Las Vegas OL Yates makes WVU the pick for a long list of reasons
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Las Vegas (Nev.) Liberty offensive tackle Brandon Yates had known West Virginia was where he wanted to spend his college career for quite some time he just wanted to be 100-percent sure.
That clarity came Wednesday.
Yates, 6-foot-5, 280-pounds, spoke with offensive line coach Joe Wickline and informed him that he was ready to end the process and commit to the Mountaineers football program. It was news that was music to the ears for the veteran offensive line coach.
“I told coach Wickline that I’m 100-percent committed to being a Mountaineer. They were pretty excited. They were talking about me in an offensive meeting prior to that and they see me having a very bright future there and being a very good player,” he said.
Originally a native of Delaware that moved to Las Vegas a few years ago, Yates camped in Morgantown during the final one-day camp of the summer and drew the watchful eyes of the West Virginia coaches with his performance.
That would lead to the program extending an offer a few days later.
But even before that Yates had long had the Mountaineers on his short list of schools so being able to see everything in person during that trip was enough to catapult them to the top.
“I realized I really liked being there and fell in love with the whole school and environment,” he said.
It was also important to Yates that because of the camp setting he was able to get a real feel for how Wickline coaches and even spent some time after the event getting to know him better.
“We really connected,” he said.
Still, Yates wanted to go home and discuss his options with his family. He first trimmed his list to a top six that also included Arizona State, Utah, Washington State, Boise State and UNLV. But it was the Mountaineers that won that battle due to his feelings about the school and the coaches.
“I asked myself if I saw myself living there outside of football and how do I feel about the people that live there and could I see myself being there for a long time? I just felt that they checked every single box,” he said. “It just felt like home.”
West Virginia is slotting Yates to fill a role as an offensive tackle in the offensive scheme but his versatility could slot him at multiple positions depending on how he develops. The coaching staff was impressed with his frame as well as his athleticism but also how he competes at a high level.
Yates becomes the 18th commitment for West Virginia and the third along the offensive line in this class and he plans to entirely shut down the process moving forward.
“I’m done with it. No more calls or anything,” he said.
He plans to take an official visit to Morgantown in December and will enroll next summer. And now he is excited to close his recruitment and focus on turning the page on his high school career with a watchful eye toward his future on the field at West Virginia.
“It’s amazing to be a Mountaineer,” he said. “Take me home! It’s just like that.”
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