MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Trey Lathan's redshirt freshman season in 2023 was over faster than a snap of a finger early in the fourth quarter of West Virginia's 24-21 win at TCU.
 
At the time of his injury, which turned out to be a broken tibia and fibula requiring immediate surgery in a Fort Worth hospital, Lathan was just coming into his own. He ranked among the team leaders in tackles with 27 while also logging seven quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.
 
Lathan's seven QB hurries were one shy of Lee Kpogba's team-lead of eight in seven fewer games. 
 
"Trey said he knew his season was finished the moment he was injured.
 
I felt it, and then I looked at my leg and it was just dangling over, so I already knew it was over," he said following today's practice inside the stadium. "It basically snapped in half, so they went in and repaired it with a rod and four screws."
 
Lathan said the ambulance ride to the hospital consisted of him trying to keep track of the outcome of the game while listening to his mother, Kankina, crying.
 
"Honestly, I forgot I was even hurt," he said. "I felt like I was out there with my team."
 
When he returned to Morgantown later the following week, he had gotten rid of his crutches just days after the surgery and was walking on his surgically repaired leg. He said doctors told him the fastest way to recovery was to get on his feet.
 
"They got me going fast," he explained. "I started walking and ditched my crutches after just three days. After that, they told me the faster I walk normal the faster I'll be back. I just did that, and I'm back in now."
 
The Goulds, Florida, resident said he allowed himself about a week to feel sorry for himself before it was time to get back to work.
 
"The roughest week of my life," he admitted.
 
"Football is my life, but I learned my life wasn't over after that," he added. "It basically put things in perspective. One day I'm going to be done with this and basically that's what it felt like for those six months (recovering), 'I need to focus on my life and get things on track.'"
 
Out of that has come a desire to one day own his own trucking business, which he began exploring a little bit this offseason as part of West Virginia's Fifth Quarter Program.
 
"In high school, I took an economics class, and with Covid and everything, the shortage of drivers and things being stuck in a port for like six months, it's a billion-dollar industry, and the shortage of drivers took to my interests because I like driving," he said.
 
That's for later, of course.
 
For now, Lathan wants to get back to where he was five weeks into the season as one of the team's defensive leaders. The 6-foot-1, 226-pounder thought he was really beginning to jell at the time of his injury.
 
"I feel like I was getting better each and every week," he admitted. "A lot of things were becoming clearer once I started playing more and getting more snaps. I'm just taking that and running with it."
 
This spring, Lathan said he's back to where he was prior to the injury.
 
"I just basically told myself, 'Where I was last year it's going to be a lot different this year and just get better.' Anything I want I can just go grab it, so that's kind of the mentality that I have right now," he said.
 
As for this year's defense, Lathan predicts a hungrier, more physical unit than the one Mountaineer fans saw last season. He believes the returning players and the new pieces added to mix are already making a difference on the field.
 
"I think it's the best defense we've had," he said. "We've got a different type of mentality this year. We don't have to coach guys running to the ball, and everybody is getting to the ball every play.
 
"We just try to beat our offense every day because that's the team we are going against," he added. "We're really competitive, and I think that's what's got us going on."
 
Looking at new players to watch, Lathan is predicting big things for 242-pound inside linebacker Josiah Trotter, one of the most touted recruits Neal Brown has managed to sign. The Philadelphia resident missed the entire season last year with a knee injury.
 
"He's a dog," Lathan said. "He has a nose for the football, and I don't know if he gets it from his dad (four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter), but I feel like he's got the biggest upside in our room."
 
As for the upcoming season, Lathan is anticipating lots of success because he believes the team culture in the program is right. These guys genuinely like each other and are willing to play for each other.
 
"If guys don't like each other and can't stand up for each other, that means you are never going to click," he explained. "That's really important to us just clicking and (the coaches) encourage us to hang out more often because that's the guys we are going to be around to fight with.
 
"Everybody in the locker room like each other, and any problem we have it just gets squashed. We don't take things back into the locker room," he concluded.
 
West Virginia wrapped up practice No. 9 inside the stadium this morning with some scrimmage work. The Mountaineers will resume spring work on Monday morning.