Donaldson’s Deception Continues
We spent some time last week speaking with Gulliver Prep High School’s Head Coach Earl Sims. Mountaineer fans might know him as the high school coach who spent the last four seasons with true freshmen CJ Donaldson and Trey Lathan. Sims had plenty to say about both players, but we want to focus this spot on the former. One thing we heard that stands out: Donaldson “is deceptive; you can ask anyone we played last year.” That list of people Donaldson played against is a long one, filled with dozens of current or soon-to-be Power Five players. They even include Lathan, as Sims told us the two “used to go at it in practice.” As it turns out, Donaldson’s deception continues in Morgantown (in a good way, of course).
Overlooked as a “Tweener”
Sims made clear that he knew Donaldson would have his day soon enough. Still, he confesses he didn’t see it coming so quickly. Indeed, while fans heard plenty about Donaldson in Fall camp, they had not seen him yet. What they heard seemed intriguing, if not tantalizing.
Donaldson was not heavily recruited out of high school. Nationally, he barely ranked in the top 1,000 incoming recruits. 247Sports lists just six Power Five offers. Donaldson, in fact, committed to Temple before hearing enough from West Virginia to lead him to Morgantown. Sims painted Donaldson as a bit of a tough sell, primarily because of his size. Schools recruited him as either a tight end or wide receiver, not necessarily both. They thought he might be too big to play receiver and too small to play tight end.
Indeed, Sims confirmed stories we heard that Lathan, a top 450 recruit with nearly two dozen Power Five offers, helped Donaldson’s recruitment, pumping his teammate up at every turn. Not bad for two who fought so hard against each other on the field. Regardless of his size, Donaldson’s key traits in high school were passion, hard work, and versatility, according to Sims. Donaldson is best, according to Sims, “when he has the ball in his hands.”
Donaldson has been playing football his whole life, and he spent plenty of time on the 7-on-7 circuit. According to Sims, those teams taught Donaldson to be elusive.
Quick Emergence
Donaldson’s versatility ultimately led Head Coach Neal Brown and his staff to make a late push to add Donaldson to this class. That said, Donaldson’s deception continues in that way, too. They recruited him as a tight end who might make a push at inside receiver. He started Fall camp in the tight end room, where he stayed for all of a few days.
Some depth issues at running back caused the staff to poke around for others who might contribute. Donaldson joined the room without hesitation. Sims told us that Donaldson is a “high character young man.” Donaldson’s love and respect for the team (and the family of it) soaked through Sims’ comments. That, and his passion, certainly painted an eager young player.
When we first started hearing rumblings about this young Donaldson, we took note. In our offensive surprises for this season, we spoke highly of what Donaldson may offer: “He offers deceptive speed and solid hands, [and] his presence can certainly leave defenses off-balance when playing the run against West Virginia this season.” That said, we have heard this story several times before: a promising young player emerges, seemingly out of nowhere (though Donaldson has been on our radar since he joined WVU’s 2022 class) but never meets the challenge on the field. Donaldson has done just the opposite.
Indeed, in the season opener against Pitt, Donaldson shows the deceptive speed and elusiveness about which his current and former coaches glowed. On just seven carries, he piled up 125 yards and a touchdown. He even blocked a punt for good measure. In his first four games, Donaldson eclipsed 100 yards in three of them.
More Deception to Come?
Based on those performances, it is hard for anyone to say they don’t see Donaldson coming. The proverbial cat is out of the bag. His seven-yard-per-carry efficiency may take a slight hit as a result. That does not mean Donaldson will not continue to grow. In fact, Donaldson himself confesses that he has work to do to keep up at this level. We really have not seen too much yet on the receiving side either. Donaldson has just five receptions, after all. That aspect of his game did not just vanish. For now, though, it is not something opposing teams are keying on. In that way, we will not be surprised if Donaldson’s deception continues as he opens up more aspects of his skill set.
Sims won’t be surprised either. “We’re just tapping the beginning,” he added during our interview. Indeed, Sims also thinks that fans should not count out the Mountaineers just yet either. Asked about Brown, Sims offered that Brown has his players’ best interests at heart and that “everything that he says and everything that he does has a purpose.” Boiling it down to one word, Sims said that Brown can best be described as “intense.” Sims also offered that “there’s still momentum building in that locker room that hasn’t spilled out yet.” Sims seemed certain that it will.
Perhaps we will eventually add the beginning of the 2022 season in a future installment of our “Mountaineer Moments in Adversity” series. Sims, however, left us with this useful piece of advice: “if it can’t be tested, it can’t be trusted.” The Mountaineers have certainly been tested early. How they continue to react will ultimately tell the story. For now, though, fans can rest assured that they have a future (if not current) star in Donaldson.
