Jim Mullen, the top heavyweight in the country and the #8 recruit overall in the class of 2023, has made his college decision. Mullen was the final remaining top-twenty recruit in the class. 

Perhaps Mullen's college decision took longer than most others in the class because of how many options the New Jersey big man had. Would he play football or wrestle or both? Mullen had legitimate offers for all three scenarios. Now we know where he's headed after graduation.

The 2021 U17 World silver medalist has decided to join Tony Robie and company at Virginia Tech. Mullen's move makes him the fifth Big Boarder to bring his talents to Blacksburg as VT already had commitments from #17 Mac Church, #30 Hunter Mason, #38 Sonny Sasso, and #83 Logan Frazier.

Mullen will both wrestle and play football at Virginia Tech. "I know it's gonna be hard to do both at that level, but I love both sports too much, and I'm not ready to give one up," Mullen told FloWrestling. According to Mullen, Virginia Tech's football coaching staff and Coach Robie are both 100% committed to the plan of pursuing excellence on both the field and the mat.

Mullen, who loved all of his football and wrestling visits said that VT stood out because "they were aggressive in recruiting for both sports." That mattered to Mullen who is serious about both football and wrestling. Support from the coaches will be critical in his attempt to excel in both arenas, something few athletes have been able to do. That difficulty of this task isn't lost on Mullen, but he's up for the challenge. "I didn't want to look back in 10 or 20 years and say, 'I should have tried it.'"

Mullen will join Virginia Tech's current heavyweight, Hunter Catka, who was an NCAA qualifier in 2021 and redshirted last year. He could choose to compete through the 2025-2026 season.

Jim Mullen's U17 World semifinal victory over Alikhan Kussainov of Kazakhstan

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