By Keenan Cummings
COMMENTARY
March 12, 2020. That was the day that recruiting stood still.
Since that point, all campus visits have been shut down as part of the mandated NCAA recruiting dead period. That period prevents any face-to-face contact between coaches and prospects, meaning visiting campus or even going out to visit potential recruits has been shelved for over a year.
That could be changing, though, because after the dead period was recently extended until May 31, the Division I Council announced it was going to develop a plan in regard to returning to normal recruiting efforts by April 15. That doesn’t necessarily mean the dead period will be lifted, but it is the first optimistic sign things could somewhat return to normal by the time June rolls around.
West Virginia certainly is taking that as a sign because the Mountaineers have scheduled several official visits during June. This obviously isn’t a rock-solid indication that they will be happening, but it is the first sign of formal activity that we’ve seen on this front in over a year.
Scheduling visits comes with no consequence and at worst, it will be a failed attempt to host them. But on the positive side, it is a forward-thinking maneuver that could potentially lock top targets into official visits with WVU if the visit-shutdown is lifted.
WVU is currently set to host Birmingham (Mich.) Groves athlete Jaden Mangham, Harper Woods (Mich.) safety Christian Stokes, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson cornerback Mumu Bin-Wahad, and Cleveland Heights (Ohio) offensive lineman Maurice Hamilton during the June 4-6 weekend. Each of those prospects holds a scholarship offer from the program and are high on the Mountaineers’ recruiting board.
The following weekend, Dallas (Ga.) East Paulding running back Justin Williams, a 4-star, set his official visit in Morgantown from June 11-13. There will certainly be more to come.
WVU is the first documented school to set official visits with prospects and others have taken the lead as Texas A&M is just one of several schools that have released information through prospects that they are at least planning to do the same.
WVU head coach Neal Brown has valued finding a way to be different than the rest of his competitors when it comes to recruiting and this move certainly fits into that category. It is allowing WVU to lock in prospects for dates in case things are lifted and allows them to secure some top targets to visit campus.
Opening things back up on the visit front would alter the landscape of recruiting as it has primarily been focused on virtual visits and meetings. But this would bring players back to campus and allow the WVU coaches to showcase the program, which has proven to be highly effective.
Even with the shutdown last year, 12 of the 16 high school prospects who signed with WVU visited the program prior to things being put on hold.
We can’t tell the future right now and what could come June 1, but WVU is going to be prepared regardless. That is not a bad place to be.
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