It’s been nearly four years since Terrence Kerns verbally committed to West Virginia. There have been many challenges, obstacle and disappointments along the way for Kerns, a supremely gifted running back who has moved back and forth ever since in an effort to shore his academics, spending time at Hargrave Military Academy (Va.) , WVU and now Lackawanna (Pa.) College, a junior college. All along the way, he’s never lost his desire to spend his college career as a Mountaineer.
(Also included: Update on junior college offensive line recruit Benji Kemoeautu.)
Kerns, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound running back with a rare combination of blazing speed and bruising power, first committed to WVU in April of 2006, the spring after his junior season. He signed a National Letter of Intent in Feb. 2007 but didn’t qualify by NCAA standards. He enrolled at Hargrave for the 2007-2008 season and arrived at WVU with fanfare in August 2008, but left in January of this year, enrolling at Lackawanna, a perennial home to Division I talent in need of academic improvement.
According to both Kerns and Lackawanna coach Mark Duda, Kerns is doing well academically and will graduate in December of 2010, at which point he’ll be eligible to enroll at a BCS school and will have two full seasons of eligibility remaining.
There have been plenty of recruiters flocking to Lackawanna this school, and Kerns -- one of the top running back prospects in the Mid-Atlantic as a high school senior at Thomas Johnson High in Frederick, Md. -- has established himself at the prized jewel of the program.
“Everyone who comes here wants to offer him,” Duda said. “He’s a great player, obviously. Just outstanding.”
With nearly a full year to decide, Kerns hasn’t begun to delve into the process once again. But he said there’s no doubt where he’d like to be.
“Right now I’ve still got West Virginia in mind. I definitely would like to there to play. I would like to go to any SEC school. I think Minnesota and Purdue were up here looking at me. Coach Duda handles all of that,” he said. “I haven’t talked to [the West Virginia coaches] lately but I think maybe coach Duda has. I think my mother talked to them a couple of weeks ago.
Duda confirmed that WVU’s coaches have kept close tabs, and said Oklahoma has been looking at Kerns as well.
The Mountaineers coaches “call every two weeks to see how he’s doing,” he said. “They were the ones, I don’t want to say they placed him here, but they suggested that he come here.”
Kerns was recruited to WVU by current head coach Bill Stewart, who was an assistant to Rich Rodriguez at the time and whom he still considers a close friend. The one semester Kerns spent in Morgantown left him with strong feelings toward the program.
“It’s like a big family there, really. Everybody’s really cool,” he said. “It’s amazing. The team and the school and everything, everything was good when I was there.”
Duda said Kerns has NFL potential as a fullback but could also be a star at running back in the right system.
“He’s 235, he’s a 4.5 guy,” he said, referring to Kerns’ time in the 40-yard dash. “If there’s nothing there he gets three yards. It’s just amazing, the physical power he has … He probably squats 610 pounds. If you’re an I-Formation team, he’s an outstanding tailback.”
West Virginia, of course, is not an I-Formation team; the Mountaineers run the spread and generally employ smaller speed backs. That is of no concern to Kerns.
“They were going to add some ‘I’ for me,” he said.
Kerns will begin to take visits once his season is complete. He’s in no rush to commit, but made it clear that WVU will be the favorite should the Mounties’ staff pursue him seriously again.
Duda also offered an update on Benji Kemoeatu, the Hawaiian offensive lineman who signed with WVU in 2008 and enrolled at Lackawanna in an effort to become NCAA eligible. He left this fall for Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., where he’s working to become eligible and is able to be close to his brother Chris, who plays for the Pittsburg Steelers. Allegheny doesn’t have a football program; it was strictly an academic move, the coach said.
“He didn’t make it academically, God love the kid. He had some academic problems,” Duda said. “he was a great player and a great kid, too. He was the best of our linemen, and we had one that’s starting for Minnesota and another one at Oklahoma. He’s about 6-4, 365. He’ll probably play around 335 and could be a guard or a center. His agility levels are astonishing.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Kemoeatu will enroll at WVU, or WVU’s will sign Kerns again. But EerSports.com will keep you updated every step of the way.