Mahone on board

West Chester (Oh.) Lakota West cornerback Sean Mahone had narrowed his list of colleges down to a final four and while it came later than he initially expected the Rivals.com three-star prospect announced his decision to commit to West Virginia.

Mahone, 6-foot, 190-pounds, had trimmed his list to West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Purdue after visiting each of the programs but eventually selected the Mountaineers for a number of reasons.

"Blessed to announce that I've verbally committed to West Virginia," he said.

The Mountaineers initially offered Mahone when he unofficially visited for the spring game and but the Big 12 Conference program really started to take roots in his recruitment following another trip to Morgantown at the beginning of August. On that visit, Mahone was able to get an in-depth look at the program and spend time with the coaching staff discussing how he could fit in at West Virginia.

"I got to get a more in-depth look at the whole campus," he said. "…The second visit to West Virginia helped a lot because they treated me like I belong there."

West Virginia is targeting Mahone at the cornerback position although he has the ability to slide to safety if need be. He had first hoped to commit prior to the season but elected to hold off and take several more visits including yet another stop in Morgantown for the Maryland game for a complete game-day experience.

"I picked West Virginia beacuse I felt like it was a good fit for me. I got to look at their campus, see them practice and watch them play games. I stayed in contact with my recruiting coaches and we established a good relationship. I like the Big 12 and West Virginia is a place I feel comfortable at. I'm very excited to be a Mountaineer," Mahone told westfirebirds.com

Defensive line coach Bruce Tall along with cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell served as the lead recruiters for Mahone.

Mahone is rated as the 60th best cornerback prospect in country as well as the 34th best player in the state of Ohio according to Rivals.com. Outside of his final four he also picked up scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Toledo, Ohio, Bowling Green and several others.

The defensive back is a two time first team All-GMC selection and years has been selected to the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. Mahone finished the season with 43 tackles (33 solo) and two interceptions.

Overall, Mahone becomes the 21st commitment for West Virginia in the class of 2016 and is the second true cornerback commitment behind Columbus (Oh.) Hamilton Township athlete Jake Long.

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