West Virginia continued to add pieces through the transfer portal in the secondary with a commitment from Akron transfer cornerback Devonte Golden-Nelson.
Golden-Nelson, 5-foot-10, 180-pounds, started his career at Memphis where he spent two seasons and appeared in four total games before transferring to Akron.
During his time with the Zips, Golden-Nelson appeared in 29 games over the past three seasons where he recorded 66 tackles, 10 passes defended and a pair of interceptions.
In 2024, Golden-Nelson recorded 33 tackles, and 7 passes defended.
Golden-Nelson entered the transfer portal Dec. 17 and received an offer from West Virginia Jan. 3 from new cornerbacks coach Rod West. He also was offered by Oklahoma State, Houston, Tulane and UNLV.
Golden-Nelson also took official visits to both Oklahoma State and Tulane.
The talented defensive back has one season of eligibility remaining.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Golden-Nelson and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
The Memphis native has played 1,060 snaps during his time at Akron including 613 this past season where he graded out at 66.2 according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed only two touchdowns in his coverage.
This past season, Golden-Nelson permitted just 31 catches on 50 targets for 375 yards with a touchdown. Over his career, he allowed 49 of 80 passes to be completed for 594 yards with 2 scores and 2 picks.
Golden-Nelson spent a total of 953 of his snaps at cornerback, giving the Mountaineers another quality option there out of the transfer portal with experience.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia returns only one player in the cornerback room that saw over 100 snaps last season which makes the addition of Golden-Nelson key for the Mountaineers. An experienced cornerback with over 1,000 snaps under his belt, Golden-Nelson gives the program another seasoned option in the secondary.
Golden-Nelson has already been to campus and is expected to compete immediately in a cornerback room that will feature a lot of new faces this coming season.
Recruiting the position:
West Virginia has hit the defensive back position hard in the transfer portal and while there is still the potential to add pieces at spots, the Mountaineers have addressed a lot of needs with what the coaches have been able to bring in at this point of the process.
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