Could West Virginia Land Virginia Tech Transfer Doug Nester?

Huntington, West Virginia native and Virginia Tech offensive lineman Doug Nester officially entered his name into the transfer portal Wednesday after spending the first two years of his collegiate career with the Hokies.

During his time in Blacksburg, Nester started a total of 16 games including 10 as a true freshman. It's rare to see true freshmen offensive linemen make an impact, but only a select few are able to do so - Nester was one of them.

Coming out of Spring Valley High School, Nester was a top nationally rated recruit. He held offers from just about every Power Five school you can think of, including West Virginia. The previous coaching staff at West Virginia recruited Nester but never had much success landing the top offensive lineman in the state and that was the case here as well. Nester initially committed to Ohio State in August of 2017 but flipped to Virginia Tech on signing day.

This Wednesday, 2nd-year head coach Neal Brown was able to sign the top lineman in the state, Wyatt Milum, who is also from Spring Valley High School. Brown and his staff have put a major emphasis on keeping the best in-state talent home and have been fairly successful in doing so. Last year, Brown signed defensive end Sean Martin out of Bluefield after he decommitted from North Carolina. Two recruiting cycles in, Brown has signed the top player in the state in both classes.

So, now that Nester is on the open market, will Neal Brown and his staff try to reel him in? Absolutely.

Brown said in his signing day press conference that they are hoping to add at least 1-2 more offensive linemen between now and August. As for Nester, there seems to be a lot of belief in the media that he will wind up in Morgantown. Nester played alongside Milum at Spring Valley and also played with West Virginia walk-on wide receiver Graeson Malashevich.

To be quite honest, it would be very surprising to see Nester go anywhere else but West Virginia. The connection is there, the staff is looking for help along the line, and he would get to return to his home state.

Should Nester choose West Virginia, the Mountaineers could have up to as many as three starters on the offensive line who are natives of the state - Zach Frazier, Wyatt Milum, and Nester. Head coach Neal Brown has shown that he has no problem with playing true freshmen on the offensive line as long as they are more than capable. Frazier became a staple up front for the Mountaineers this season and Milum could end up being the 2nd true freshman lineman to start for Brown at West Virginia.

Could the Mountaineers turn their offensive line unit into a strength in 2021? Only time will tell.

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