By Keenan Cummings
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia banked six scholarships for transfers and other additions outside the early signing period and the Mountaineers received quite the Christmas
present.
That present was the commitment of Virginia Tech offensive line transfer Doug Nester, who had started 17 games for the Hokies over his two years with the program. The former Spring Valley product inserted his name into the transfer portal last week and it didn’t take long for him to end up in Morgantown.
Nester played in 19 games as a true sophomore and played over 1,000 snaps during that time.
A former four-star prospect, Nester received a late push from WVU head coach Neal Brown once he took the job in January in the 2019 class but wasn’t able to make up enough ground. The longtime Ohio State pledge instead elected to commit to Virginia Tech where he started as a true freshman.
But after entering his name into the transfer portal, the Mountaineers wasted little time securing a commitment from the talented in-state prospect.
Nester is plenty familiar with the program after visiting over a dozen times during his initial recruitment and growing up in the state following the program. He will almost assuredly be immediately eligible this fall given the universal one-time transfer rule and could immediately step into a starting spot.
The Spring Valley product could play either offensive guard or tackle at the next level and his versatility along with the fact he had three years of eligibility left, along with a redshirt, made him one of the most highly recruited offensive line transfers in the nation.
Nester joins his former high school teammates wide receiver Graeson Malashevich and the recently signed offensive lineman Wyatt Milum as Brown and his coaching staff continue to keep the best prospects in the state at home, even retroactively in this case.
Overall, Nester is the 17th scholarship that will go to the 2021 class and that now leaves five remaining ones to fill with positions such as offensive line, linebacker, wide receiver, defensive line and defensive back over the next several months.
