MORGANTOWN — Cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. might be West Virginia’s biggest transfer portal success story yet. The redshirt senior earned Consensus All-American honors on Thursday, as determined by the NCAA.
Bishop was named to all five major All-American teams recognized by the NCAA — Walter Camp (first team), FWAA (first team), AP (second team), Sporting News (second team) and AFCA (second team).
Bishop is WVU’s first Consensus All-American since Darius Stills received the honor in 2020 and is just the second WVU cornerback to earn the distinction, joining Aaron Beasley (1995).
“Beanie has had an outstanding season and is very deserving of Consensus All-America honors,” WVU coach Neal Brown said in a statement. “Everyone associated with the Mountaineer football program is proud of him and what he has accomplished this year. He has been an excellent leader and great representative for Mountaineer Football, the University and the state.”
Following four productive seasons at Western Kentucky (2018-21), Bishop transferred to Minnesota for the 2022 season looking to face a higher level of competition. His role changed with the Golden Gophers and his stats plummeted. Coming off the best season of his career in 2021, Bishop recorded fewer tackles (42 to 29), interceptions (three to zero) and passes defended (four to one) in 2022.
With the chance to become a full-time starter on the outside, Bishop transferred to WVU for his final year of eligibility and flourished with the Mountaineers.
Bishop led the country in passes defended (24), pass breakups (20) and forced incompletions (17). He led WVU with four interceptions and needs just two more breakups in the team’s final game against North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Dec. 27, 5:30 p.m./ESPN) to become WVU’s all-time single-season leader with 22, currently held by Brian King (2003).
Bishop was a 2023 All-Big 12 first-teamer and a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award.
He tied the school record for pass breakups in a single game with five against BYU and was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording two interceptions against UCF.
Players who earn at least three first-team All-America team honors automatically qualify for consensus honors. If spots at a specific position aren’t filled, then the players with at least two first-team selections, like Bishop, are considered. Bishop is the 13th Consensus All-American in WVU history.
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