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Transfer OL Daijon Parker Flips Commitment from Virginia to Iowa

Parker originally committed to UVA back on December 11th, but has decided to transfer to Iowa instead

Matt Newton

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Almost a month after announcing his commitment to Virginia, Saginaw Valley State offensive lineman transfer Daijon Parker has announced that he will instead be transferring to Iowa for the 2023 football season. 

A 6'6", 300-pound offensive tackle, Parker initially committed to Virginia back on December 11th and signed a grant-in-aid with UVA on early signing day on December 21st. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, a grant-in-aid is binding only to the school and not to the athlete, which means that the transfer can continue to consider other schools even after signing a grant-in-aid. Daijon Parker took a visit to Iowa this weekend and announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes on Saturday evening. 

According to a report by 247Sports' Sean Bock, Parker cited UVA's lack of an offensive line coach as the primary factor in his decision to flip his commitment to Iowa. "The thing that made me flip was the fact that they still don't have an offensive line coach at UVA and here at Iowa they have everything ready to go for me," Parker told 247Sports.

The news that Virginia offensive line coach Garett Tujague was leaving to take the same job at NC State broke just a few hours after Parker originally committed to UVA on December 11th. The Cavaliers have yet to announce the hiring of Tujague's replacement as the next offensive line coach and that ultimately led to UVA losing the commitment of Daijon Parker, who was going to give Virginia some much-needed reinforcement on the offensive line. 

Instead, Tony Elliott and the Hoos will have to renew their search for offensive linemen in the transfer portal and it has become painfully clear that the hiring of a new offensive line coach needs to be approached with increased urgency. 

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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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