Cavaliers Now

Virginia Lands Star Wide Receiver, Former Florida Commit Josiah Abdullah

Matt Newton

Woodward Academy 2025 wide receiver and former Florida commit Josiah Abdullah has committed to the Virginia football program.
Woodward Academy 2025 wide receiver and former Florida commit Josiah Abdullah has committed to the Virginia football program. / Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Virginia football won a major victory on the recruiting trail on Friday night, as highly-pursued wide receiver and former Florida commit Josiah Abdullah announced his commitment to UVA in an Instagram post. Virtually every major conference college football program offered Abdullah during the course of his recruitment, including the likes of Alabama, Texas, LSU, Michigan, and Tennessee, but it was the Virginia Cavaliers, and their recent success in developing wide receivers, who ultimately landed his commitment.

A 5'10" wideout from Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, Abdullah verbally committed to Florida earlier this year, but then decommitted in early June. In addition to the Gators and Cavaliers, more than 50 programs offered Abdullah, including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Duke, Colorado, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, NC State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, West Virginia... you get the idea.

Though he is only considered a three-star prospect according to ESPN, 247Sports, and On3 (and a four-star on Rivals), it's clear that most of the country views Abdullah as far more valuable than that. ESPN rates Abdullah as the No. 34 wide receiver in the country and Rivals has him at No. 44, while On3 and 247Sports have him just outside the top 100 in that category. Most of the recruiting services have Abdullah ranked as a top 75 prospect in the state of Georgia, perhaps the best football recruiting hotbed in the country.

Watch Abdullah's junior season highlights here.

Abdullah visited Virginia last week and saw what he needed to see, announcing his commitment to the Cavaliers a week later. He becomes one of the highest-rated prospects in UVA's 2025 recruiting class.

Virginia football now has 18 verbal commits in its 2025 recruiting class:

  • ATH Isaiah Robinson (Richmond, VA)
  • QB Cole Geer (Deerfield, MA)
  • OT Jon Adair (Nashville, TN)
  • OL Grayson Reid (Washington, DC)
  • CB Christopher Spence (Virginia Beach, VA)
  • TE Justin Zames (Tampa, FL)
  • LB Isaiah Reese (Exeter, NH)
  • TE Willem Thurber (Deerfield, MA)
  • S Justin Rowe (Asheville, NC)
  • RB Xay Davis (Richmond, VA)
  • QB Bjorn Jurgensen (Orlando, FL)
  • WR Dillon Newton-Short (Chesterfield, VA)
  • S Davin Chandler (Berlin, MD)
  • CB Montino Williams Jr. (Chesterfield, VA)
  • DL Sichan John (Dacula, GA)
  • OT Jim Harris (Muskegon, MI)
  • ATH Corey Costner (Baltimore, MD)
  • WR Josiah Abdullah (Atlanta, GA)

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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.