Bradley Central QB commits to Virginia
During a workout the two had together Tuesday, Bradley Central athlete Javin Burke had questions for former Baylor School standout Jaylon Baker, who will be a sophomore cornerback at Virginia this season.
Not about football. Mainly questions about the school.
It appears Burke liked the answers he received.
The 6-foot, 202-pound Burke committed to the Atlantic Coast Conference program
Tuesday evening, choosing the Cavaliers over offers from 14 other programs, including Southeastern Conference members Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Rated as a three-star athlete by both 247Sports.com and Rivals.com, the versatile Burke is ranked by 247Sports as the 49th-best athlete in the country and the No. 19 college football prospect overall in Tennessee for the signing class of 2021.
As a junior this past season, Burke passed for 2,152 yards, rushed for 738 more and accounted for 32 touchdowns for the Bears, who finished 7-4. He told the Times Free Press on Tuesday that he’ll likely make the move from quarterback to cornerback in college.
“Virginia built a relationship that no one else built,” he said. “They built a relationship with my parents; they built a relationship with me. I feel real comfortable there, and when I went to visit, I felt like it was my next home.”
Baker turned into more of a mentor during the duo’s workout. At no point did the conversation about which program the Bradley standout might choose ever get broached.
“We talked about Virginia, but I was asking him about how college life was,” Burke said. “I asked him about the transition from high school to college, and he told me it was high
school times 10, with workouts, games, film, schoolwork, all of that stuff. Virginia will help you stay on top of that. They’re not going to kill you, but they’re going to push you beyond your limits.”
He became the second Bradley football player to commit to a Power Five conference program this offseason, with threestar athlete Tray Curry having announced his commitment to Tennessee in late May.
Burke is on track to graduate from Bradley in December but said he has one primary mission for his senior season, though it is a two-part task: Beat Farragut and Maryville. After that he’ll set his focus on helping the Bears compete for a state championship.
Bradley coach Damon Floyd said Burke has a “high 3.6 or 3.7” GPA.
“He’s got it all,” Floyd said. “He’s smart, he’s athletic, he’s a hard worker. We’re very proud of him.”