EerSports on the Recruiting Trail is back with our usual dose of exclusive WVU recruiting news. Click below for Tuesday's edition of the No. 1 daily WVU recruiting scoop on the Web, today featuring the scoop on Nickell Robey, David Mahoney and Bryon Allen ...

Nation's No. 13 CB to Visit WVU

Frostproof, Fla., corner back Nickell Robey is still committed to Georgia, but the Mountaineers are hot on the trail for the services of Robey, the No. 13-ranked overall corner back recruit in the 2010 class.

“The defensive backs coach was here a couple weeks ago,” Frostproof coach Clay Brantley said of WVU assistant David Lockwood. “He’s definitely keeping in touch with him. He definitely talked to him and told him everything there is about West Virginia.”

Robey is 5-foot-8, 160 pounds and is considering offers from lofty suitors such as Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Florida, Virginia Tech and of course, Georgia. Posting 4.34 40-yard dash speed, along with nearly 1,600 all-purpose yards and 16 touchdowns make it easy to see why high profile programs have come calling and in droves.

“He’s just got great hips and adjusting to the ball once it’s in the air,” Brantley said. “A lot of teams didn’t throw his way much on defense. He’s going to be a great cover corner at the next level.”

“He verbally committed back early in the season. He took a visit to Tennessee and I believe he’s taking a visit to West Virginia,” said Brantley. “Coach Lockwood said he’d talked about he would probably visit WVU.”

Brantley explained how Lockwood is carefully calculating his relationship with Robey.  “I know they definitely communicate on a weekly basis,” he said. “I know that they seem to have a good rapport. I think Lockwood was real honest with him, [telling him] ‘You need to see all your options open.’

“Lockwood’s going to handle it the right way.”

However, it remains to be seen if Robey will schedule and take an official visit to WVU, as well as which school the prep star will ultimately sign with. “He’s been real quiet right about it,” Brantley said. “I would say the commit to Georgia, then I’d say Tennessee, South Florida and WVU.”

Eers Keeping Tabs on Former Commit Allen

When guard Bryon Allen re-opened his recruitment early this fall, it was assumed by many that would be the last we heard about the one-time WVU commitment. But that's not the case, says Allen's coach at St. Thomas More Prep (CT), where he transferred this fall after spending two seasons at stories Oak Hill Academy (Va.).

The Mounties staff "keeps tabs on him all the time," said his coach, Jere Quinn. "WVU is coming back into the picture, they just don't know what's going to happen with the Mazzulla kid."

Allen has always been known as a combo guard with excellent athleticism and a Huggins-esque habit of in-your-face defense, but he's working hard at his new school to redfine himself as a ture point man. So far, said Quinn, so good.

"We're giving him the ball. I told him, 'I think you're a point guard.' Sometimes he's out of control or doesn't see the whole floor, sometimes he makes the perfect play. It just takes repetition and practice," he said. "He's been great on campus and great in the classroom. He's been a wonderful young man ... We've played two games and he had 20 points and seven assists, and 16 points and six assists."

Already, high-majors like Georgia Tech, Boston College, Providence and Rutgers have inquired about Allen, along with Santa Barbara and Nevada. Allen, a native of Prince George's County, Md., seems unlikely to end up at a mid-major.

"He wants to play at the highest level possible. He's expressed that he's willing to stick around for another [prep] year. He's only 17 years old. He's a pretty darn good player."

It's unclear whether or not WVU will attempt to bring Allen back into the fold. The staff, though enjoys an excellent relationship with Quinn and his program, which produced current Mountaineers Devin Ebanks and Danny Jennings.

"I'm glad [Ebanks] is back on track. I just hope he stays on track all year," Quinn said.

Situated in sunny southern California is Pierce College, an uprising junior college powerhouse program in Woodland Hills that appears to quickly be turning into a pipeline for talented transfers who are moving on to impact major college football programs. West Virginia, among many others, has taken notice of promising prospects starring at Pierce, namely prized defensive lineman David Mahoney.

Mahoney, 6-foot-2, 290 pounds, was expected to take an official visit to WVU last weekend, but that visit ended up being canceled. 

“That got canceled,” Mahoney said. “I still want to visit. I like the school. I think the program is really good.”

Mahoney said WVU recruiting coordinator Doc Holliday had been in close contact with him and helped schedule the visit. “I was supposed to go on a visit but I think they believed I wasn’t graduating early,” said Mahoney. “I was disappointed. He called me all week. I guess he got the wrong information. I’m graduating early in January. Somebody told him that I won’t be done till May.”

But WVU isn’t necessarily out of the mix for Mahoney, who helped Pierce to a 7-3 record behind his 40 tackles and eye-opening eight sacks. “We have winter classes that I’m trying to get into,” said Mahoney. “He told me they’ll have to do it some other time. They would really have to show me that they’re interested.”

Mahoney said Pierce defensive backs coach Ty Greenwood has known Holliday for some time. In 2008, cornerback Chaz Russell committed to the Mountaineers out of Pierce.

Since WVU has possibly backed off, Mahoney is now considering Tennessee, Texas Tech, Georgia and Arizona State. He said he’s got around 12-15 scholarship offers in all.

“Right now, Tennessee is higher than everybody else because it’s the only school I visited,” said Mahoney. “I’ve been in contact with their coaches the most out of everybody.”

Mahoney said the Volunteers’ coaches have been to California to watch him practice. He said UT recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron has spearheaded the effort to land him in Knoxville. Mahoney also said he’s been recruited by UT defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, as well as Monte’s son, Lane, UT’s head coach.

“I talked to Monte. I talked to Lane the least,” Mahoney said. “They really want me bad. I just talked to them yesterday. They said if I can’t make it in time for spring, they’ll wait for me in May.”

Face time on the silver screen by Orgeron, who is seen recruiting troubled offensive lineman Michael Oher in the movie The Blind Side, may be paying dividends for UT, on the recruiting trail. Orgeron, then head coach at Ole Miss, competes with other SEC coaches who cameo in the film plugging their respective schools. Orgeron ended up with the commitment from Oher, who was taken in by a couple who happened to be Ole Miss boosters living in Memphis, Tenn.

“The movie was great. He told me when he went out there, ‘I’m in the movie,’” Mahoney said. “I thought he was some extra. I was like that’s the dude that’s recruiting me. I saw it with my girlfriend. I was shocked like hell when I saw it.”

Mahoney has an official visit to Arizona State scheduled for this weekend. He plans to visit Texas Tech on Dec. 17.

"I'm trying to make all these visits to make the right decision," he said.