Photo by: Caleb Saunders
WVU Football Mining Diamonds in Nearby Ohio
December 16, 2020 06:40 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The two headliners in this year's football signing class are ESPN 300 prospects Wyatt Milum from Spring Valley High in Kenova, West Virginia, and Kaden Prather from Northwest High in Montgomery Village, Maryland, but an emerging sub story has to be the Mountaineers' recruiting work in nearby Ohio.
West Virginia crossed the Ohio River to sign five talented Buckeye State prospects today, led by Perry High four-star running back Jaylen Anderson – the last one to sign at 5 p.m. (which is why this story is posting so late).
Anderson is one of three ESPN.com Top 25-rated Ohio prospects West Virginia inked on Wednesday. Anderson, the state's 13th-rated player, was a two time all-state choice who received nearly 25 scholarship offers, including interest from Florida, Iowa, Nebraska and Pitt.
Twenty-third-rated Hammond Russell IV, a defensive lineman from Dublin Coffman High, also entertained a bunch of offers from Midwestern schools, as did No. 25-rated offensive lineman Tomas Rimac from Brunswick High.
Massillon Washington High defensive back Andrew Wilson-Lamp is rated the state's No. 44-rated prospect, while Jackson High tight end Treylan Davis checks in at No. 65.
Considering what undefeated Cincinnati has done this year with Ohio players just outside of Ohio State's and Michigan's orbit, or what Iowa State is building in Ames, Iowa, with Buckeye State players, it's probably a good idea that Neal Brown is reestablishing West Virginia's recruiting presence there.
In fact, four of the five guys West Virginia pulled from Ohio this year also held offers from Iowa State.
"It just makes geographical sense what we're trying to do within a six-hour radius of Morgantown," Brown explained. "We signed a great player from here in the state (Milum) and signed a great player from the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area (Prather), and we signed guys from Ohio that we think have tremendous potential."
West Virginia's Ohio recruiting actually predates Canton's Don Nehlen, whose Mountaineer program in the 1980s and 1990s was fueled by lots of good Ohio football players.
Bobby Bowden and Frank Cignetti began the trend in the 1970s, starting with Akron's Jeff Merrow and continuing with Northeastern Ohio stars Darryl Talley, Oliver Luck and Delbert Fowler. Those Ohio guys Nehlen inherited from Cignetti really helped him get West Virginia's program off the ground in the early 80s.
Brown said last year around this time that he wanted to put more attention into Ohio after signing only one prospect there, Warrensville Heights offensive lineman Tairiq Stewart.
Today, he's got five to discuss.
"If you probably went back and played this press conference from a year ago, I talked about some areas, and there are some areas we've still got to improve on in Western Pennsylvania and New Jersey, developing relationships and making inroads, but definitely one of those areas is Ohio," Brown said. "We've got multiple coaches there recruiting, and I think they've done a really good job building relationships.
"It's obviously close, so those kids have been able to get over here, and we will continue to hit that state hard because it's really high-level football, traditionally," he added. "It's a really solid class there, the coaching level is high there and football is important in that state."
Brown said he really became aware of what Ohio football has to offer six years ago when he was offensive coordinator at Kentucky.
It was then when he really began to appreciate the high level of football they play in Ohio, and that there are far more prospects than Ohio State and Michigan can take each year.
"There are a lot of tough kids there that translate to West Virginia in a really good way and so I think for all of those reasons you are going to have to win some battles when you go over there," Brown said.
Linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, defensive line coach Jordan Lesley and tight ends coach Travis Trickett were the three assistant coaches responsible for winning those Ohio recruiting battles this year.
"It's recruited by the Big Ten; Iowa State is in there and we won our fair share," Brown said. "We didn't win them all. That's the one thing about these recruiting press conferences … everybody is going to talk about how great their signing class is and that's not necessarily true and that's life. I don't care what logo you're wearing, but we won a good percentage in the state of Ohio, and we've got to continue to do that."
Brown believes West Virginia will continue to strengthen its Ohio recruiting ties in the future because the Big 12 Conference is so highly regarded there by top prospects.
"I think the Big 12 brand resonates," he said. "With the way social media and how television works, whether you are in California, Florida, New York or wherever, everybody sees all of the games.
"The Big 12 is known, first and foremost, for offense, but if you look it's made a huge dent defensively this year. There's a lot of high-level defense being played in our league, and I think that's something in our region that recruits are grabbing on to," Brown said.
So much so that more than 30% of this year's early class is made up of Ohio football players.
And it's not just football, either. Both players men's basketball coach Bob Huggins landed during last month's early signing period also hail from … that's right, the Buckeye State!
