By Keenan Cummings
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia effectively used the transfer portal yet again to address a major need by adding former Illinois State cornerback Charles Woods.
Woods, at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, was previously committed to SMU but elected to change his pledge to the Mountaineers after receiving an offer from the Big 12 program. Head coach Neal Brown served as the primary point man for Woods, along with co-defensive coordinator ShaDon Brown, and the trio built a close bond that led to his eventual choice.
“They just told me that I can play Big 12 football and believe I can be a big help for the program,” he said. “I was offered a full scholarship and I think it’s a great program.”
Along with his connection to Brown, Woods also has followed the program from afar for quite some time and believes that he would be a natural fit.
“I believe they have something special going,” he said.
A 22-game starter at Illinois State, Woods will have two seasons of eligibility remaining in his career and is set to be immediately eligible at West Virginia this fall. In 2019, Woods earned honorable mention FCS all-American honors by starting 15 games and recording 48 tackles, 17 passes defended and four interceptions.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Woods was the highest graded player on the Redbirds defense at 88.2 and allowed 38 of 67 passes thrown at him to be completed for 466 yards and two scores. He intercepted four passes that were thrown at him and played almost exclusively at outside cornerback.
Woods fills a major need for West Virginia at cornerback where the program lost returning starter Dreshun Miller to Auburn earlier this offseason. Along with West Virginia he received offers from Minnesota, Kansas and SMU, where he was previously committed to.
Woods is the third transfer commitment to pick the Mountaineers this offseason joining offensive lineman Doug Nester from Virginia Tech and linebacker Lance Dixon from Penn State.
WVU needed help in the secondary and now they’ve gotten it from a very experienced option that is ready to prove himself at the highest level of football.
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