Recapping a wild summer for West Virginia football recruiting
West Virginia had a busy summer on the recruiting trail growing the 2024 class from only three members to 20 by the end of the summer recruiting period.
We recap how the program got to where it's at over the course of a wild couple months.
June 2-4: West Virginia played host to the first of two major official visit weekends in the month of June with 16 prospects making their way to campus. That list reads as Upper Marlboro (Md.) Flowers 2024 defensive end Obinna Onwuka, Aliquippa (Pa.) 2024 outside linebacker Cameron Lindsey, Milledgeville (Ga.) Baldwin 2024 running back Micah Welch, Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph's 2024 wide receiver Brandon Rehmann, Southfield (Mi.) Southfield A&T 2024 cornerback Jalen Todd, Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph's 2024 quarterback Samaj Jones, Springdale (Md.) Flowers 2024 cornerback Lloyd Irvin, Douglasville (Ga.) Douglas County 2024 safety Israel Boyce, Midlothian (Va.) Manchester 2024 defensive end Makai Byerson, Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic 2024 defensive end Elijah Kinsler, Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass 2024 lineman Demeco Kennedy, Olney (Md.) Good Counsel 2024 offensive lineman Kyle Altuner, Speedway (In.) 2024 offensive tackle Adedamola Ajani, Camden (N.J.) 2024 defensive tackle Richard James, Jefferson (W.Va.) 2024 athlete Keyshawn Robinson and Auburndale (Fla.) 2024 defensive lineman Nate Gabriel.
June 9: Upper Marlboro (Md.) Flowers 2024 defensive end Obinna Onwuka commits to West Virginia becoming the first pledge of the summer visit schedule. The athletic defensive end canceled trips to Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Boston College in order to select the Mountaineers.
June 10: Olney (Md.) Good Counsel 2024 offensive lineman Kyle Altuner was at the top of the board for West Virginia at the center position this cycle and after taking his first official visit to Morgantown June 2 elected to cancel trips to Virginia, Boston College and Maryland to select the Mountaineers.
June 11: Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic 2024 defensive end Elijah Kinsler visited West Virginia during that first weekend in June and then visited Syracuse and was scheduled to check out Pittsburgh but added his name to the commitment list for the month of June.
June 9-11: The second official visit weekend featured 20 official visitors as the Mountaineers again were aggressive in getting top prospects to campus. Atco (N.J.) Winslow Township 2024 wide receiver Jaylan Hornsby, Melbourne (Fla.) Central Catholic 2024 wide receiver Ric'Darious Farmer, Huntington (W.Va.) 2024 offensive lineman Robby Martin, Palmetto (Fla.) 2024 wide receiver Zy'Marion Lang, Cincinnati (Oh.) Colerain 2024 athlete Zae Jennings, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas 2024 linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez, Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglas 2024 offensive lineman Zuri Madison, Laurel (Md.) St. Vincent Pallotti 2024 offensive lineman Ryan Howerton, Eclectic (Ala.) Elmore County 2024 wide receiver Jabari Murphy, Dublin (Oh.) Jerome 2024 offensive lineman Dane Wleklinski, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas 2024 cornerback Romanas Frederique, Dunnellon (Fla.) 2024 athlete Chris Henry, Charlotte (N.C.) Chambers 2024 defensive back Keelan Flowe, Gahanna (Oh.) Lincoln 2024 running back Diore Hubbard, Roanoke (Va.) North Cross School 2024 offensive lineman Moritz Schmoranzer, Akron (Oh.) Hoban 2024 linebacker Rickey Williams, Pittsburgh (Pa.) Bishop Canevin 2024 safety Jason Cross, Cincinnati (Oh.) Walnut Hills 2024 tight end Jack Sammarco, Moody (Ala.) 2024 safety Chase Jackson and Stockbridge (Ga.) 2024 offensive lineman Amare' Grayson.
