Pio Vatuvei officially signs with Louisville

On national signing day, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said that he'd purposefully held back a number of scholarships in order to have room for players that come available later in the process. He used one of those open spots to bolster Todd Grantham's new defense by signing junior college defensive end Pio Vatuvei. The Louisville athletic department announced the signing today via an emailed press release.

Vatuvei was rated a four-star recruit out of high school by Rivals.com in 2012. Rivals listed Vatuvei as the #145 player in the country and the #11 weakside defensive end when he signed with the Washington Huskies. With Louisville transitioning to a 3-4 defense, there was a need for additional linemen of Vatuvei's size and athleticism. At 6'3, 265 pounds, Vatuvei is big enough to play defensive end and hold his own. His addition should help allow Lorenzo Mauldin to focus on playing outside linebacker in Louisville's new defense.

Vatuvei will arrive in the summer and have two years of eligibility to play. Here's a video of Vatuvei out of high school in 2012 playing multiple positions on both offense and defense. He joins Tae Thibodeaux as defensive linemen that the Cardinals were able to land after signing day.