2015 Virginia OT lands first offer

Offer No. 1 has come in for an emerging star for 2015 in Virginia. The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder pulled the scholarship on Monday from a team in the ACC.

"North Carolina was in last week," Chancellor assistant coach Chris Lam said of sophomore offensive tackle Matthew Burrell. "They watched a little bit of practice and then I sent them film on Monday. They sat down with the head coach and the offensive line coach, then they offered."

How did Burrell react to his first scholarship?

"He was super excited," Lam said. "He was really excited and his mom and dad were excited. Now he just needs to do what he needs to, to keep developing."

According to Lam, North Carolina was quite impressed.

"I talked to their coach for a bit and he was telling me that kid is something else."

So, what sticks out about Burrell as a player?

"Matt is very athletic for his size," he said. "He's got great feet. He's a good basketball player. His size is the biggest thing and he's a good student.

"He's 6-foot-5, 265-pounds right now as a sophomore. He's going to get bigger. His dad is 6-foot-7, 320-pounds and he's lean. He's like Andre the Giant; he's a monstrosity of a man.

"The thing about Matt is in space he can move. He really runs his feet at the point of contact and every school is going to see how he fires off the ball. His feet are grinding and churning. He's a strong kid naturally, but he needs a big year in the weight room. Again, it's his athleticism and feet. He gets to the next level. We're lucky to have him."

Burrell has already earned all-district honors for his play this season.

In the meantime, many other schools that are looking at 2014 teammate Steven Moss are taking a strong look as well as Burrell including Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Clemson, Penn State, South Carolina, Syracuse, West Virginia, Illinois, East Carolina, Maryland and NC State among others.