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After a couple of months of near misses on the recruiting trail, some more painful than others, the Cavaliers finally got some good recruiting news. 

Virginia has picked up a crystal ball prediction for Elijah Gertrude on 247Sports. This means that one of 247Sports' recruiting experts has projected that Gertrude, a four-star shooting guard from Jersey City, New Jersey, will commit to UVA. 

Gertrude announced a top five of Seton Hall, St. John's, Kansas, Virginia, and Rutgers in the first week of August. That announcement came just one week after taking an official visit to UVA. 

“The Virginia visit was good, it was great actually,” Gertrude told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog after his visit. “Their message is Coach Bennett feels I’m a great defensive player and I can take take that defensive effort to another level... He feels I’m very skilled offensively and we can work on some things. Coach Bennett feels he can develop me offensively and defensively he can make me much better.”

One month later, it appears that Gertrude is indeed leaning towards a commitment to the Cavaliers. The recruiting expert who projected Gertrude to UVA is Trevor Andershock, an Indiana contributor who is a perfect 8/8 on his crystal predictions for the recruiting class of 2023. 

Gertrude, who has said previously that he intends to announce his college decision by the end of September, would be Virginia's second verbal commitment in the recruiting class of 2023, joining four-star center Blake Buchanan (Coeur D'Alene, Idaho), who announced his commitment to Virginia back on July 3rd.

Virginia is also in the mix for four other targets in the class of 2023, each of whom has the Cavaliers in his most recent cut list:

SG Taison Chatman (Minneapolis, MN)
SF Andrej Stojakovic (Carmichael, CA)
CG Elmarko Jackson (South Kent, CT)
SG Davin Cosby (Richmond, VA)

Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates


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