Howard selects WVU

West Virginia secured another valuable piece to the puzzle that is the 2014 recruiting class when Riverside C.C. (Ca.) quarterback Skyler Howard selected the Mountaineers after a weekend official visit to Morgantown.

"I have committed to WVU and will be returning in January for spring semester," he said.

Howard, 6-foot, 205-pounds, choose West Virginia over offers from New Mexico State and Northern Colorado, while also receiving heavy interest from a number of other programs including Utah, San Jose State and Virginia Tech.

A December graduate, Howard will enroll at West Virginia in time for spring ball and will have the luxury of having four years to play three after initially walking on at Stephen. F. Austin before finding his way to Riverside for his freshman season.

During that campaign, Howard was named Central Conference Offensive Player of the Year after tossing for 3,151 yards and 33 touchdowns, while rushing for another 343 yards and 5 more scores.

West Virginia offered Howard Nov. 25 and immediately became the front runner in his recruitment, due to growing up in Texas and being a fan of the Big 12 Conference, along with the success that Dana Holgorsen has had with quarterbacks throughout his career as a coach including most recently New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith.

"It's a quarterback friendly system and it's something I'd like to step into. I'd rather have it where I'm a big factor in the game," he said.

Prior to this weekend's official visit, Holgorsen and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson visited Howard in-home and that meeting went very well according to the junior college prospect making him even more excited for his upcoming trip. That visit to Morgantown was all the confirmation that Howard needed to join the Mountaineers recruiting class.

Howard becomes the 16th commitment for the Mountaineers during this cycle and the second quarterback joining Baltimore (Md.) Dunbar Rivals250 signal caller William Crest.