lives just a drive down Route 29 away from Charlottesville.
Davis Lane, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound three-star signal-caller and rising senior for Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, committed to the Cavaliers just four days after being offered a scholarship by coach Bronco Mendenhall and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. Lane committed to Virginia over offers from Army, Navy, and Old Dominion, among others.
COMMITTED!! ??⚔️?? #Hoos22 #Gohoos @UVAFootball @UVACoachBronco @Coach_Beck7 @CoachBWolfe @Coach2J pic.twitter.com/V9HgSi359h
— Davis Lane (@DavisLane_) June 5, 2021
Lane is regarded as a three-star player by both 247Sports and Rivals. The former ranks him as the No. 25 player in the state of Virginia for 2022 and 56th best QB in the country.
Lane, who played his first two prep seasons at Jefferson Forest High School just outside Lynchburg, is a true dual threat with blazing speed, something you know is coveted by the UVa coaching staff. He won the 55-meter event at the Class 3A indoor track state championships, where he captured the title with a personal-best time of 6.41 seconds.
For LCA during the spring, Lane recorded 1,047 yards passing yards and 18 touchdowns. The Bulldogs went 6-2 and won the Region C championship.
Before Lane announced his decision, Virginia had also picked up a transfer wideout that will impact the team this fall.
On Thursday, Marshall graduate wide receiver Artie Henry III said he’d play for the ‘Hoos in his final collegiate season. Like Lane, it seems like Henry made his decision pretty quickly. He announced he was entering the transfer portal May 26 and was offered by UVa on May 28. By June 3, he made his intentions known.
All Praise To The Most High ?? Let’s Get To Work… #Committed #THEStandard #GoHoos?? pic.twitter.com/vqR4qu6Bsl
— Artie (@ArtieHenryIII1) June 3, 2021
The 6-1, 190-pound Henry, a native of Florida, played his first two collegiate seasons at San Diego Mesa College before transferring to Marshall before the 2018 season. That year, he collected 17 receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns for the Thundering Herd. He missed all but three games in 2019 with an injury but returned last season and recorded 22 receptions for 308 yards and three touchdowns.
Obviously, Mendenhall and the staff must have been looking for reinforcements in the receiving corps after the loss of Lavel Davis to a torn ACL. While I do think the receivers room is deep and has potential in guys like Dontayvion Wicks and Demick Starling, returning production is lacking, so Henry provides the ‘Hoos with another option for the 2021 campaign.