MORGANTOWN — After the bowl loss to Minnesota in December, one of the biggest areas of need — or so it appeared — heading into the off-season for WVU was middle linebacker, with the apparent loss of Josh Chandler-Semedo.
But then Chandler-Semedo even surprised head coach Neal Brown by announcing in January he was coming back for one more season with the Mountaineers.
A month later, middle linebacker was once again a glaring need when Chandler-Semedo, seemingly again surprising his coaches, said he was going to enter the transfer portal.
Despite the rollercoaster Chandler-Semedo put the Mountaineers through over the last two months, Brown already tried to address it with the inking of former Syracuse linebacker Lee Kpogba during the December signing period.
Kpogba, a former WVU commit from the class of 2019, spent two seasons with the Orange, but was suspended in February 2021 for violation of team rules. He spent last year at East Mississippi Community College before ultimately coming full circle by re-committing to the Mountaineers.
“He went to Syracuse and it didn’t work out,” Brown said. “He got humbled and went down to East Mississippi junior college and now, he’s got this new lease and he never has a bad day. He’s attacked workouts and he’s really done a nice job of learning.”
The time between the end of the regular season and spring practice is filled with workouts and strength and conditioning, so coaches are looking for strong aspects outside of on-field production.
It didn’t take long for defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley to pinpoint what Kpogba’s strengths were.
“I think I saw him talking trash to a tire the other day when he was flipping it. He didn’t need the competition from a human,” Lesley said. “He’s got that type of mentality that you want at the position. He has his natural leadership abilities. Even though he’s new to the roster, he’s not afraid to show that. He makes mistakes and he always owns it. He owns everything that he does wrong. He fixes it and moves on to the next rep.”
Kpogba will likely battle redshirt-freshman Ja’Corey Hammett for the Mike linebacker spot. Hammett, a Miami, Fla., native, played in two games last season and finished with two tackles
The Mountaineers will begin spring practice on March 22 and the five-week camp will conclude with the annual Gold-Blue game on April 23.
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