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February 04, 2004 05:18 PM | General
February 4, 2004
PRESS CONFERENCE REPLAY
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University Coach Rich Rodriguez today announced that 22 prospects have signed NCAA letters-of-intent to play for the Mountaineers.
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| Coach Rich Rodriguez reveals West Virginia's football class of 2004. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
WVU landed players from nine different states including six from Pennsylvania, three each from Ohio and Louisiana, a pair from Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, and one each from West Virginia and California.
"I'm very excited about this year's class just like the other 117 coaches are," said Rodriguez. "I thought our staff did a great job of identifying our needs and evaluating prospects. You never get everybody that you try to get obviously but I think we've got an excellent class put together."
The lone Mountain State prospect is one of the most highly touted players in the country in Martinsburg wide receiver Brandon Barrett, a two-time Kennedy Award winner as the state's player of the year. Barrett earned prep All-America honors for Coach Dave Walker and turned down a scholarship offer to attend Ohio State.
The Mountaineers were able to secure the late signature of quarterback Pat White of Daphne High School in Daphne, Ala., just outside of Mobile. White originally made an oral pledge to attend national champion LSU before changing his mind on signing day. White was the seventh-ranked player in the state of Alabama by the Mobile Register and finished third in the Alabama Mr. Football voting.
Running back Alphonso Gross, described as an "Avon Cobourne clone" by Rodriguez, was one of the most productive running backs in Alabama, finishing the 2003 season with more than 2,000 yards rushing and 36 touchdowns. Gross earned first team Class 3A all-state honors.
Two touted Louisiana prospects picked West Virginia over heavy competition in Comeaux High School standout running back Tyler Benoit and Hahnville High star Darius Reynaud. Both players were ranked among the state's Top 25 prospects and Reynaud was the MVP of the Louisiana Class 5A state championship game after leading Hahnville to a perfect season. Defensive back Matt Sinclair was rated a "sleeper prospect" from Crowley, La.
Of the six Pennsylvania prospects, four were from Western Pa in Mike Dent, Ben Iannacchione, Mortty Ivy and Doug Slavonic; Ivy, an athlete from Gateway High School, was named to both the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review teams.
Offensive lineman Jake Figner hails from Northwestern Lehigh High School and defensive tackle Tyree Suber is a product of Glen Mills Prep outside of Philadelphia.
Chad Mayse, Ryan Stanchek and Pernell Williams were all AP first-team all-Ohio picks from the Buckeye State.
Quarterback Terry Mitchell was the Tidewater Area player of the year and joined offensive lineman John Bradshaw on the Virginia all-state team.
WVU successfully landed a pair of prospects from the Sunshine State in defensive back Marcus Platt and wide receiver Tito Gonzalez. Platt excelled as a running back while Gonzalez gained late interest from college recruiters after his senior season.
Mississippi wide receiver Brandon Tate was a late addition to the class after earning first team all-state honors from the Clarion-Ledger. WVU coaches say Tate is also an excellent basketball player.
Tight end Louis Davis of Cerritos Junior College and defensive back Alton McCann of Jones County Junior College were West Virginia's two JC pickups this year.
"Not only are they good football players but I also think we got a lot of great character guys," said Rodriguez. "Football and academics are important to them and they'll work hard and do what they need to do to have success on and off the field. "Is this our best class since I've been here? I don't know," he added. "I two or three years I will probably be able to determine that. It may be our most athletic class at all positions. We got a lot of big, good athletes and got some very fast guys."
Click HERE for in-depth profiles on each prospect.
