Cavaliers Now

Lehigh OL Andrew Canelas Transfers to Virginia Football

The former three-star recruit committed to UVA on Saturday with four years of eligibility remaining

Matt Newton

Andrew Canelas, Lehigh Mountain Hawks football
Photo courtesy of Lehigh Athletics

Virginia football has secured another late addition to its roster via the transfer portal for the quickly-approaching 2022 season. Lehigh offensive lineman and former three-star recruit Andrew Canelas announced his commitment to UVA on Saturday afternoon. 

A four-year varsity letter winner at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, Canelas was highly recruited by some ACC schools coming out of high school, including UVA, before ultimately choosing to commit to Lehigh. Canelas chose the Mountain Hawks over offers from Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Duke, Army, Liberty, and a few others. He was rated a top 100 offensive tackle in the country in the class of 2021 by 247Sports and a top 50 prospect from the state of North Carolina. 

READ MORE: Virginia Football Recruiting Class of 2023 Commits

Canelas did not see any game action in his first and only season at Lehigh last fall and entered the transfer portal. On Saturday afternoon, the 6'9", 315-pound offensive lineman announced his intention to join Garett Tujague's offensive line at UVA with four years of eligibility remaining. Canelas is the third offensive lineman to transfer to Virginia this offseason, joining Mac Hollensteiner (Georgetown) and John Paul Flores (Dartmouth). 

Update: Mac Hollensteiner will not be transferring to Virginia and will instead be staying at Georgetown next season. 

Tony Elliott has done well to secure some late commitments out of the transfer portal this spring to reinforce some of Virginia's positions of need. Canelas is the third player to transfer to Virginia since the beginning of May, joining Miami running back Cody Brown and South Carolina defensive tackle Devontae Davis. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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