JaySean Richardson is the latest Richmond native to commit to the Hoos

When JaySean Richardson played flag football as a kid, he never went for the ball carrier’s flag. Instead, the future Virginia Class 4 Defensive Player of the Year would always opt for a tackle. That coupled with his abilities as a running back prompted his father to give him his nickname — “Bull.”

“Everybody was like. ‘It’s like I seen Red when I was running,’” Richardson said.

But next year, Richardson will be seeing navy and orange when he suits up for Virginia. The 3-star defensive tackle announced his commitment on Friday, choosing the Hoos over in-state rival Virginia Tech.

Richardson, a standout from Varina High School, is yet another recruit of head coach Tony Elliott and his staff to come out of the Richmond area. He joins fellow Varina standout DaMari Carter in Virginia’s Class 2026, and this season’s roster already includes six players listed as natives of Richmond.

Richardson said the amount of the prospects from the Richmond area coming to UVa shows just how much the Hoos trust that area to recruit in. After the first day of preseason camp on Wednesday, Elliott shared how his staff’s focus on Richmond is a part of his larger strategy to attract the best players from all of the commonwealth.

“From day one, I’ve said, ‘Inside out, I want to do it with the best players from the state of Virginia,’” he said, “and it’s just taken us a little bit of time to make inroads and to re-establish relationships, because high school recruiting is still about relationships.”

That hard work paid off with Richardson, who said the coaching staff made it known on his visit that as an in-state prospect, he was their “number one guy.”

But before he arrives in Charlottesville, Richardson will play his final season at Varina, with the Blue Devils coming off a loss in last season’s Class 4 State Championship game.