After years of pursuit, things came to a sudden halt inside the Laurel Highlands High School gym when 2023 wide receiver Rodney Gallagher announced his intentions to play for West Virginia.

Gallagher, 6-foot-0, 170-pounds, had trimmed his long list of suitors down to West Virginia, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech before ultimately committing to the Mountaineers. It was a decision that had been set in motion over two years ago when the Big 12 Conference program became one of the first schools to extend a scholarship offer and never let up.

The Rivals250 prospect became one of, if not the, primary target for the Mountaineers in the 2023 cycle with the coaching staff making him a priority from the jump.

Yes, proximity was certainly a factor with only around 35-minutes separating the two but it goes deeper than that.