After a busy May in the transfer portal, the Virginia football team jumped back into the pool for another commitment in early June. This time, the Hoos addressed the tight end position with the addition of Cornell lacrosse player Walker Wallace.

Ty Xanders of Prep Lacrosse and Greg Madia of The Daily Progress both reported the decision.

Wallace joins the UVA program as a graduate student after wrapping up his Cornell lacrosse career at the top of the mountain. The Big Red won the National Championship in men’s lacrosse on Memorial Day, defeating Maryland 13-10. Wallace played on defense in 19 games this season with 3 goals scored, 19 groundballs, and 11 caused turnovers.

Wallace will be switching sports at Virginia as he makes the move to tight end for the football program. At 6’7”, 242 pounds, he has the size to be effective in that role. He originally attended Cornell as a goalkeeper so the hand-eye coordination needed as a pass catcher should be there as well.

It’s not a completely blind switch for Wallace either as he returns to his home state. He played football and basketball at St. Christopher’s in nearby Richmond, earning second team all-state honors as a tight end in his senior year. A team captain, he helped the Saints to a 10-2 record that season.

This is the second straight year that UVA has added an Ivy League transfer at tight end. Last fall, Tyler Neville came in as a graduate transfer from Harvard and put up productive numbers. He finished with 37 catches for 394 yards and 2 touchdowns. He signed a free agent deal with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

With Neville done with his one year, the Cavaliers wanted added depth at the tight end spot with some injury history for multiple players at the position. Sage Ennis missed all of last season with a knee injury and his Clemson career prior to that ended with an injury as well. Dakota Twitty, who had a breakout spring, battled through injuries early in his UVA career too, while Karson Gay and TeKai Kirby both have seen injury issues as well.

Wallace fit the need and has connections to the school as well. Wallace’s uncle Charles McDaniel played football at UVA from 1982-85, while his mother Elizabeth was on the Cavaliers’ track and field team from 1987-88.

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