MORGANTOWN — If you think of a Power 5 program in the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten, there’s a strong chance Kaden Prather held an offer from them as a star wide receiver at Northwest High in Germantown, Md.
A consensus 4-star recruit on all of the recruiting services for the class of 2021, who could have hand-picked which school he wanted to go to, it was WVU that stood out the most for Prather, going as far as saying the Mountaineers were his “dream” team to play for.
“I’ve always loved West Virginia, it’s always been a dream school,” the true freshman said Tuesday. “I was a big fan of the Tavon Austin and David Sills eras. They threw the ball a lot and they lit it up, so that caught my attention.”
Prather, who caught four passes for 60 yards last week at K-State in his first significant action, also built a relationship with current WVU offensive coordinator and receivers coach Gerad Parker while Parker was at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions may have been the favorite to land Prather before Parker’s move in 2020, but with a prior relationship and Prather’s thoughts on the Mountaineers, WVU was the lucky winner in the Prather sweepstakes.
But it didn’t come easy for Prather. His senior high school season was canceled because of COVID-19, and when he enrolled at WVU in January, he quickly realized everyone else on the team was also on scholarship. While he physically fit in at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he had a lot of catching up to do everywhere else.
“I got thrown in the fire pretty early, so I had to get adjusted pretty early,” Prather said. “Just being consistent, that was my main problem, but as the months have been going on, I’ve been getting better with my consistency, which has helped my play.”
In the current age of the transfer portal and immediate eligibility at a new school, someone with Prather’s pedigree may look to play immediately and if the cards don’t fall, look to go somewhere else.
That’s not the attitude he had, knowing he had to come in and work hard to get snaps, and that work is starting to pay off.
“He’s done it the right way, and compliments to our older guys who have helped him get to that point,” Parker said. “I think sometimes we as coaches make mistakes and play guys a little too early. In order to play in games like that and play at a high level, there’s a process that has to be followed to get a young player there who is talented. And man, what a tough time in today’s college football for a kid to understand that sometimes because of all the other influences to get through.
“It’s my belief he’s trusted us in getting to that point. He’s gone through our developmental program to change his body, he’s gotten up early when he may not have wanted to, he’s learned how to practice, he’s learned why I’ve had a foot up his … you know … all the time. Now he has to stay consistent so he plays like that all the time.”
Injury notes
Head coach Neal Brown provided a bit of good and bad news on the injury front, mainly on the defensive side.
The good news is quarterback Garrett Greene will be back for the Texas game unless he suffers an unforeseen setback. He missed the Kansas State loss with what Brown called an upper-body injury.
As for the bad news, linebacker Exree Loe is out for the season with a lower-body injury he suffered against the Wildcats, which required surgery. Brown also said Lance Dixon is “highly questionable” and will likely miss his second-straight game after he was injured against Oklahoma State on Nov. 6.
Both Loe and Dixon play Will linebacker, so the Mountaineers will need to get creative to fill that spot. Safety Scottie Young, who plays close to the line of scrimmage at the Spear, is an option, and to replace Young would be Jackie Matthews and true freshman Saint McLeod.
McLeod played the most snaps of the season at K-State, and Brown said he likes his current trajectory and had earned more playing time.
Middle linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo, who played Will the last two seasons, is another option to move back to Will for several snaps. Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said he will also look at Bandit linebackers — Jared Bartlett, VanDarius Cowan and Lanell Carr — to get snaps at Will.
TWEET @Dompostsports
