As Talent Pool Steadily Rises in West Virginia, WVU Has Their Work Cut Out for Them

West Virginia high school football continues to churn out more and more prolific recruits

When you think of high school football recruiting hotbeds, you think of places like south Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia). The one place you don't think of? West Virginia.

Throughout the years, West Virginia high school football, while adored by many within the state, has not produced an abundance of top-end Division I talent. You can blame it on the small population, lack of national exposure, financial limitations or whatever else you can think of, but one thing is for sure - West Virginia, for many years, has been behind the rest of the country.

Over the last five years, we have started to see the number of Division I talent trend upwards in the Mountain State. Below, you will find the state's top prospects since 2017, many of whom were nationally recruited.

2021

CB Isaiah Johnson (Bluefield HS) - Undecided

OL Wyatt Milum (Spring Valley HS) - Committed to West Virginia

DE Zeiqui Lawton (South Charleston HS) - Undecided

OT Bryce Biggs (Spring Valley HS) - Undecided

2020

DE Sean Martin (Bluefield HS) - West Virginia

OL Zach Frazier (Fairmont Senior HS) - West Virginia

RB JJ Davis (Bluefield HS) - Marshall

CB JJ Roberts (Cabell Midland HS) - Wake Forest

S Kerion Martin (Capital HS) - Marshall

OL Marcellus Marshall (Morgantown HS) - Kent State

2019

OL Darnell Wright (Huntington HS) - Tennessee

OL Doug Nester (Spring Valley HS) - Virginia Tech

TE Brenton Strange (Parkersburg HS) - Penn State

OL Zach Williamson (Spring Valley HS) - Louisville

S Amir Richardson (University HS) - Marshall

S Kerry Martin (Capital HS) - West Virginia

QB Grant Wells (George Washington HS) - Marshall

OL Thomas Aronokhale (The Linsley School) - Ohio

2018

DE Dante Stills (Fairmont Senior HS) - West Virginia

DL Tavis Lee (Martinsburg HS) - West Virginia

QB Cross Wilkinson (Wheeling Park HS) - Toledo

2017

OL Billy Ross (Huntington HS) - North Carolina

S Derrek Pitts Jr. (South Charleston HS) - West Virginia/Marshall

OL Riley Locklear (Spring Valley HS) - Tennessee

OL Seth Stewart (Point [Pleasant HS) - LSU

FB Maverick Wolfley (Morgantown HS) - West Virginia/Akron

LB Dorian Etheridge (Capital HS) - Louisville

DE Darius Stills (Fairmont Senior HS) - West Virginia

As you can see, the talent is continuously improving. The coaches in the state have done a really good job developing and building these young kids into promising athletes. You may also notice that West Virginia has had struggles landing some of the top talent from the state. That was, however, until Neal Brown and his staff came into the picture. The previous regime had a rather careless approach at times when recruiting within the state, but didn't totally neglect it. They did land Darius and Dante Stills, Reese Donahue, Kerry Martin and Derrek Pitts. 

It oftentimes makes you wonder: How many of these kids over the past five years would Neal Brown have been able to land? I mean, in all seriousness, the Mountaineers could have had an entire starting offensive line consisting off Billy Ross, Riley Locklear, Seth Stewart, Doug Nester and Darnell Wright. Five guys that were all nationally recruited and all five decided to play there college ball elsewhere. 

As the talent in the state continues to improve, it will be pivotal for the Mountaineers coaching staff to put a barrier on the borders of the state. In the 2020 recruiting class (first class under Neal Brown) the Mountaineers landed the top two players in the state in defensive end Sean Martin (Bluefield) and offensive lineman Zach Frazier (Fairmont Senior). So, things are off to a pretty good start for the new staff, but it's going to get even more challenging in the years to come, starting with the 2021 class.

In this year's class alone, the state has two premier recruits in offensive tackle Wyatt Milum (Spring Valley) and cornerback Isaiah Johnson (Bluefield). Each are rated as one of the best players at their respective positions. The good news for West Virginia fans is that they have already secured a commitment from Milum. Securing one from Isaiah Johnson may be a bit of a challenge with all of the big time Power Five schools trying to lure him out of the state. South Charleston defensive end Zeiqui Lawton is also another guy that is being recruited nationally and with schools like Oregon, Boise State, and Cincinnati in hard after him, it will be a difficult task for West Virginia to land him.  

However, if the Mountaineers do not end up landing guys like Johnson or Lawton, don't panic. There are always reasons as to why recruits choose certain schools- it doesn't have anything to do with this staff. As we have already seen, if they like the recruit, they will almost certainly land him. That's the difference with this staff, they will put in the effort in recruiting the in-state kids that fit their system and scheme best. If they don't land them, it's more so of a fit or numbers reason than it is an effort issue. 

Do you see the Mountaineers landing Isaiah Johnson or Zeiqui Lawton? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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