Mountaineers Sign 24
February 04, 2009 05:39 PM | General
Feburary 4, 2009
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND PLAYER BIOGRAPHIES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bill Stewart has spent the last month listening and reading about how good this year’s recruiting class is sizing up. Some have called it the best in school history. Stewart’s take on that: we’ll see.
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| Bill Stewart discusses West Virginia's 24-player recruiting class Wednesday afternoon at the Milan Puskar Center.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“How good are these guys? I don’t know. They talk about this star and that star – I don’t care if they are a 1-star or a 10-star, all we know is they are our stars,” said Stewart. “They have not hit one person, they have not broken up one pass play, they’ve not carried one yard, they’ve not thrown one pass and they’ve not caught any balls.
“I don’t know if they’re worth a hill of beans and I won’t for three years,” said Stewart. “We don’t have any crystal balls but on paper they look pretty good.”
Based purely on numbers, the Mountaineers focused on offensive line (signing five), wide receiver (signing four), running back (landing three) and defensive backs, inking three safeties and two corners. Three defensive linemen, two linebackers and a linebacker/fullback were also signed.
“We needed some help on the back end with the safeties and the corners and we think got that,” said Stewart.
The 24-player group includes a trio of coveted skill players in Miramar, Fla., quarterback Eugene Smith, Baltimore running back Tavon Austin and Chesapeake, Va., wide receiver Logan Heastie who is already enrolled in school.
Smith, the Florida Sun-Sentinel Class 6A Player of the Year and a Parade All-American selection, passed for 3,089 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior. He led Miramar High School to an 8-2 record and a No. 5 ranking in Broward County. The Miami Herald lists Smith, also a member of the Orlando Sentinel and Atlanta Journal-Constitution southern teams, as the No. 3 overall prospect in the Sunshine State.
“I know he’s going to bring some exciting times to West Virginia,” said Stewart. “I loved him when he was a junior in camp. We thought he was special and I loved the fact that he played for a Mountaineer in Damon Cogdell. In terms of character he was everything we were looking for.”
Austin was a three-time Baltimore Sun Player of the Year and a two-time consensus Maryland Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 2,660 yards and scoring 34 touchdowns during his senior season. The most productive running back in Maryland high school football history, Austin averaged a phenomenal 12.9 yards per carry and finished his career owning state records in points (790), touchdowns (123), total yards (9,258) and rushing yards (7.962). He also led Dunbar High School to three straight Maryland titles.
“Tavon Austin can get it and go in any direction,” said Stewart. “He’s lightning in a bottle.”
Heastie played in the ESPN Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando Jan. 4 and earned USA Today second team All-America honors. The Great Bridge High School standout finished 2008 with 58 receptions for 886 yards and nine touchdowns and was rated No. 10 on the Roanoke Times list of top Virginia players. He is already enrolled in school and will participate in spring drills.
“Since Logan has been with us they tell me he has already gained eight pounds,” said Stewart. “That’s great.”
Two other standout players hail from Virginia in 6-foot, 222-pound running back Shawne Alston and 6-foot-1-inch, 265-pound defensive tackle Dominik Davenport - teammates at Phoebus High School in Virginia Beach.
The duo led Phoebus to a pair of state championships. Alston was the Daily Press Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 2,278 yards and scoring 34 touchdowns. He was the No. 21-rated player in Virginia according to the Roanoke Times and also earned mention on the Orlando Sentinel all-southern team.
“Shawne Alston is a big back,” said Stewart. “He will hit it up in there and bang it in there. How many yards did he have? That’s as good a football as they play anywhere in the country.”
Davenport was the Daily Press Defensive Player of the Year while also earning Group AAA all-state honors two years in a row. He was the No. 13-rated player in Virginia, according to the Roanoke Times.
The Mountaineers also picked up running back Daquan Hargrett from Miami. Hargrett led Northwestern High School to back-to-back state championship appearances, winning the title in 2007. He had 128 carries for 1,129 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior and earned mention on the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel Florida Top 100 lists.
“Daquan Hargrett sticks his feet into the ground and goes straight ahead,” said Stewart.
Other Florida products West Virginia signed include Miramar High School wide receiver Stedman Bailey, South Fort Myers cornerback Broderick Jenkins, Seebreeze High School safety Jonathan Scott and Buchholz offensive lineman Jordan Weingart.
Bailey was Eugene Smith’s top target, catching 68 passes for 1,163 yards and 14 touchdowns. He earned first team Class 6A all-state honors and was the No. 77-rated player in Florida, according to the Miami Herald. Bailey and Smith played for former Mountaineer standout linebacker Damon Cogdell.