June 13: West Virginia added a pair of commitments from top target Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph's 2024 wide receiver Brandon Rehmann as well as Charlotte (N.C.) Chambers 2024 defensive back Keelan Flowe. Rehmann had made multiple visits to campus during the process while Flowe became the first player from the second official visit weekend to make his commitment public.
June 14: Another day, another commitment for West Virginia from the summer official visitors as Cincinnati (Oh.) Colerain 2024 athlete Zae Jennings jumped into the mix. The athletic safety was the second player to select the program from the second official visit weekend.
June 15: Douglasville (Ga.) Douglas County 2024 safety Israel Boyce became the fourth commitment in three days after he previously took an official visit to Morgantown June 2. Boyce can fill multiple roles and canceled his other planned official visits after visiting West Virginia.
June 16: West Virginia landed the pledge of Dunnellon (Fla.) 2024 athlete Chris Henry making it four consecutive days with at least one commitment for the program. Henry is slated to play cornerback for the Mountaineers and picked the program over a number of power five schools.
June 17: Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas 2024 cornerback Romanas Frederique also joined the party to help keep the momentum going for West Virginia. But this pledge would be short lived as he would take an official visit to Miami the next weekend and flip his commitment to the local Hurricanes at the end of the month.
June 19: Akron (Oh.) Hoban 2024 linebacker Rickey Williams received his first scholarship offer from West Virginia and the program kept up contact throughout. That led to his official visit June 9 and he would then commit to the program ten days later giving the Mountaineers an athletic linebacker.
June 19-21: West Virginia hosted a pair of mid-week official visitors to close the summer list. The Mountaineers brought both Savannah (Ga.) Jenkins 2024 pass rusher Lorenzo Cowan and Cincinnati (Oh.) Taft 2024 safety Ja’Quan Bostic to campus.
June 25: Upper Marlboro (Md.) Wise 2024 quarterback Khalil Wilkins was on the West Virginia board since the coaching staff saw him throw during the evaluation period. But things picked up after he came back to camp May 31 and then put on a show at the 7-on-7 event. Wilkins earned his way into the class with an impressive performance and would make things official just a few days later.
June 29: Pickerington (Oh.) Pickerington Central 2024 offensive lineman Justin Terry did not take an official visit to West Virginia in June but did make a visit to campus. After previously visiting in the spring that proved to be enough for him to end his recruitment and commit to the Mountaineers.
June 30: The Mountaineers continued their trend of positive momentum adding commitments from Midlothian (Va.) Manchester 2024 defensive end Makai Byerson and Pittsburgh (Pa.) Bishop Canevin 2024 safety Jason Cross. Both visited West Virginia officially in June with Byerson coming the first weekend and Cross the second. The pair took official visits elsewhere but were comfortable with what they saw with the West Virginia football program.
July 1: The calendar flipped to July but things stayed rolling for the Mountaineers with Gahanna (Oh.) Lincoln 2024 running back Diore Hubbard becoming the player at his position in the class. Hubbard had been long considered a heavy lean to West Virginia and he made things official after he took his official visit to campus June 9.
July 3: Cincinnati (Oh.) Taft 2024 safety Ja’Quan Bostic became the last commitment in the wave of the summer to select the program for now. Bostic made that mid-week visit and saw enough during the trip to put the program in the driver’s seat. A few days later Bostic would commit and then make things public to give the program a very big addition in the secondary.
July 30: West Virginia closed things out in the month of July with a commitment in Barboursville (W.Va.) Cabell Midland 2024 linebacker Curtis Jones. The in-state linebacker camped in Morgantown over the summer which led to an offer and an eventual commitment. It was the first recruiting activity after the dead period.
August 10: Auburndale (Fla.) 2024 defensive lineman Nate Gabriel took an official visit to West Virginia in early June, but after additional trips to East Carolina and South Florida decided to take his time to sort out his options. That eventually led him to West Virginia where he announced his commitment in August to give the Mountaineers the interior presence that they wanted to find in this class on the defensive line.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook
