Recent Commit Dylan Cope Fell in Love with UVa on his Official Visit

Virginia picked up an offensive weapon from down south with Dylan Cope’s commitment to the Class of 2026 on June 25. The 3-star wide receiver is a native of Trussville, Alabama, where he currently attends Hewitt Trussville High School.

Cope first started on the gridiron shortly after moving to Trussville in the fifth grade, starting at cornerback before moving over to wide receiver. From the moment he started, he said he “found love” for the sport, picking up his first offer in the ninth grade.

“It was like second nature,” he said. “When I first started playing, it was natural. I was good at it.”

His football journey will bring him to Charlottesville next year, just over 600 miles from Cope’s hometown. Cope said it was UVA’s coaching staff, in particular wide receiver coach Adam Mims, who convinced him to make the trip to check out Virginia despite the distance.

“He really recruited me hard,” Cope said of Mims, “and was telling me why I should come to Virginia, and he gave me a lot of great reasons. It was really Coach Mims who made me want to come up there and view Virginia.”

But while Mims did most of the recruiting, it was actually running backs coach Keith Gaither who first discovered him. Gaither was visiting Hewitt Trussville to scout one of its running backs, but spotted Cope and called up Mims to tell him about the young receiver. Soon after, Cope was on an official visit to Charlottesville, which sealed the deal for the Wahoos.

“I went up on an [official visit] to Virginia and fell in love with it,” he said.

While Cope is excited to join the Cavaliers next season, he said his focus right now is on improving himself as a player during his senior season at Hewitt Trussville. He describes himself as “a very hard worker” who takes time to perfect every aspect of his game.

“I’m really focused on my senior year, because y’all really haven’t seen my game at all yet,” he said. “This is going to be the year where I’m able to show everything that I can really do.”

While Cope is focused on the immediate future and improving his game, he nonetheless is excited to join UVA this upcoming season. As the program continues its rebuild, he hopes to be able to contribute and make a difference on Grounds.

“It means a lot, because I know that I can be a great impact on turning the university around,” he said. “I feel like by the time I get there, we’ll definitely be one of the top programs.”

Cope’s family is excited too. The receiver described himself as a “family guy,” and said his loved ones are already talking about making the trip up to Alabama for multiple games.

“It’s crazy how excited they are,” he said.

For now, Cope will be continuing to hone his craft during his final high school season. However, he says he’s already talking with some of his teammates about the potential of them joining him on Grounds soon.

“I have some younger guys on the team who I think are going to be really good,” he said. “I think they’ll be able to come up there with me at some point.”