Virginia football last signed a placekicker to a full scholarship in the class of 2018, when South Carolina native Hunter Pearson inked with the Hoos. Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL) rising senior star Will Bettridge, who verbally committed to the Cavaliers last week, will be the next when he signs a letter of intent in December.

The 5’11”, 165-pound Bettridge considered other full scholarship offers including Georgia Tech and LSU, which made the final five along with UVA, Florida State and Michigan. The latter two offered preferred walk-on opportunities to the Kohl’s Kicking and Kornblue Kicking 5-star prospect. Bettridge visited all five schools in the month of June before making what he called a “very tough decision.”

“It was pretty hard seeing all the schools and seeing what stood out and didn’t,” Bettridge said, recalling a busy month of June. “All it really took was a conversation with my family after each visit to see if we liked the school as a family or not. After I had the top 5 I was in between UVA and two others a lot, but ultimately I thought that UVA was the best fit for my family and I.”

Asked what separated UVA from the rest, Bettridge answered: “Definitely the family at UVA and how close the players are to all the coaches and how everything they do is together really stood out for me.”

Virginia being the first Power 5 school to offer and the fact that Gulliver Prep football student athletes such as Mandy Alonso, D’Sean Perry and Sean Moore have gone on to UVA and had positive experiences during the Bronco Mendenhall era helped tip the scales in the Cavaliers’ favor as well.

“They really believed in me before anyone else really did and they took a gamble on me, so they have a lot of trust in me,” Bettridge said of the UVA coaches. “Definitely was important while making a decision.”

“Definitely seeing a lot of student athletes thrive at UVA from Gulliver played a big role, knowing that Gulliver prepares me very well for UVA with [former Virginia player and current Gulliver Prep head varsity football coach Earl] Sims and having the same family aspect and just both being great academic institutions with great football,” Bettridge said.

Coach Mendenhall and UVA Special Teams Coordinator Ricky Brumfield want Bettridge to compete for the starting placekicker job in his first year. This is an opportunity Kornblue Kicking’s top underclass placekicking prospect in the nation seems to relish.

If UVA’s current 2022 roster projection holds, Bettridge will compete with Pearson, who will be a senior, and Justin Duenkel, who will be a junior, for the role. Pearson and Duenkel are the leading candidates to be UVA’s starting placekicker in 2021.

“Definitely coming into my freshman year with the mindset of being the starting kicker,” said Bettridge, who made 91% of his field goals this past season as a junior. “I feel like if I keep working on my craft and getting 1% better every day, I can get that spot.”

Making his college decision prior to his senior season “feels great,” Bettridge said. “It’s a lot of weight and stress off me and now I can just work on perfecting my craft for my senior year.”

More from Will Bettridge

- Bettridge says he was recruited by UVA to handle kickoffs and field goals. He is not expecting to compete for punting duties.

- UVA, Bettridge says, was a school he was interested in before football took off. He is following in his sister’s footsteps in terms of attending an ACC school, as she attends Miami.

- Bettridge will not be enrolling at UVA early. Look for him to arrive on Grounds in the summer of 2022.

- What was Coach Sims’ reaction to Bettridge’s choice?

“Coach Sims was very excited and happy for my family,” Bettridge replied. “He never really pushed me to UVA because he knew it was up to me and was my decision, but at the end he was very happy for me.”