The West Virginia Mountaineers football program has continued to retool the wide receiver room, and the latest addition is a commitment from South Carolina State wide receiver Justin Smith-Brown.
Smith-Brown, 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, took an official visit to Morgantown April 21 after the Mountaineers extended a scholarship offer April 16 when he entered the transfer portal.
Wide receivers coach Ryan Garrett served as the lead recruiter.
Smith-Brown spent three-seasons at South Carolina State where he accounted for 81 catches for 1,196 yards and 7 touchdowns. But his best campaign on the field came in 2024 when he caught 54 passes for 749 yards and 4 touchdowns with the Bulldogs.
The transfer wide receiver has one season of eligibility remaining.
Smith-Brown becomes the second transfer portal addition for West Virginia at wide receiver since the spring portal window opened after North Carolina transfer Christian Hamilton.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Smith-Brown and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
Smith-Brown is an experienced wide receiver with 1,345 total offensive snaps to his credit during his three seasons at South Carolina State. His biggest output in that department came in 2024 when he played over half of those with 724 and put together his most productive season on the field as well.
Out of those career snaps, Smith-Brown has been a receiver on 710 of those and lined up as an outside wide receiver on 663 of those opportunities. He was targeted 138 times over his career and reeled in 81 of those.
Smith-Brown has some wiggle with 540 of his total career output of 1,196 coming after the catch and his career average depth of target is at 11.9.
Smith-Brown has demonstrated the ability to make contested catches in a limited sample size recording 6 of the 9 opportunities that he’s had over his career.
As a blocker, Smith-Brown graded at 71.8 in run blocking last season according to Pro Football Focus.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia needed wide receivers out of the transfer portal and Smith-Brown is a fast outside option that is coming off his best season not only as a pass catcher but a blocker. Speed and physicality are two trademarks under head coach Rich Rodriguez, so he checks both of those boxes on the surface.
The Mountaineers now have 14 scholarship wide receivers heading into next season and Smith-Brown is just another veteran option to help bring more talent and competition into the room. With one year of eligibility remaining, Smith-Brown is going to have every chance to make a dent in the depth chart.
Recruiting the position:
West Virginia has now added two transfer additions to the wide receiver room since the conclusion of spring football, but it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest to see at least one more in the mix. The Mountaineers have targeted a number of the options in the transfer market and are looking to not only increase the talent level in the room but also do the same with the quality depth.
That means that at least one more wide receiver is likely to be added to the program if the right fit is there.
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