BY KEENAN CUMMINGS | For The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – West Virginia still has slots to fill in the 2020 recruiting class and as often happens new prospects are starting to emerge on the board that could potentially fill them.
The Mountaineers have been active over the past week with scholarship offers, first extending one to Shaker Heights (Oh.) linebacker Avery Dunn. The 6-foot-2, 220 pounder, was on campus for the Iowa State game and that’s when he received the news that the program was going to be the second Power 5 school behind Michigan State to jump into the picture.
While the offer is fresh, the interest from the Big 12 Conference program certainly isn’t, as inside linebackers coach Blake Seiler has been recruiting him since the spring. The holdup was that Dunn was never able to make it to campus for a visit until this trip and that was enough to seal the deal.
Dunn now plans to strongly consider the Mountaineers moving forward and is expected to make an official visit in December after taking in the gameday atmosphere in Morgantown. He is being recruited for the hybrid bandit linebacker spot and believes that his skill set is a natural fit as a player that can create havoc off the edge as well as drop out into coverage when needed.
“They like my frame and my explosiveness to get to the ball,” Dunn said.
WVU also has been actively targeting junior college players, with new offers out to Milledgeville (Ga.) Georgia Military College defensive end Yaya Diaby and Perkinston (Miss.) cornerback Jackie Matthews. Both players were seen by the coaching staff during the bye week and could potentially fill immediate needs for the Mountaineers in this recruiting class.
Diaby currently lists Louisville and Central Florida as his leaders but the explosive pass rusher is set to take an official visit to Morgantown Dec. 7 to see the program. As for Matthews, he has a tie to the program — his cousin is current wide receiver T.J. Simmons — and the offer was especially important for him since it was his first from the Power 5 level.
Like the other two newly offered prospects, Matthews is hoping to make an official visit to WVU once the regular season wraps up in order to learn even more about the program.
Both of the JUCO prospects will have three years to play at the next level and have already developed a solid connection with the coaches. Currently the program has a total of 13 commitments and is expected to take at least nine more before the dust settles on the class.
