Ranking the Biggest WVU Recruiting Busts Since 2010

Over the years, West Virginia has landed some high quality talent. Unfortunately, several of those key recruits never saw success in Morgantown or even worse, never saw the field. Today, we take a look back at the top ten biggest recruiting busts since 2010.

10. Vance & Vernard Roberts (2011)

The Roberts brothers were deemed to be an explosive pair coming into Morgantown. Vernard played a few games at running back and Vance at corner, but both saw their roles diminish as time went on.

9. WR Lamar Parker (2014)

The first of three members from the 2014 class on this list is Lamar Parker. It appeared as if West Virginia had another big time playmaker in their back pocket, but after struggling to see the field, he opted to transfer to Arizona Western junior college.

8. S Kwantel Raines (2018)

When Kwantel Raines committed to West Virginia, the fan base went crazy as some were a little in shock that he picked the Mountaineers over Pitt, Penn State, and a few others. Raines was supposed to be the next "next-level" defender for the Mountaineers for years to come. He didn't see the field all that much during his time in Morgantown and with the coaching change, he really struggled to fit into the new scheme. He transferred to Temple this offseason.

7. WR Ivan McCartney (2010)

The cousin of Chad Ochocinco, or as many people know him as Chad Johnson, was one of the Mountaineers' highest-rated wide receiver recruits in quite some time. McCartney had a strong sophomore campaign hauling in 49 receptions for 585 yards and three touchdowns but was never able to build off of that. His role dwindled in the two years following, but you can attribute that to the success of Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Kevin White, and Mario Alford.

6. LB Brendan Ferns (2016)

This was a huge get for Tony Gibson and the defensive staff in 2016. Ferns had offers from nearly every Power Five school across the country and chose to sign with his dream school, West Virginia. Ferns battled injury after injury during his time in Morgantown and was never able to stay healthy long enough to prove his value. Had he been healthy, who knows what kind of career he could have had.

5. QB William Crest (2014)

After the Ford Childress experiment failed, William Crest was tabbed as the guy that would be Holgorsen's first true quarterback (that he recruited). Unfortunately for Crest, he battled an injury early in his career and it set him pretty far behind in his development. He thought about transferring out, but ultimately stuck it out and switched to the wide receiver position. It's tough putting him on this list because he exemplified everything it meant to be a true teammate.

4. CB Tyrek Cole (2015)

Cole's time in Morgantown was short-lived, but he's playing career after that didn't last much longer. Although he was a short corner, he was expected to be the Mountaineers' lockdown guy of the future. He never made it to the start of the 2015 season and ended up transferring to Youngstown State.

3. RB Donte Thomas-Williams (2014)

Holgorsen wasn't known to recruit high-caliber running backs, but when he landed DTW it turned some heads. Thomas-Williams has a plethora of offers including Florida State, who was after him pretty hard. Expectations were high, but was only responsible for 14 carries and 43 yards. Rumors floated around of him having a poor work ethic which led to his departure. He eventually landed at ASA junior college in Brooklyn.

2. WR Steven Smothers (2016)

Every Mountaineer fan has been waiting for the next Tavon Austin to come along, but unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet and who knows if it ever will. Smothers had the same skill set and swagger to him that Austin displayed and even had a relationship with Tavon. Smothers' high school film was eerily similar to Austin's, but he never saw the field at West Virginia. In May of 2017, Smothers left the program and took the junior college route before landing at Memphis.

1. QB Ford Childress (2012)

The clear and obvious choice here is Ford Childress. He was Dana Holgorsen's first "big-time" quarterback recruit and was rated as the eighth-best quarterback in the country, per ESPN. The hype surrounding him was extremely high and almost impossible to live up to. Childress was expected to be their apparent to Geno Smith and after a pretty solid showing vs Georgia State is his debut, he struggled like crazy the following week in a 37-0 loss to Maryland. He had off-the-field issues as well during his time in Morgantown and never made his way back into the starting role. He later transferred to Fresno State, where he only played in two games and didn't have much success.

What are your thoughts on the list? Any player too high or too low? Who should be included on this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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