Crawford is a Mountaineer

West Virginia made a late, aggressive push for Senatobia (Miss.) Northwest Mississippi C.C. running back Justin Crawford and it paid off in a big way as the Mountaineers secured a commitment from one of the top junior college prospects in the nation.

He confirmed the commitment to WVSports.com.

Crawford, 6-foot-1, 200-pounds, gives West Virginia a major boost in the backfield as the Mountaineers were looking to replace the production of junior Wendell Smallwood who elected to forego his final season of eligibility and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

And Crawford has the resume to help immediately in that department.

The NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year, Crawford finished his sophomore season with 268 carries for 1,610 yards and 16 touchdowns, surpassing the 100-yard mark in 10 of the Rangers’ 12 games. Also a threat out of the backfield, Crawford caught 29 passes for 394 yards and six more touchdowns.

Over his two-year career, he finished with 3,161 yards as well as 30 total rushing touchdowns.

The junior college prospect was first offered by West Virginia in mid-January, but initially it appeared as if the Mountaineers would be on the outside looking in for his services as SEC programs were at the forefront.

But after a trio of coaches in head coach Dana Holgorsen, offensive coordinator Joe Wickline and running backs coach JaJuan Seider visited him at his school on the final weekend before signing day it changed things. Seider served as the lead recruiter for the talented running back prospect.

“Had a good talk with these three cool guys,” he said following the visit.

Crawford promptly scheduled an official visit to West Virginia and vaulted the Mountaineers into his final two schools with Missouri before deciding on the Big 12 Conference program during his time on campus.

A native of Georgia, Crawford held scholarship offers from West Virginia, Missouri, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia, among others.

Crawford gives West Virginia a total of 24 commitments in the class of 2016 and is the third running back prospect in the class with mid-year enrollee Lexington (N.C.) Davidson running back Kennedy McKoy and Detroit (Mi.) Martin Luther King running back Martell Pettway.

Rated as a high 5.7 three-star prospect, Crawford is ranked as the nation’s 34th best junior college prospect. He will have three years to play two when he graduates from junior college in May.

WVSports.com will have more with Crawford including a full interview.