Rivals250 pass rusher Heard commits to West Virginia Mountaineers football
West Virginia has landed a major commitment during the first summer official visit weekend with the pledge of Camden (N.J.) Camden 2023 pass rusher James Heard.
Heard, 6-foot-2, 224-pounds, had narrowed his college choices down to West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia but saw enough on his official visit to Morgantown to end things.
“I love West Virginia,” he said.
The Rivals.com four-star prospect had long been one of the top targets on the Mountaineers recruiting board and the coaching staff was able to reel in the talented pass rusher.
Running backs coach Chad Scott has long served as the lead recruiter for Heard but defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley also played a critical role. The West Virginia coaches envision Heard as a bandit linebacker in their scheme which opens plenty of possibilities given his skill set.
“They love my pass rushing ability,” he said. “On defense they see me as a bandit who primarily is attacking the quarterback. I love how they scheme the bandit position to be able to move around on defense and create plays at all times.”
That connection with Scott is one that has been established over time and the Mountaineers were actually one of the first programs to extend a scholarship offer to him as a freshman.
Things shifted in favor of West Virginia over the spring when Heard made a series of visits to Morgantown including for a junior day event and then a spring practice. His comfort level with the program along with how he could fit into the defensive scheme put the program out front.
Heard also collected offers from Texas A&M, Miami, Penn State, Nebraska, Mississippi, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati among others.
He is coming off a season where he accounted for 37 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss.
Heard becomes the third four-star commitment in the 2023 class joining his former high school teammate Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph's 2023 linebacker Josiah Trotter and Uniontown (Pa.) Laurel Highlands 2023 athlete Rodney Gallagher. He is rated as the nation’s No. 210 ranked prospect.
Overall Heard becomes the eighth commitment in the 2023 class for West Virginia and represents the first at the bandit position for the program in this cycle.
WVSports.com will have more with Heard in the near future.
----------
• 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
