West Virginia continued their positive momentum on the recruiting trail with a commitment from Douglasville (Ga.) 2025 linebacker Michael Hastie.
Hastie, 6-foot-2, 220-pounds, also held offers from Florida State, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Minnesota, Louisville, UCF, Indiana, Appalachian State, Western Kentucky and Arkansas State.
Inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz served as the lead recruiter for Hastie and was able to get him to Morgantown on an official visit during the June 7-9 weekend. After mulling things over, the athletic linebacker elected to commit to the Mountaineers giving the program a key pledge at a position of need.
Hastie is coming off a season where he recorded 122 tackles and 2 interceptions.
The Rivals.com three-star prospect becomes the first true inside linebacker commitment for West Virginia in the 2025 recruiting class and represents the 19th pledge overall.
WVSports.com breaks down the commitment of Hastie and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
Skill set:
Hastie is an athletic linebacker that moves very well at the position. He can cover a lot of ground and has ball skills after spending time as a running back on the offensive side of the ball, which was evident in his interceptions. Hastie was a tackling machine last season and always seems to find himself around the ball.
Equipped with good instincts and a nose for the ball, Hastie is a strong tackler that also can lay the wood. He has the range that West Virginia wants at the linebacker spot and is just another strong addition to a room that continues to get better with each and every cycle.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia has prioritized athleticism at the inside linebacker positions and Hastie fits that need. He was a prospect that is coming off a monster junior season and collected some impressive scholarship offers as well. The Mountaineers were able to get him to campus for an official visit which was enough to put the program at the top of his list and eventually secure his pledge.
Hastie will join a linebacker room that will have depth with seven scholarship inside options on the roster, but the two spots are so similar that he could play either of them for the program. Given his overall skill set, it is likely that there are going to be opportunities for him to carve out a pathway, but he also could help on special teams early in his career with his size and skill set.
The Mountaineers have made Georgia a key recruiting ground and Hastie is a strong addition to the class.
Recruiting the position:
Even with Hastie now in the fold, West Virginia still has several inside linebacker targets on the board including West Chester (Oh.) Lakota West 2025 linebacker Grant Beerman and Seffner (Fla.) Armwood 2025 linebacker Cameron White. Both of those players have already taken official visits to Morgantown and are considering making a commitment at some point in the coming weeks.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see West Virginia add at least one more to the linebacker room in this cycle.
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