WVU’s Summer Recruiting in Full Swing
As Summer rapidly approaches, Head Coach Neal Brown focuses on his first “normal” recruiting period since the start of the pandemic. In-person visits were, as many know, prohibited during most of the pandemic. Considering Brown’s biggest sales pitch (the family environment) the NCAA’s recent reopening of in-person visits undoubtedly helps the program. The Mountaineers have taken full advantage and have already hosted multiple camps and visits. We are certainly glad to see WVU’s summer recruiting in full swing again.
Two Successful Recruiting Weekends
To that end, WVU played host to a number of Class of 2022 recruits over the past two weekends. Brown tells everyone who asks that the staff is confident that, if they can get the recruits in the building, they have a good chance of getting them to commit. The staff certainly wasted no time taking full advantage of the end of the COVID-19 dead period. Two weekends ago, the Mountaineers hosted several top-tier recruits high on their recruiting board. Among others, four-star running back Ramon Brown, four-star linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, four-star athlete Jaden Mangham, four-star receiver Jacolby Spells, and three-star cornerback Mumu Bin-Wahad all confirmed visits. Judging by the social media reactions from these recruits, they all enjoyed those visits.
Last weekend, all but one of the players currently in West Virginia’s 2022 class visited together. They reaffirmed their commitments and also helped recruit the other visitors. Excitement rode high as top targets glowed about what WVU offered. Called a program on the rise by many of the visits, Morgantown remains in a good spot for many of its recent visitors. Last weekend, the guest list included athletes like four-star quarterback Nicco Marchiol and four-star offensive lineman Trent Ramsey. Fellow four-stars Justin Williams (RB), Kevin Thomas (WR), Omar Cooper (WR) and Travious Lathan (LB) joined the fray. Three-star wide-out Shaun Miller seemed particularly enthralled with his visit.
These visits already produced one publicly-announced commitment. That comes from Ohio offensive lineman Maurice Hamilton. He was not, however, the only commitment WVU received.
“Secret” Commitments
Understandably, recruiting is a slightly different animal these days. Athletes are taking their first visits in roughly 18 months. Like the average American, they have pent-up travel demand and want to see places and people they have not had the opportunity to see during the pandemic. As a result, we expect to see more athletes take full advantage of their allotted visits than in recent years. In doing so, kids will be more reluctant to make immediate announcements than they have been.
That said, coaches have their own social media codes for things. As we know, Coach Brown and his staff tweet “Let’s Go!” followed by the class designation each time they get a new verbal commitment. Over the past two weekends, the staff shared four such tweets (and word is they may be sitting on one or two more).
So far, we only know the identity of one. By all indications, WVU’s Class of 2022 could add between six and eight more commitments from the group of visitors over the last two weekends. In the past, these tweets by the staff have been followed by commitments announced within a week or two. As mentioned above, however, those announcements could be delayed. Nonetheless, the Mountaineers’ built plenty of momentum these last two weekends. The tea leaves indicate WVU’s summer recruiting has been, and will continue to be, a success. National analysts, in fact, predict WVU to net its first top-25 class in over a decade. Based on what we have heard, we have very little reason to doubt these expectations.
More on the Way
The Summer recruiting season, however, is far from over. Over the next several weekends, WVU will play host to dozens more top targets, both for the 2022 and 2023 classes. Upcoming camps will undoubtedly reveal a few “diamonds in the rough” that Morgantown specializes in, too. The momentum (whether there are official announcements or not) will certainly help keep WVU’s summer recruiting in full swing. We will be here to provide updates as it does.
