* Leonard Mustari (left) and Lucheyona Weaver made their collegiate decisions final on Wednesday in Fort Myers
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North Carolina A&T's 2021 recruiting class just got a whole lot better.
On Wednesday, the Aggies landed a blue-chip package deal, as Fort Myers Dunbar seniors Lucheyona Weaver and Leonard Mustari made their collegiate decisions official in a signing ceremony among family and friends.
Mustari, the No. 20 ranked boys recruit in MileSplit's latest rankings in November, and Weaver, the No. 33 ranked girls prospect, add the kind of high-caliber potential that could boost an already booming program.
The Aggies are coming off a fifth-place men's team finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships under head coach Duane Ross. Conference wide, the program has dominated in the MEAC over the last half decade.
By all accounts, it seems as though A&T, a Historical Black College And University, has focused on the hurdles over the current NLI cycle.
The program has done well grabbing the signatures of Florida-based hurdler Amanda Kinloch, along with Virginia's Zamia Stelly and Georgia's Lashanti Williams.
But the tandom of Weaver and Mustari upgrade this class to an even higher level.
This past indoor season, Mustari won two national titles at adidas Indoor Nationals, with a US No. 1 time of 7.75 seconds in the 60mH, along with a personal record long jump of 24-5.75. That mark ended the season at US No. 3.
For comparison, that 60mH time would have been No. 8 in the NCAA this past season.
While the hurdler has yet to win an individual Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A title -- he finished fourth in the 110mH in 2019 as a sophomore -- Mustari has clearly made fantastic strides in becoming one of the nation's top hurdlers.
Last August, he claimed an AAU Junior Olympic Games victory in the 110mH in 13.84. Previously, he pulled down a win at the West Coast AAU JO Games in 14.10.
Those times could drop even lower in 2021, as Mustari has paced his season with three sub-14 efforts this spring.
However, Mustari's added credibility in the long jump -- he went 24-4.5 this weekend at IMG Academy -- is a development that ultimately could be prove to be invaluable at the NCAA level, too.
The connection between Mustari and Weaver ultimately proved to be an important link in this decision, as the pair confirmed for the Fort Myers News-Press that a friendship has blossomed into similar dreams at the NCAA level.
In recent years, the pair developed immensely under Olympia Track Club, using the offseason as a means to improve and work on their craft.
"She's like a sister to me," Mustari told his local newspaper of his friendship with Weaver. "She's my best friend. This was always the plan. I'm so glad that we can do this together."
Weaver, much like Mustari, has been continually on the rise.
In February, she also won an indoor title, claiming the nation's fastest 60mH time in in 8.31 seconds at adidas Indoor Nationals.
She has followed by authoring three sub-14 efforts on the outdoor circuit in the 100mH, including a wind-aided 13.56 at the Louie Bing Memorial Classic.
Weaver also produced a 100m best of 11.96 early in March.
All indications pointed to last spring as her breakthrough moment. In August, while competing against some top-rate competition, Weaver netted an AAU Junior Olympic Games title in 13.91 -- needing a nearly perfect second half of the race to win.
Previous to that performance, in July, Weaver won three West Coast AAU JO Games titles, going 13.87 in the 100mH, 12.10 in the 100m and 24.29 in the 200m.
But Weaver's biggest push in 2021 will be her work in the 400m and 400mH, as she plans to produce at the NCAA level in the long hurdles.
Weaver also nabbed a long jump best of 18-11.25 in February.