West Virginia is Considering Former Four-Star SEC QB Commit in the Transfer Portal

The transfer portal will open on January 2nd, but for those at the lower levels, they can already enter the portal and begin talking to other schools.

West Florida quarterback Marcus Stokes is among that group, and West Virginia, along with several others, has been in contact with him, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports.

Akron, Appalachian State, Boston College, Buffalo, Charlotte, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Iowa, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Miami (OH), North Texas, Northwestern, Old Dominion, Sacramento State, Syracuse, UAB, UTEP, and Wisconsin are the others who have shown interest.

Stokes was a highly coveted recruit coming out of high school, earning a four-star ranking on 247 Sports, and even held commitments to Penn State and Florida before things went south. In 2022, a video surfaced of Stokes saying the words of a rap song where he used a racial slur. That ultimately led to Florida pulling his scholarship and ruining his chances of playing Division I out of high school.

Now, it seems most coaches are willing to give him an opportunity now that he's grown and learned from the situation and has some college experience under his belt.

This season, Stokes completed 223-of-368 passes (61%) for 3,297 yards and 30 touchdowns while tossing 13 interceptions. He also ran the ball 82 times for 367 yards and 10 scores. With the season he had at West Florida, Stokes is among the finalists for the Harlon Hill award, which is the equivalent of the Heisman at the Division II level.

West Virginia has three quarterbacks with eligibility remaining in Scotty Fox, Khalil Wilkins, and Max Brown, and just signed three in the early signing period — Jyron Hughley, Wyatt Brown, and John Johnson III (athlete) — but another veteran presence is needed in that room. Someone who can come in and push Fox for the starting job, or at the very least, be a reliable backup option that Rodriguez can still win with.

Stokes will have two years of eligibility remaining.

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