WVSports.com takes a trip down memory lane and takes a look at current Texas Tech players that at one time were recruited by West Virginia. We’ll examine their recruitment as well as how they have turned out in college.
So without any further waiting, which Red Raiders were once West Virginia targets on the recruiting trail?
McCray had two impressive seasons at Austin Peay where he totaled 129 catches for 1,888 yards and 17 touchdowns and the Florida native elected to enter the transfer portal. West Virginia was one of the first schools to jump into the mix for McCray and was able to get him on campus for an official visit in December. It looked like that might be enough, but he would take another visit to Texas Tech where he had connections with several coaches that had previously been at Austin Peay. The Red Raiders would win the battle and the speedster would sign and enroll early there leaving the Mountaineers not only with a recruiting loss off the field but a challenge now on it. He appeared in all 13 games and served as the primary kick returner last season to go along with catching 29 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
Miller has spent three seasons at Elon where he hauled in 52 catches for 658 yards and 7 touchdowns, with his most productive season coming this past year with 25 grabs for 453 yards and 4 scores, which is the single season record at the school. West Virginia got involved after he elected to enter the transfer portal and secured an official visit in December but he would commit to Texas Tech following a trip there. The athletic tight end had two seasons left when he pledged to the Red Raiders.
Valdez is the rare example of a prospect on this list that was recruited by West Virginia out of high school. The Mountaineers extended an early offer to Valdez and there was some interest to the point that he had hoped to make a visit at some point. But as the process continued, he seemed to find more options in his regional area and eventually offered his commitment to the Red Raiders. A dynamic back, Valdez saw action in only four games and totaled 18 carries overall for 169 rushing yards. The following year he served as the primary backup with 286 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground off 52 carries, while adding three catches for 27 yards.
McAlpine was a target of West Virginia who took an official visit to campus in June of last year. He was a teammate of wide receiver Jarel Williams and it appeared for a while that he would join him in Morgantown. However, he initially committed to TCU following a visit there and after the coaching shakeup opened up his recruitment. The Mountaineers continued their pursuit but after Texas Tech hired his defensive line coach it was a done deal that he would head to Lubbock. After a redshirt season, McAlpine appeared in eight games as a backup and recorded 11 tackles.
Cromwell spent four seasons at the University of Guelph in Canada where he was coming off a strong junior season where he recorded 26 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, to go along with an interception. Cromwell entered the transfer portal and took official visits to both West Virginia and Texas Tech but committed to the Red Raiders.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
