Mountaineer Fans Get a Glimpse of Prather’s Potential

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – We got a glimpse of what true freshman wide receiver Kaden Prather is capable of doing on the football field during last Saturday's 34-17 loss at Kansas State.

An injury to Isaiah Esdale two weeks ago against Iowa State has opened the door for a much bigger role for Prather, who caught four passes for 60 yards, including a couple of big third-quarter receptions that led to the Mountaineers' first touchdown against the Wildcats.

He also secured a contested third-down reception to extend another drive, and later caught a 32-yard pass to set up Winston Wright Jr.'s fourth-down touchdown catch that got the Mountaineers back into the game.

It's something Mountaineer fans have been hoping to see from what most believe was one of West Virginia's top recruits last December considering Rivals had Prather rated Maryland's ninth-best prospect.

The four-star prospect earned Washington Post All-Met honors following his junior season in 2019 when he caught 42 passes for 895 yards and nine touchdowns in helping Northwest High in Germantown, Maryland, to the state championship game. Maryland did not play high school football last season because of COVID, but Prather doesn't believe that set back his development much.

"I went straight from my junior year of high school to my freshman year in college," he said earlier today. "I was very bummed out about it. We had big plans for my senior year because we were the runner-up in 2019, so we wanted to get that state championship for 2020, but due to COVID, we didn't get to get that done."

The next time Prather stepped on a football field was at Maryland to open the 2021 college football season. He admitted he felt the jitters during those first few games until he got settled.

"It was a quick turnover for me. I got thrown into the fire pretty early so I had to get adjusted pretty early," he said.

Prather said his close relationship with offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Gerad Parker is one of the reasons he picked WVU over a number of other offers. He said he was also a big Tavon Austin fan while growing up in Montgomery Village, Maryland.

"I always loved West Virginia. It's always been a dream school, but me and coach Parker are very close," he said. "He recruited me when he was at Penn State and our relationship grew from there."

Despite their close relationship, that doesn't mean Parker has taken it easy on Prather during his young career. The 6-foot-4, 210 pounder has a lot to offer, and Parker wants to make sure Kaden gets all that his God-given abilities have to offer.

Parker credits some of WVU's older players such as Bryce Ford-Wheaton for moving the process along.

"He's done it the right way, and compliments to our older guys for helping him get to that point and just bringing him along the right way," Parker said. "I think sometimes we, as coaches, make mistakes of playing young guys too early, or too soon based off a lot of different things and different variables that go into it.

"He's learned the truth lies in the work. In order to earn the right to play in games like that at a high level, there is a process that has to be followed to get a young player there," Parker said.

Prather also credits the wisdom and knowledge Ford-Wheaton has shared about his experiences as a young college football player.

"He told me to do everything he didn't because when you are a freshman coming in, sometimes you worry about the wrong things and you regret them later when you get older," Prather explained. "That's the last thing he wanted from me. He's given me the keys to everything."

In this day and age of instant gratification, it's sometimes difficult to take a breath and trust the process. But Prather has accepted the Mountaineer way, which requires great commitment and dedication.

Parker explains.

"Man, what a tough time in college football in this age for a kid to understand that because of all of the other influences and things to get through, but it's my belief he's trusted us in getting him to that point," he said. "He's been through our developmental lift program with Mike Joseph and the strength staff guys, he's gotten up early when he didn't want to and done that.

"He's showed up on time and learned to do that - which has helped him gain strength and change his body and learn some discipline in his life. He's learned how to practice really hard, and he understands why I've had a foot up his you know what all the time, and why being great matters all the time," Parker said.

"When you get to college, you've got to sit and wait your turn. It never feels good, but you've just got to look at the bigger picture," Prather added.

There were not many players West Virginia coach Neal Brown praised following the Kansas State game, but Prather was one of them.

"You could see it coming," Brown said Tuesday. "He's really played better, and I feel like he's coming. You talk about another guy projecting well, I think he's going to be a big-time player and you saw some of that on Saturday."

Indeed, Kaden Prather got a little taste of success last Saturday against Kansas State, but Parker says the challenge now is for him to make an even greater commitment because what we saw against the Wildcats is only just the tip of the iceberg.

"It was a good step for him individually and he's certainly capable of that and more, and we expect all of our guys to play at a higher level," Parker said.

He will get an opportunity for a repeat performance this Saturday against Texas at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Bryce Ford-Wheaton

Kaden Prather

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