Three-star LB McDonald saw for himself why UVa was the right fit

As has been the case for a lot of recruits who have made their decisions over the past 13 months, Trey McDonald just needed to see for himself. A three-star linebacker from Wisconsin who attends Baylor School in Chattanooga, McDonald had been hearing from UVa and loved everything. He just needed to see it for himself.

So, he did. And it didn’t take long for the 6-foot-2, 220 pounder to know how right his instincts were all along.

“I started hearing from them in mid-February,” he told CavsCorner. “So, it was a few days before they actually offered me. They just continued to keep checking in with me, we talked on the phone a lot, at least once or twice a week. And really, at the beginning of this month, I decided that I just really needed to get out there and see it and decide if it was going to be my future home.”

After spending time in Charlottesville and taking a self-guided tour the weekend of the 13th, he had his answer.

“Me and my dad came up and we were able to walk around and see everything on our own,” McDonald recalled. “Obviously, we weren’t able to get inside many places but we stayed in Charlottesville, stayed basically on Grounds, and just got a general feel for things. And it felt great. It felt like a comfortable fit and felt like where I really wanted to be.”

He went in wanting to something that felt like a college town, not a sprawling city.

“I thought it was going to be different,” he explained. “I thought it was going to feel a lot bigger, like a bigger city almost with a college in it. But going there, spending time on Grounds, it really felt like it was the kind of college feel that I really wanted.

“It felt like it was all together, close, the stadium wasn’t miles away,” McDonald added. “It was right there. It felt like a great community, a close-knit community. Everybody seemed very happy and very close. I really loved it.”

If the location and the school itself weren’t enough, the fit within UVa’s football program certainly was. Recruited by LB’s coach Kelly Poppinga, McDonald loves the fact that the staff sees him fitting in a variety of ways.

“That was a big part of it for me,” he said. “They really like long, athletic linebackers and I feel like I fit that mold pretty well. To be the kind of fit the coaches are really looking for and to be a part of that defensive scheme, that felt really good. They said the versatility that I have is something that really adds value.

“They’re not really sure if I’m inside or outside just yet,” the Badger State native said. “They’ll figure that out later. But it’s great to have that feeling that I fit into the mold they’re looking for…I’ve heard mostly from Coach Poppinga and he’s been all about not settling down on one position just yet. He said they’re still figuring me out.”

Poppinga has made McDonald feel not only comfortable in a short amount of time but he’s also made him feel from the jump like he’s a member of the family.

“Coach Poppinga is just such a good dude and he’s already like a father figure to me,” he added. “He’s a great guy overall, a family man with those little daughters who are precious and awesome. I talked to his wife too after I committed. It’s all about family for them and it was great to see what he’s all about, what the program is all about.”

That’s also too where fit comes into play.

“He’s all about the aggressiveness and I love that,” McDonald said. “He wants his guys to love to hit and love contact and I do. The conversations with him and what he was looking for, it fit perfectly.”

After coming home that Sunday, McDonald said he called called Poppinga that night to tell him him he thought he was ready to commit. Later that week, they got on a Zoom with Bronco Mendenhall before announcing it a couple of days later.

“It was a very good time,” he said with a laugh.

So what does it feel like to be done?

“It’s been great,” McDonald said. “I feel like I’ve found a great home. My recruitment definitely wasn’t over for me because colleges were still getting in touch with me and everything. They were steady reaching out to me. But I just didn’t feel like there was an offer out there that could beat Virginia. Doesn’t matter who it was, I was feeling so comfortable with UVa.”

While the process was good, it had moments where it was stressful.

“Yeah, it was a little crazy,” he said, “with not being able to know if you’d ever meet your coaches before I was going to make a decision or anything like that. It was all just a blessing to have this opportunity in the first place, with scholarship offers being so tight all around the country and everything. An opportunity like UVa, I just couldn’t pass it up.”

As he moves forward, there are two things on his mind as he wraps up his lacrosse season and looks ahead.

“I’m really going to focus on speed and strength [this offseason],” he said. “Just getting bigger and faster. Being more flexible in my current defense and being able to play more on offense, too.”

The other? Getting back to his future home, this time with at least two future teammates on the trip too.

“I have not talked to the coaching staff yet about it but I have talked to both Rodney Hill and Karson Gay about it,” McDonald said. “I think we’re going up there June 11-13th. So I think that’s when we’ll all get up there together.”

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