BY KEENAN CUMMINGS
Oops, West Virginia did it again.
For the third time in the 2021 recruiting class the WVU coaches have flipped the commitment of a prospect previously pledged elsewhere to the Mountaineers.
This time it was Cocoa (Fla.) athlete Davis Mallinger, who had been committed to Central Florida since April but had garnered plenty of attention from other schools.
Along with WVU, Mallinger had collected offers from Mississippi State, Illinois, South Carolina, Rutgers and a number of other programs since his pledge to the Golden Knights. Running backs coach Chad Scott played the role of lead recruiter in this one and developed a strong bond that kept the Mountaineers are the forefront of his mind despite his current pledge.
“I really like the West Virginia coaches. They seem ready to get West Virginia back to championship football. I’ve talked to multiple coaches from over there,” he said.
The Rivals.com three-star prospect could end up on either side of the ball in college but is likely to start his career on the defensive side as a safety given his athleticism and range.
While he has yet to visit Morgantown in person, Mallinger did take a virtual visit to campus and was impressed with what he was able to see during that experience.
Mallinger is the third commitment for WVU from the state of Florida and continues positive momentum on the trail for the coaching staff after adding four-star running back pledge Justin Johnson earlier in the week. The versatile Mallinger gives the program just another valuable piece in the class.
The Mountaineers are now up to 16 total commitments in the 2021 class ranking the group inside the top 40 overall in the Rivals.com rankings. But even more impressive is the average star ranking per recruit sits at 3.25, which would be the highest total since the Rivals.com rankings began in 2002.
Not too shabby when you consider that the coaches are currently pulling this off in the middle of a pandemic without the benefit of in-person visits.
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