West Virginia Football: 5 early signees who’ll have instant impact in 2019
By Phil Poling
West Virginia football added a handful of recruits during December’s early signing period. These five will have the biggest impact in 2019.
While Dana Holgorsen and the Mountaineers are preparing for a Dec. 28 Camping World Bowl with former Big East foe Syracuse, recruiting doesn’t stop. Actually, with the early signing period, it’s just now getting interesting.
In 2017, the NCAA instituted a three-day span in December where recruits can sign their National Letter of Intent (NLI) rather than wait until February’s National Signing Day to announce their decision. This allows many benefits to both the school and the athlete.
Once getting NLIs from early signees, schools can move on to recruits who are still undecided to try and flesh out the rest of their class. The recruits who sign in December are eligible to enroll at their desired school in January, as some graduate high school early and therefore can start their college journey early. The players who go this route get a chance to familiarize themselves with their campus, develop their bodies in a college weight room, and they won’t have the shock of trying to balance school and football’s regular season right away.
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Now that you’re familiar with the early signing period, there’s a number of recent changes to WVU football’s 2019 recruiting class. Since the start of the 2018 season, five Mountaineer commits have either de-committed or had their scholarships pulled. North Carolina recruit Lee Kpogba decommitted from WVU and has since committed to the Syracuse Orange.
Two West Virginia prospects, Dewayne Grantham and Amir Richardson, both had their scholarships pulled, while Deshon Stoudemire of Georgia also had his pulled. And finally, wide receiver Isaiah Hazel’s scholarship was pulled and he immediately committed to the Maryland Terrapins.
The Mountaineers 2019 recruiting class is ranked seventh in the Big 12 and 51st nationally. They have over a dozen commits, and the five we mention are destined for an immediate impact next season.