4-star defensive lineman Joel Starlings makes official visit change

Richmond (Va.) Benedictine Prep defensive lineman Joel Starlings recently announced that he would officially visit West Virginia on June 10-12, but the four-star big man has had a change of plans. Starlings will instead trip to Morgantown for his visit June 3-5.

NEW DATE: WVU official visit is now June 3-5 #WVU #AlmostHeaven ⛰ @CoachJaxDL @NealBrown_WVU @CoachLesley_WVU pic.twitter.com/L08zsbJSCe

— JOEL “GRIM REAPER” STARLINGS (@JoelStarlings) March 31, 2022

Starlings is the No. 225 overall prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the nation’s No. 35 defensive lineman and the No. 3 prospect in Virginia this cycle.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pounder recently named his top schools earlier this month, and it included the Mountaineers, as well as South Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Penn State, Georgia, and Texas A&M.

Noticeably missing from that list is Michigan, the school Starlings committed to back in November. He pledged to the Wolverines when defensive line coach Shaun Nua was employed there. But Nua left for USC after last season.

“I would like to thank the University of Michigan for showing the hospitality they’ve shown to me and my family,” he wrote at the time. “With the changing of the coaching situation at my position at The University of Michigan, me and my family have decided to re-open my recruitment from here on out. With this decision I will be keeping all options open to other schools.”

Joel Starlings currently has one other official visit scheduled — to North Carolina on May 20-22.