MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia football team continues to improve its roster this week through the transfer portal, with the commitment of Maryland linebacker Bryce Brand.
“No matter the pressure I stand on both feet … Thankful, 100% committed,” Brand tweeted Monday night with photos of him donning a WVU uniform.
Brand’s commitment comes two days after Arizona grad transfer safety Scottie Young announced he was headed to Morgantown to finish out his college career. Young will be immediately eligible in 2020, but Brand, who entered the transfer portal in January, will likely need to sit out a season due to NCAA transfer rules, but could file a waiver to become immediately eligible. He will have two years to play two seasons.
Brand brings a lot of versatility to the defensive front-7 — he primarily played defensive line for the Terps the last two seasons, but was a middle linebacker as a 3-star recruit from Detroit in 2017. He can also play as an edge rusher at linebacker — his new Twitter bio claims he is a “West Virginia University outside linebacker” — and with what WVU defensive coordinator likes to do with his scheme, Brand could fill a vital role.
Brand, at 5-foot-11 and 248 pounds, took a big leap forward from his redshirt-freshman season to his sophomore campaign, playing in all 12 games in 2019, posting 12 tackles with four for loss and one sack. He made his first career start against Syracuse. Brand played in 26 games, tallying 28 tackles, seven tackles for loss and two sacks.
If Brand is eligible in 2020, he will have a chance to play against his former teammates Sept. 19 when Maryland played at Milan Puskar Stadium. Regardless, the Mountaineers are slated to open the 2021 season at Maryland, so Brand will make a trip to his former home.
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