Painesville (Oh.) Harvey 2026 running back Shahn Alston has been to West Virginia several times and has developed into a key target for the Mountaineers.
Alston, 5-foot-9, 197-pounds, received a scholarship offer from the Big 12 Conference program following a performance at a camp stop in June of 2023 and things have only built from there.
The Mountaineers were the first Power Four program to offer, and those efforts have been led by offensive coordinator Chad Scott along with head coach Neal Brown.
“Ever since coaches could contact me Coach Scott and Coach Brown have reached out a number of times,” he said. “They’ve been in the mix for a long time.”
Scott has been at the center of Alston’s recruitment for quite some time and the assistant has made it clear that he loves his combination of physicality, patience and vision. Alston is coming off a season where he rushed for 1,041 yards and 17 touchdowns, while averaging 8.1 yards per carry.
Since West Virginia jumped into the mix Alston has added offers from USC, Auburn, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Baylor, Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Purdue and several others. And the programs have been active in their pursuit of the talented running back. He has developed good connections with a number of those.
“Recruiting has been great but busy in other words,” he said.
None of the schools right now are standing out for Alston but he has been impressed with how the Mountaineers have handled his recruitment at this early stage.
“They’ve made sure I felt like the priority. You’ve got to be a special player for the head coach to get involved with recruiting and I’m blessed to be in this position,” he said.
Alston is looking into possibly returning to West Virginia on July 25th for a visit, but if not then he will be back for a game in the fall. He also plans to make trips to Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and USC.
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