West Virginia has added a commitment from DII All-American with Catawba College running back LJ Turner picking the Mountaineers following an official visit to campus.
Turner, 5-foot-9, 195-pounds, spent three years with the Indian football program where he compiled 1,961 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns.
But his 2024 campaign was his most impressive to date with 1,224 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns earning him all-American honors.
Turner took an official visit to Morgantown Jan. 2 and saw enough during the trip to end his recruitment by committing to the Big 12 Conference program.
Running backs coach Chad Scott served as the lead recruiter for Turner and proved critical in his decision-making process with how he was able to not only connect with him but explain his role.
The Palm Bay, Florida native is the first pledge for West Virginia from the transfer portal this off-season.
Along with West Virginia, Turner also received offers from Coastal Carolina, UTEP, Youngstown State, East Tennessee and a number of others that he had reported.
Turner has one year of eligibility remaining in his college career and is set to enroll at the mid-year.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Turner and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
Turner averaged 7.0 yards per carry last season across 174 carries. The junior eclipsed 1,200 yards in just eight total games and had a game where he rushed for 329 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Over the last four games of the season, Turner totaled 886 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Also an effective receiver when targeted, Turner hauled in 7 passes for 119 yards and a score.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia will have five scholarship running backs on the roster but three of those outside of junior Jahiem White will be either redshirt or true freshmen. That means that opportunity could be there for Turner to carve out a role and compete for playing time along with White in the Mountaineers backfield.
The Mountaineers needed to add some experience to go along with the young talent behind White and Turner is an athletic running back who is coming off an impressive campaign at the DII level. Yes, the step up to the Big 12 is quite a leap but his skill set is one that should be able to translate into an effective role.
Turner has been to campus and seen what the program has to offer and the Florida native should be able to make the most of his final season of eligibility. He will be enrolling at the mid-term which gives him a chance to become acclimated with the offense even quicker and provide a chance to hit the ground running.
Recruiting the position:
Now, with five scholarship running backs it remains unclear if West Virginia will target another in the off-season but there are certainly options to sort through if they elect to go that route. With the experience at the top, it seems likely that the Mountaineers would pursue an option that has multiple years of eligibility remaining but again that is very much wait and see at this stage with what’s currently on the roster.
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