How West Virginia's Signees Performed in the JUCO National Championship Game

The key to building a successful program is to find guys who have experienced winning. Knowing what it looks like and what it takes, day in and day out, means the coaching staff doesn't have to spend extra time embedding a winning work ethic.

Four players who signed with West Virginia during the early signing period have experienced a ton of winning in their collegiate careers at the JUCO level at Hutchinson C.C. Three of those signees — DL Darius Wiley, DL K.J. Henson, and CB Rayshawn Reynolds — all won the JUCO national title last season with Hutch.

On Wednesday night, those three and cornerback Rayshawn Reynolds, who spent the 2024 season at Northeastern Oklahoma, were back in the national title game with Hutch. Unfortunately, this time around, Iowa Western got its revenge after losing to Hutch in the title matchup a year ago.

Of the West Virginia signees, Wiley led the way with eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, and 0.5 sacks. Fellow defensive lineman K.J. Henson tallied 3 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit. Reynolds and Allen did play in the game, but did not record any stats.

All four of the players making the jump from Hutch to WVU will have an opportunity to compete for a starting spot and will, at the very least, be in the two-deep in the Mountaineers' defense. In an age where there's so much focus and attention on the transfer portal, the JUCO route is often forgotten about. Head coach Rich Rodriguez agreed in an exclusive signing day interview here on In the Gun.

“Oh, no question it’s overlooked. When the portal thing started a few years ago, everybody started looking for portal guys, and the JC guys got lost in the shuffle — not all of them, but a lot of them. And there’s some really, really good JC programs, like Hutchinson is a program we’ve recruited guys out of every year, everywhere I’ve been, and they’ve got some really good players. The other thing about it, when you get the JC guys, they’re the least spoiled of anybody you recruit. If you give them a sandwich, they’re like, ‘Are you kidding me? I get a free sandwich?’ Those guys, they come here, they see our facilities and see what you do for your players, and they’re tickled to death. But again, it’s about picking the right guys and fit what we want to do.”

All four players will be enrolling in January.

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