12/12/02 - Props

Virginia appears headed toward another national Top 10 football recruiting class with the addition of one of the top tight end prospects in the country, 6-foot-4, 245-pound Jonathan Stupar of State College, Pa.

Stupar chose the Cavaliers over Florida State, Iowa and Arizona State, all schools that he officially visited. However, he was bombarded with offers from practically every football powerhouse in the country, including No. 1-ranked Miami.

"The number of offers he had was tremendous," said Dave Lintal, Stupar's coach at State College Area High School. "We had [current Penn State running back] Larry Johnson here and even he wasn't as highly recruited as Jonathan."

Stupar, who has 4.8 speed in the 40-yard dash, had an amazing year for a tight end, catching a school-record 50 passes for 500 yards and three touchdowns. He broke the current Heisman Trophy candidate Johnson's school records for most catches in a season and a career in addition to most receiving yards.

"Making this decision was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do," said Stupar in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon. "The visit to Arizona State was great because it was so much different than anything I was used to with the desert and palm trees. Iowa reminded me a lot of home. Florida State was a great trip because of Coach [Bobby] Bowden and because they're always good."

In the end, none of those things provided him with the balance that he found at Virginia.

"There were several reasons I picked UVa," said Stupar. "You won't find a better coaching staff anywhere. They have all that NFL experience with Coach [Al] Groh having been head coach of the New York Jets, Coach [Bill] Musgrave having played and coached in the pros and Coach [Andy] Heck, having played in the NFL. That's just awesome."

While the coaching staff was a huge factor in his decision, it wasn't the only one.

"You can't really get a better education at any other public school in the country," said Stupar. "Charlottesville is a beautiful place full of history and the football program is on the rise. That was important to me, that they were picked to finish eighth in the ACC and finished second."

Another factor was that Virginia's offense often features two tight ends, something that caught Stupar's eye on several occasions. Redshirt freshman tight end Heath Miller broke the ACC record for most TD catches by a tight end in a single season this year, while sophomore Patrick Estes also played a prominent role in the offense.

With his unusual speed for a tight end, Coach Lintal managed to throw deep to Stupar and wasn't reluctant to split him into a wideout position or move him into a slot in order to create mismatches with defensive coverages. The maneuver also allowed Stupar to avoid some of the double coverages that he often faced.

"The biggest thing that all the college coaches said about Jonathan is that he truly is a tight end," said Lintal. "He's not like a tackle playing tight end or a wide receiver who has been moved. He won't be a tackle a few years from now. He's a true tight end."

Stupar is also a physical player, who manages to get good body position when receiving the ball, something attributed to his skill as a basketball player. He has reliable, soft hands and is known for making the tough catches.

"The most amazing thing I've seen him do, and this may not sound like a lot, was a simple short catch in the seventh week of the season against a neighboring school," said Lintal. "It was a throw of only six or seven yards for a big first down that kept a drive alive. It was a diving, one-handed catch that he pulled in at the 4-yard line. It wasn't a big gain, although he's had plenty of those. It was just an amazing catch for a big guy the way he laid out for it."

Stupar has made some of those big-time plays as well, over-the-shoulder receptions that covered 50 or 60 yards.

"I just love catching the ball," said the big tight end. "I think I can catch anything that comes close to me and I like to think that one of my strengths is running with the ball and getting yards after the catch."

No wonder the list of schools that pursued him was endless: Miami, UCLA, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Maryland, Boston College and many more.

"Some of them I wasn't that interested in and some others [like Miami] came in too late," said Stupar. "Miami signed three tight ends last year. Virginia didn't sign any. I didn't want to go to a place and wait until my senior year to play."

He also played defensive end as a two-year starter, where Lintal described him as a "tremendous force." He also served as the team's snapper for punts, field goals and PATs.

"Jonathan has a great gene pool on both sides of the family," said Lintal.

Stupar's father, Steve, was a former defensive tackle for Penn State and uncle Jeff Hostetler was quarterback for the New York Giants when Groh was that team's linebackers coach.

So, why didn't Jonathan follow in his father's footsteps?

Penn State had very few scholarships to offer this season, had two redshirt freshmen tight ends on the roster this season and didn't pursue Stupar until it was too late to be taken seriously.

"It has been helpful [growing up in a football family] in that I could go to my dad or my uncle at any time in the recruiting process and get good advice," said Stupar. "I'm glad the recruiting is over, though. I'm happy to be a Cavalier."

In other recruiting news, Salem High wide receiver Shannon Lane did officially commit to the Cavaliers as first reported in The Daily Progress on Monday morning.

Lane had 54 catches for 900 yards and seven touchdowns for the Virginia Beach school this past season.