West Virginia didn’t have to go very far from Morgantown to land the highest rated prospect in the 2018 class.
That’s because Fairmont (W.Va.) defensive end Dante Stills holds those honors and he received a bump even further up the Rivals.com recruiting rankings Tuesday afternoon.
Stills, 6-foot-4, 265-pounds, moved up 34 spots in the latest edition of the Rivals250 to No. 116th nationally following an impressive performance at the Under Armour All-American Game.
The Rivals.com four-star prospect stood out during the course of the practices leading up to the game and finished with a sack as well as a batted down pass in the game.
“Stills is one of the more explosive defensive linemen in the country and at the Under Armour All-America Game he showed off very good hand techniques, which helped keep offensive linemen off of him and allowed him to make a lot of plays in the backfield,” Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic Analyst Adam Freidman said. “The West Virginia signee will wreak havoc behind the line of scrimmage in the Big 12.”
Stills signed with West Virginia in December after initially committing to the program in August. The impressive defensive lineman bypassed other major scholarship offers from Florida, Georgia, Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Tennessee and a number of others from across the nation. He was recruited by coordinator Tony Gibson as well as defensive line coach Bruce Tall.
The Mountaineers became the first program to extend a scholarship offer to Stills during the summer of his sophomore season and remained a consistent throughout the course of his recruitment.
The son of former pass-rusher Gary as well as the younger brother of current defensive lineman Darius, the bloodline is strong with the West Virginia football program.
WVSports.com has seen Stills in person multiple times and offered this take.
“Equipped with great size and a frame to build on, Stills uses his long arms and sturdy frame to out muscle opponents, even those that are already heavier than him. But it’s his quickness that truly stands out. Given that size, he has great burst and is disruptive up front at all times.”
Overall, Stills is the highest rated player from the state of West Virginia since Martinsburg wide receiver Brandon Barrett was rated as the No. 45 best player in the class of 2004.
