BY KEENAN CUMMINGS
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The West Virginia 2021 football recruiting class is far from a complete story at this time, but already it at least has some very interesting chapters to read.
With 14 current commitments, the class has the most pledges at this time since the 2016 group.
But it isn’t just quantity either, as this is a group that features impressive quality, as well.
Out of the 14 total pledges, three of those are 4-star prospects according to Rivals.com. That is the most since the Mountaineers had four such pledges in the 2018 recruiting cycle.
It also features the highest rated overall player since Dante Stills in the 2018 class in Huntington Spring Valley offensive lineman Wyatt Milum, who is perched at No. 179 nationally. It also represents the second-straight year that WVU has been able to keep the state’s top player inside the Mountain State.
That was a priority when Neal Brown took over as head coach and he certainly has followed through to date by keeping the state’s best at home.
The other two 4-star prospects in Ohio running back Jaylen Anderson and Maryland wide receiver Kaden Prather, also fit in into an impressive category. At 216th overall nationally, Anderson is the highest rated running back pledge since Andrew Buie in the 2011 class and Prather represents the first 4-star wide receiver to commit to the Mountaineers since the 2015 cycle.
The group also continues another theme of getting back more into traditional recruiting territories with five players from the state of Ohio. That is the most for WVU since the 2016 class when the program was able to lure seven from the Buckeye State.
WVU also was able to secure a pair of pledges from the international ranks with Victor Wikstrom, from Sweden, and Edward Vesterinen, from Finland. That is the second-straight year that the program has been able to pluck prospects from outside the country after securing Akheem Mesidor from Canada and Jairo Faverus from The Netherlands in the 2020 group.
The good news is even with all of the firsts in recent memory, there is room for the program to add even more in the coming weeks and months. The Mountaineers could still add eight more players to the class and are involved with a number of talented prospects to fill them.
The story is shaping up to be a good one in the 2021 cycle, but the writing isn’t quite finished.
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