Published on: Thursday, July 08, 2010

By Brandy L. Simms

Damascus rising senior Brandon Phelps has verbally committed to play college football at the University of Virginia.

By choosing the Charlottesville, Va. school, Phelps, an All-Sentinel performer, follows in the footsteps of his father, Gary Phelps, who suited up for the Cavaliers in the 1980s.

After receiving 21 Division I scholarship offers, Phelps decided to make a commitment to the Cavaliers and first-year head coach Mike London during a recent unofficial visit.

"Me and my family, we talked with Coach London for a while," Phelps said. "That's what really convinced me."

Besides Virginia, Phelps, a four-year starter, also received offers from other ACC schools as well as schools in the Big Ten, Big East, SEC and Pac-10.

Phelps said he narrowed his list down to about 10 schools including Penn State, Notre Dame, LSU and Alabama.

The 6-foot, 175-pound wide receiver and cornerback was recruited to Virginia to play on the defensive side of the ball and can hardly wait to compete at the collegiate level.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it," Phelps said. "It's a great conference to play in. There will be more opportunities to make myself better."

With two-a-days scheduled to begin next month, Phelps is glad to have the recruiting process behind him.

"It feels really good," he said. "It gives me a chance to focus on my teammates and what we need to do this year."