MORGANTOWN — Alonzo Addae lost his cousin Jahmile Addae this off-season after Jahmile left WVU to take take a lateral job to become the cornerbacks coach at Georgia.
But another part of Alonzo’s past is arriving in Morgantown this summer.
Deshawn Stevens, a transfer from Maine, announced his commitment to the Mountaineers this week, bolstering a position that desperately needed depth heading into this season.
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After spending five seasons at Maine, Stevens had an up-and-down career. He had a breakout 2018 season, earning FCS All-American honors with 120 tackles and nine sacks, but he suffered a ruptured Achilles in 2019 and played in just one game.
The FCS season was postponed in 2020 and when it resumed this spring, Stevens tallied 36 tackles in Maine’s four games.
With an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, Stevens wanted to move on to a higher level and landed at WVU — a similar path taken by Addae.
Addae transferred from New Hampshire, a Colonial Athletic Association rival to Maine, in 2019, and Stevens and Addae faced each other in 2017 and 2018, with Stevens getting the upper hand in 2017 and Addae taking the win in 2018.
The similarities do not stop there, and prior to their college careers, the now-Mountaineer teammates have a history of playing together in Canada.
Stevens and Addae are Toronto natives, and according to Addae, played against each other in little league, but were also teammates a few times, including for Team Canada in the International World Series against Team USA at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“He’s a long-time friend and I’m definitely happy that he is able to join us here,” Addae said. “I think that he’ll be a great addition to the team. Obviously, we played against each other between UNH and Maine, so there is still competition there, but he is someone I consider a brother and we definitely plan on representing our own country.”
When Stevens entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, Addae said the WVU coaches approached him about Stevens, and the rest is history.
Addae was forced to sit out the 2019 season due to a former NCAA rule, but came out with a bang in his first season with the Mountaineers in 2020. He started all 10 games at free safety and finished with 66 tackles, two interceptions and five passes defended, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors.
Like Stevens, Addae is using his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of how COVID-19 affected the 2020 season.
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