OL Mac Hollensteiner Not Transferring to Virginia, Staying at Georgetown

Hollensteiner will not be transferring to UVA for "personal reasons"

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Jun 12, 2022 11:50 PM EDT

Virginia's depleted offensive line unit will not be receiving as many reinforcements through the transfer portal as originally anticipated. Georgetown offensive lineman Mac Hollensteiner, who initially announced his intention to transfer to UVA back on January 23rd, will reportedly not be transferring to Virginia and will instead stay at Georgetown, according to Mike Barber from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

No details regarding this decision have been made available beyond Barber's report that Hollensteiner will be remaining at Georgetown for "personal reasons."

The 6'6", 310-pound offensive lineman from Bethesda, Maryland was a top commodity in the transfer market after he entered the portal as a graduate student back in November. Hollensteiner held offers from Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Colorado, UConn, East Carolina, Fresno State, and several others. On January 13th, UVA made an offer to Hollensteiner, who visited Grounds soon after and then quickly announced he would be committing to the Cavaliers with two years of eligibility remaining.

"Proud to announce my commitment to UVA as a grad student and to continue playing football," Hollensteiner said in a social media post on January 23rd, which has since been deleted.

Now, it is apparent that Hollensteiner will not be joining the UVA football program in its first season under Tony Elliott and will instead be remaining at Georgetown, where he has appeared in just 12 games over the course of his collegiate career going back to 2018.

Virginia's offensive line unit has been one of the most interesting storylines of this offseason, which saw the departures of six offensive linemen who had significant starting experience for the Cavaliers: Olu Oluwatimi (transferred to Michigan), Bobby Haskins (transferred to USC), Ryan Swoboda (transferred to UCF), Joe Bissinger (transferred to SMU), Ryan Nelson (NFL), and Chris Glaser (NFL).

UVA offensive line coach Garett Tujague has done a fantastic job on the recruiting trail since the end of the season, securing several talented high school recruits as well as a few players through the transfer portal. In addition to Hollensteiner, who will no longer be joining Tujague's unit, Virginia got transfer commitments from Dartmouth offensive lineman John Paul Flores and Lehigh offensive lineman Andrew Canelas, who announced his commitment to UVA on Saturday.

Losing Hollensteiner is unfortunate, but between incoming transfers and recruits and players still in the program such as Derek Devine and Noah Josey, the pieces are still there for Tujague to construct a capable offensive line to protect Brennan Armstrong this season.

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