MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Why is it that some schools can land and retain top talent and other schools seem to have issue after issue with keeping their best recruits on campus? It’s a question that many West Virginia fans likely have asked themselves at least once over the past decade, and it’s one that certainly becomes a head scratcher.
Let’s dive in.
You’d have to go all the way back to 2007 to find West Virginia’s last 5-star recruit, that being star running back Noel Devine. A year prior? Not even a single 4-star recruit was signed. The year before that? Jason Gwaltney became one of the biggest busts in WVU history after his career amounted to 49 plays from scrimmage, totaling just 186 rushing yards for the former 5-star prospect.
There are, of course, some explanations, the first being simply that there aren't a plethora of 5-star athletes.
"When it comes to 5-star players, there simply aren't many of them to go around," said Keenan Cummings, managing editor for WVSports.com, Rivals.com's West Virginia page. "Rivals typically awards 25 to 30 players a 5-star designation per class, and, obviously, those are some of the most highly recruited and talented players in the nation. By using some other services, the Mountaineers have signed a few more such as Tavon Austin but it's always going to be tough to pull the elite of the elite."
Another argument, though, is that West Virginia is a little fish in a big pond when it comes to recruiting, especially in the Big 12.
Going back over the last decade of recruiting charts, West Virginia has never landed a Top 20 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. The Mountaineers’ best class came in 2009, when it found eventual superstars like Austin, Geno Smith and Stedman Bailey, all 4-star prospects. But it also found Logan Heastie, a guy who was projected to out-perform both Austin and Bailey. Heastie never saw the field. The 2009 class was ranked 26th overall by Rivals.
The 2010 class also looked to be promising with a 27th overall rating from Rivals. Four-star products Quinton Spain and Bruce Irvin surely left their mark on the West Virginia program. But how about guys like Deon Long, Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson? All transferred. What about 4-star receiver Ivan “Sticks” McCartney? Decent, sustainable career, but nothing to call home about after totaling 861 yards and four touchdowns over four years.
The 2013 class was ranked 25th overall with players like future NFLers Kevin White, Shelton Gibson, Wendell Smallwood and Daryl Worley. It also featured Mario Alford, Eli Wellman, Dakiel Shorts and Al-Rasheed Benton. On paper, it would seem the 2013 class might be West Virginia’s most sustainable class in terms of keeping players around, but it only featured two 4-star prospects, according to Rivals.
Since that 2013 class, however, West Virginia’s recruiting classes has earned rankings of 45th, 33rd, 38th, 51st and 33rd overall.
For fun, here’s a breakdown of the last decade of classes, according to Rivals.com:
Since joining the Big 12 in 2012, West Virginia has had minimal luck landing sustainable, highly-ranked players. Here’s a list of top recruits and how they’ve fared in recent memory for West Virginia:
2012 - Deon-Tay McManus, academically ineligible.
2013 - Darrien Howard, viable option on defensive line for four years; Shelton Gibson, left early for NFL.
2014 - Donte Thomas-Williams, arrested/kicked off team; Dravon Askew-Henry, battled injuries; William Crest, recruited as QB, transferred, came back, buried on depth chart as WR.
2015 - Jovon Durante, transferred; David Sills, recruited as QB, transferred, returned as WR, All-American; Tyrek Cole, arrested/kicked off team; Rasul Douglas, in the NFL.
2016 - Brendan Ferns, injured in all three seasons on campus; Kyzir White, only WVU player drafted in 2018.
2017 - Derrek Pitts, still with team but has been cited for having a gun. Slated to start in 2018.
Sure, there’s some success on that list. But there’s also arrests, transfers, injuries and even ineligibility. To put it mildly: disappointment.
It’s surely unfair to compare a West Virginia football team with that of the likes of Alabama, so I’ll just drop these statistics here for your enjoyment with no comparison necessary: Since 2012, Alabama has lost just two of its 28 5-star prospects — one to arrest and one to transfer.
What’s that sound like? Sustainability.
On one hand, Alabama has been simply on fire recently though, Cummings pointed out.
"That's a program rolling unlike any I've seen in my lifetime on the recruiting front," he said.
Recruiting doesn’t ultimately lead to championships, but it sure helps. There are plenty of All-Americans and NFL draft choices who can play the “I had two stars beside my name” card when they find success, and that’s great. But as a team, you still need to do what you can do to get it right with your top recruits. You can’t rely on finding a 3-star Pat White or Steve Slaton, both of whom got their chance to play for West Virginia because of injuries to the guy in front of them on the depth chart.
How does this translate to life in the Big 12 for West Virginia? Without highly-touted recruiting classes, West Virginia won Big East titles in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011. With middle-of-the-road classes in the Big 12, West Virginia has never finished better than third in the league.
Again, recruiting classes don’t always add up to victories. Baylor hasn’t had a Top 20 recruiting class since West Virginia joined the Big 12 and has managed two league titles. But, on the other hand, Oklahoma has had four 5-star prospects since 2012 that have helped the Sooners land seven Top 20 classes (two in the Top 10) and four Big 12 titles.
It presents the age old question of what will come first, sustained success in recruiting or sustained success on the field. For West Virginia, a school that prides itself on selling a beautiful campus, a team that can put up points in bunches and a defense that brings Tony Gibson’s “dawg” mentality, it has to find a way to do both before becoming irrelevant in the Big 12.
Cummings, though, said he believes there's hope of trending in the right direction while fans await to see how recent classes play out.
"The results with the 4-star players has been a mixed bag (for West Virginia), which isn't really too much different than anywhere else. For every Donte Thomas-Williams or Tyreke Cole there are plenty of Rasul Douglas's or Stedman Bailey's," Cummings said. "Even looking at the current roster, you have David Sills, Dravon Askew-Henry and Derrek Pitts set to play significant roles, while Kyzir White just wrapped up a productive career. ... I think West Virginia does a good job of moving guys around."
