Daniels on board
West Virginia nabbed a pledge from a junior college prospect at a position of need when New York (N.Y.) Globe Tech cornerback Mike Daniels committed to the Mountaineers Tuesday morning.
Daniels, 6-foot, 200-pounds, received his first scholarship offer from West Virginia in November and the Mountaineers quickly became the favorite in the clubhouse for the second-team NJCAA all-American. He was on campus for an official visit during the Jan. 22 weekend and was highly impressed with his trip.
Cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell served as the lead recruiter for Daniels and paid him a par of in-home visits in the past two weeks as the Mountaineers focused in one the junior college prospect. Before the trip, Daniels had said that he and Mitchell had the best relationship of any of the coaches recruiting him.
“I’ve got to know him better as a human being rather than a coach,” Daniels said.
Aside from West Virginia, Daniels had received scholarship offers from Arizona, Kansas, Purdue and New Mexico and interest from several other programs. He also took official visits to both New Mexico Jan. 15 and Arkansas State Jan. 29.
The Rivals.com three-star prospect spent his high school career at South Dade in Miami, Florida, and is known as a physical cornerback with not only the size but the athleticism to cover wide receivers.
West Virginia was in need of prospects that could contribute immediately at the cornerback position after the departures of seniors Terrell Chestnut and Ricky Rumph, as well as junior cornerback Daryl Worley declaring for the 2016 NFL Draft.
Daniels could help fill that role after recording 40 tackles and 7 interceptions during his sophomore season at Globe Tech.
Daniels is the 26th overall commitment for West Virginia in the 2016 class and becomes the fourth cornerback prospect following the pledges of Columbus (Oh.) Hamilton Township athlete Jacob Long, West Chester (Oh.) Lakota West athlete Sean Mahone and mid-year enrollee Reisterstown (Md.) Franklin athlete Jacquez Adams.
He becomes the third commitment of prospects to visit during the Jan. 22 official visit weekend for West Virginia following the pledges of Coffeyville C.C. (Kan.) safety Toyous Avery and Katy (Tx.) safety JoVanni Stewart.
The junior college prospect will have three years to play two once he graduates from Globe Tech in May and plans to study business management.
WVSports.com will have more with Daniels including a full interview.