Raines on board with WVU
ALIQUIPPA - West Virginia plucked another major commitment from the Keystone State when Aliquippa (Pa.) Rivals250 safety Kwantel Raines announced in favor of the Mountaineers Monday.
Raines, 6-2, 200-pounds, had narrowed his choices down to West Virginia, Penn State and Pittsburgh after receiving a long list of scholarship offers that also included Florida, LSU, Virginia Tech, TCU, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, California, Wisconsin and a number of others.
Prior to making his choice he had cut his list down to a top five that also included Florida and Kentucky along with the Mountaineers and the two Pennsylvania schools.
The Mountaineers became the first program to extend a scholarship offer to the talented safety prospect in March of 2016 and immediately was on his radar from that point on in the process.
Raines made multiple visits to Morgantown over the past couple years including for the Oklahoma State game and developed a strong bond with the coaching staff including safeties coach Matt Caponi and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
For Raines that bond with the coaching staff as well as how he would fit into one of the three safety spots in the Mountaineers 3-3-5 odd stacked proved to be the biggest difference between his options. The WIPAL prospect also had ties with several current Mountaineers such as Kenny Robinson.
Raines becomes the second four-star defensive back to commit to West Virginia from the traditional Pittsburgh pipeline school Aliquippa after Dravon Askew-Henry did it during the 2014 class.
The nation’s No. 224 best prospect, Raines is rated as the 19th best safety prospect in the country and the ninth best player in the state of Pennsylvania in this recruiting cycle.
Raines becomes the 19th member of the West Virginia recruiting class and the second prospect to pledge to the program at the safety position behind Senatobia (Miss.) Northwest Mississippi C.C. athlete Josh Norwood.
He also represents the fourth four-star prospect to commit in this cycle.
WVSports.com will have more with Raines in the near future.
