BOOM!

Over the course of just the last week or so, I have said:

We're off to a surprisingly sluggish start on the recruiting trail. The in-state haul seems to have more of a Virginia Tech lean than last year, probably thanks to the coaching staff mix-up Herr Beamer triggered. It's just not looking pretty right now. I think many recruits are in wait-and-see mode, as in, wait and see how the team performs on the field before deciding whether or not they can compete for championships at UVA. Would you believe that Mike London's second season is his make-or-break season? I believe it. You can't recruit to a hopeless situation, and you better believe that enemy recruiters paint the picture of UVA being a hopeless situation. London has to dispel that notion with wins, and he has to do it right now.

and...

We could really use some instant-impact recruits in the 2012 class at defensive end, outside linebacker, and safety. Yikes.

Meet Kwontie Moore, an uber-recruit from the 757, a high four star recruit, and a future star at the middle linebacker position.  I don't like to lift info from premium sites like CavsCorner or Wahoos247, but this news is too good to keep bottled up.

Tonight, Kwontie Moore committed to Coach Mike London and will play his college football at Virginia.

This is HUGE news, for numerous reasons:

• We really, really, really needed to get that first snowball rolling down the hill.  This is a pretty big snowball.
• He's a 757 recruit.  'Nuff said.
• He's the #3 player in the state, and a national-level recruit.  Say hello to offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Oregon, Stanford, Tennessee, and of course, Virginia Tech.
• He happens to play at Norfolk Christian School, a very "tight-knit" football family.  His current teammates include [fellow Virginia commit] Wilfred Wahee, stud defensive lineman Courtnye Wynn (#13 in VA), and stud receiver Mario Nixon (#24 in VA).  Wahee and Moore are now Virginia commits, and Wynn and Nixon list UVA as their clear leader.  This is a helluva landslide to have started, and the NCS pipeline is a fantastic one to open up.
• Many recruiting gurus are now saying that Virginia suddenly has a ton of in-state momentum.  Rumor has it the staff is awaiting commitments from defensive end Eli Harold (#2 in VA) and wideout Anthony Cooper (#7 in VA).
• Kwontie Moore is just a really, really good player.  A true difference-maker at a difference-making position, at the center of the 4-3.  I'd probably equate his status to that of Kai Parham, who was the #3 player in the state back in 2002.  Here's what Recruit757.com had to say about him:

Team: Norfolk Christian

Location: Norfolk
Position: ILB
Class: 2012
Height: 6-1
Weight: 240 lbs.

Kwontie Moore finished his junior season and is already showing flashes of brilliance. Moore is a load at running back and linebacker and has no problem enforcing his will on smaller Independent School players. Moore will be a big time college prospect in his senior year. Norfolk Christian won the State Championship for Division III in the VISAA and has enough talent returning in 2011 to compete for it again. Moore was the TCIS Player of the Year as well as a First Team Running Back and Linebacker in 2010. He already has a scholarship offer from the University of Virginia and many more will come.

This is why I follow recruiting --- bursts of football at a time of year when there is no football, and little gifts that arrive on your doorstep when you least expect it.

I'm ecstatic about this commitment.  Maybe more than any commit since I started following recruiting in the late '90s.  Mike London is a defensive coach, and he now has his defensive centerpiece.  I don't want to overstate it, but imagine the day the Baltimore Ravens drafted Ray Lewis.

WAHOOWA!