By Keenan Cummings
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The traditional signing date for the 2020 class is set for Wednesday, but West Virginia is already getting a head start on the following group with another commitment.
Philadelphia (Pa.) Imhotep Charter 2021 safety Saint McLeod selected the Mountaineers after a Junior Day stop to campus over the weekend. The Rivals.com three-star prospect had been to Morgantown around half a dozen times and returned to campus again for yet another look at the program.
That was enough to seal the deal and give the Mountaineers their third commitment in the 2021 class, well ahead of last year’s pace when the first pledge didn’t come until March.
McLeod, 6-foot-0, 190-pounds, selected WVU over other offers from Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Maryland and Rutgers, among more. A ball-hawking safety prospect, McLeod was named to the 4A all-state team and addresses a need in the back end.
The commitment also continues a pipeline to the talent rich program at Imhotep Charter, where the Mountaineers pulled another commitment you might have heard of a few years ago in Tykee Smith.
Slated to play safety or possibly even cornerback, McLeod is a versatile athlete that should have little trouble fitting into the program given his connections as well as his skill set.
Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning played a role in his recruitment and now getting him in the fold allows the coaching staff to turn their attention to other areas on the field.
McLeod was just one of several talented prospects in the latest of a string of highly successful junior day stops since the start of the dead period. The Mountaineers were able to bring well over 60 offered prospects to campus by Feb. 1, well ahead of the pace from last year.
By Feb. 1 a year ago, that total was six, signifying the early jump that the coaches are able get on trying to fill out the 2021 class and beyond. The Mountaineers are hitting the ground early and often and the results are playing out with some high-quality early pledges in the class.
Comfort level played a significant role in the decision of McLeod and that goes back to simply getting them on campus multiple times over an extended period of time.