You can read about this year's football class by clicking here.
West Virginia crossed the Ohio River to sign five talented Buckeye State prospects today, led by Perry High four-star running back Jaylen Anderson – the last one to sign at 5 p.m. (which is why this story is posting so late).
Anderson is one of three ESPN.com Top 25-rated Ohio prospects West Virginia inked on Wednesday. Anderson, the state's 13th-rated player, was a two time all-state choice who received nearly 25 scholarship offers, including interest from Florida, Iowa, Nebraska and Pitt.
Twenty-third-rated Hammond Russell IV, a defensive lineman from Dublin Coffman High, also entertained a bunch of offers from Midwestern schools, as did No. 25-rated offensive lineman Tomas Rimac from Brunswick High.
Massillon Washington High defensive back Andrew Wilson-Lamp is rated the state's No. 44-rated prospect, while Jackson High tight end Treylan Davis checks in at No. 65.
Considering what undefeated Cincinnati has done this year with Ohio players just outside of Ohio State's and Michigan's orbit, or what Iowa State is building in Ames, Iowa, with Buckeye State players, it's probably a good idea that Neal Brown is reestablishing West Virginia's recruiting presence there.
In fact, four of the five guys West Virginia pulled from Ohio this year also held offers from Iowa State.
"It just makes geographical sense what we're trying to do within a six-hour radius of Morgantown," Brown explained. "We signed a great player from here in the state (Milum) and signed a great player from the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area (Prather), and we signed guys from Ohio that we think have tremendous potential."
West Virginia's Ohio recruiting actually predates Canton's Don Nehlen, whose Mountaineer program in the 1980s and 1990s was fueled by lots of good Ohio football players.
Bobby Bowden and Frank Cignetti began the trend in the 1970s, starting with Akron's Jeff Merrow and continuing with Northeastern Ohio stars Darryl Talley, Oliver Luck and Delbert Fowler. Those Ohio guys Nehlen inherited from Cignetti really helped him get West Virginia's program off the ground in the early 80s.
Brown said last year around this time that he wanted to put more attention into Ohio after signing only one prospect there, Warrensville Heights offensive lineman Tairiq Stewart.
Today, he's got five to discuss.
"If you probably went back and played this press conference from a year ago, I talked about some areas, and there are some areas we've still got to improve on in Western Pennsylvania and New Jersey, developing relationships and making inroads, but definitely one of those areas is Ohio," Brown said. "We've got multiple coaches there recruiting, and I think they've done a really good job building relationships.
"It's obviously close, so those kids have been able to get over here, and we will continue to hit that state hard because it's really high-level football, traditionally," he added. "It's a really solid class there, the coaching level is high there and football is important in that state."
Brown said he really became aware of what Ohio football has to offer six years ago when he was offensive coordinator at Kentucky.
It was then when he really began to appreciate the high level of football they play in Ohio, and that there are far more prospects than Ohio State and Michigan can take each year.
"There are a lot of tough kids there that translate to West Virginia in a really good way and so I think for all of those reasons you are going to have to win some battles when you go over there," Brown said.
Linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, defensive line coach Jordan Lesley and tight ends coach Travis Trickett were the three assistant coaches responsible for winning those Ohio recruiting battles this year."It's recruited by the Big Ten; Iowa State is in there and we won our fair share," Brown said. "We didn't win them all. That's the one thing about these recruiting press conferences … everybody is going to talk about how great their signing class is and that's not necessarily true and that's life. I don't care what logo you're wearing, but we won a good percentage in the state of Ohio, and we've got to continue to do that."
Brown believes West Virginia will continue to strengthen its Ohio recruiting ties in the future because the Big 12 Conference is so highly regarded there by top prospects.
"I think the Big 12 brand resonates," he said. "With the way social media and how television works, whether you are in California, Florida, New York or wherever, everybody sees all of the games.
"The Big 12 is known, first and foremost, for offense, but if you look it's made a huge dent defensively this year. There's a lot of high-level defense being played in our league, and I think that's something in our region that recruits are grabbing on to," Brown said.
So much so that more than 30% of this year's early class is made up of Ohio football players.
And it's not just football, either. Both players men's basketball coach Bob Huggins landed during last month's early signing period also hail from … that's right, the Buckeye State!
You can read about this year's football class by clicking here.
Players Mentioned
OL
/ FootballGeimere Latimer | April 2
Thursday, April 02
Coach Deke Adams | April 2
Thursday, April 02
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 2
Thursday, April 02
Cam Cook | March 30
Monday, March 30
