WVSports.com continues with our popular feature: The 3-2-1. We'll break down three things we learned that week, two questions we have and give one prediction.
Here is the next installment of the 3-2-1 looking at the West Virginia football program, the latest on basketball and what’s happening in recruiting.
3 things I learned:
1–West Virginia has productive summer visit slate. The Mountaineers football program entered the summer with just six commitments but after a whirlwind month of official visits and camps the program has grown that to around 20 with potentially even more in the coming weeks. The coaching staff hosted a long list of official visitors during the course of June and was able to effectively close on many of those.
The theme of the visits is that recruits were genuinely impressed with the vibe around the football program and the energy that the coaching staff displayed.
We predicted that the Mountaineers were going to make some significant progress in terms of putting together the 2026 recruiting class and that's exactly what has unfolded. The coaches brought many of their top targets to campus and were able to lock down a significant chunk while remaining involved with others.
The Mountaineers are still in the mix with some key players that are set to decide in the coming days and weeks. West Virginia is going to add quite a bit of prospects in this cycle given the number of seniors on the roster.
But it wasn't just the 2026 group either as West Virginia hosted a long list of 2027 and 2028 prospects that either earned scholarship offers at camp or already had them. The goal was to showcase the program and that certainly was accomplished.
2–Naming rights coming? Athletic Director Wren Baker made waves this past week when he dropped the nugget that West Virginia is "down the path," on a naming rights opportunity for one of their two major venues either Mountaineer Field or the Coliseum.
While Baker wouldn't elaborate on which one of the structures the naming rights would be for he did indicate that it would be a seven-figure opportunity. Baker did say that West Virginia is shopping the naming rights for both of the venues and it's a way to generate more revenue to back fill what will be used for revenue sharing.
The topic of potentially altering the name to either Mountaineer Field or the Coliseum is a hot button issue for the fan base as they're steeped in tradition. But in the end West Virginia fans want to win more than anything else.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds and what the reaction will be if it does occur but it is an avenue for West Virginia to generate more funding.
The naming rights are just one of several different avenues that West Virginia is exploring in order to bring in more funding such as more premium seating but in order to remain competitive in today's environment the Mountaineers need to think outside the box in order to generate more revenue.
3–Gold & Blue Enterprises launched. West Virginia has officially put into a place an initiative designed to revolutionize the student-athlete experience and enhance the Mountaineers' competitive edge in the evolving landscape of collegiate athletics.
The program is called Gold & Blue Enterprises and will work on top of the already established Country Roads Trust.
From the press release, "Gold & Blue Enterprises will operate with two primary priorities: to generate new and diversified revenue streams that fuel the continued success of WVU Athletics, and to harness the strength and visibility of the WVU brand to elevate the personal and professional opportunities available to Mountaineer student-athletes."