Jenkins doubled as a wide receiver and cornerback at South Fort Myers High School, picking off three passes and making 22 tackles on defense, and catching 22 passes for 483 yards and scoring three touchdowns on offense. Jenkins was a Class 3A first-team all-state selection and was No. 92 on the Miami Herald’s list of top 100 Florida prospects.
Scott is a hard-hitting safety from Daytona Beach who finished the year with 40 tackles, a pair of fumble recoveries and one interception. He was invited to play in the Offense-Defense All-America Bowl at Coastal Carolina after earning third team Class 4A all-state honors. The Miami Herald listed Scott 70th on its list of top 100 Florida prospects.
Weingart earned first team Class 5A all-state honors at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla., while also being named Gainesville Sun Class 3A-6A Co-Offensive Player of the Year.
In Ohio, West Virginia landed four outstanding prospects in linebacker Branko Busick, safety Darwin Cook, tight end/fullback Christopher Snook and offensive lineman Ryan Spiker.
Busick, the son of former professional wrestler Big Bully Busick, starred at Steubenville High School where he earned Ohio Division IV defensive co-player of the year honors.
Cook made the Cleveland Plain Dealer all-star team after producing 99 tackles and 20 sacks at Shaw High School, the same school that produced former WVU consensus All-America linebacker Darryl Talley. Cook earned AP first-team all-state honors as well.
Snook was a two-way standout at Highland High School who was the No. 6-rated player in Northeast Ohio, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He rushed for 1,851 yards and scored 19 touchdowns on offense, and recorded 68 tackles as a linebacker on defense. The two-way standout has already accepted an invitation to play in the Ohio-Pennsylvania Big 33 Game.
“Chris is a sharp young man - he’s everything we want,” said Stewart.
Joining Snook on the Ohio roster for the Big 33 game will be offensive lineman Ryan Spiker of Dresden, Ohio. Spiker earned AP first team all-Ohio honors and led Tri-Valley High School to a 7-3 record this season.
Stewart traveled to Alabama to land cornerback Pat Miller. The Hoover High School product collected 64 tackles and made five interceptions during his senior season, earning honorable mention all-state honors and making the Birmingham News Alabama Top 24 list at No. 15.
Wide receiver Deon Long hails from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. Long caught 35 passes for 840 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior to earn Washington Post second team all-met honors.
Safety Terence Garvin was a Maryland all-state selection who also earned Baltimore Sun all-metro honors after making 32 tackles on defense, while rushing for 1,259 yards and scoring 19 touchdowns on offense. Garvin played in the Crab Bowl which featured the top high school players in the state.
WVU picked up three outstanding prospects in Pennsylvania. Giving the Mountaineers signatures were offensive tackles Pat Eger of Clairton, Pa., and Nick Kindler of Camp Hill, Pa., along with defensive lineman Curtis Feigt from Mercersburg Academy. Eger and Kindler both made the Harrisburg News Platinum 33 teams while Feigt is a German native who participated in a partnership program with the USA Football and Global Football that led to his playing in the United States.
Stewart dipped into the junior college ranks to sign defensive lineman Tevita Finau from Phoenix (Ariz.) College and wide receiver Terrance Moore from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College.
“It’s very difficult to land wide receivers when you block 75 percent of the time,” said Stewart. “That game in Charlotte didn’t hurt us recruiting wide receivers.”
Finau previously signed with the Mountaineers but needed to return to junior college to finish up coursework. The Lahaina, Hawaii native was a two-time regional defensive player of the year while earning second team junior college All-America honors in 2007.
“Tevita is working very hard and I’m pleased he is a man of his word,” said Stewart. “He’s chosen the Mountaineers over and over and over.”
Moore played in the national junior college All-America game and was a first-team All-Region I pick after catching 38 passes for 730 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. Originally from Key West, Fla., Moore earned first team junior college All-America honors as a freshman in 2007.
West Virginia signed two prospects in the Mountain State in Cabell Midland High School offensive lineman Cole Bowers and Keyser linebacker Taige Redman.
Bowers was the No. 1 prospect in the state after leading Cabell Midland to an 8-3 record. Redman is a 6-foot-2-inch, 215-pound linebacker from Keyser High School who earned first-team all-state honors after recording 119 tackles and eight sacks as a senior. He led Keyser to a 10-1 record and the second round of the state playoffs.
“We wanted to get good character kids who were good students,” said Stewart. “We wanted to get speed and we wanted to get guys with some athletic ability that can play. We think we got that.
“Hopefully these guys will help us win a few games and get us a league title, which is our goal,” said Stewart.
