In tonight's edition of our nightly, exclusive recruiting round-up, we look at how WVU will rebound from missing on Tobias Harris, update two 2010 football prospects -- including one name previously little-known to WVU recruiting followers -- and get an early take from a couple of 2011 prospects.
Hoover’s Humphrey to join Miller?
In last year‘s recruiting class, WVU dipped into Birmingham, Ala. and got a commitment from Hoover High defensive back Pat Miller. This year, the Mountaineers are recruiting another Hoover prep star -- Maudrecus Humphrey -- a prized wide receiver who runs the 40 yard dash in a blazing 4.34 seconds.
“They have offered and I’m very interested,” Humphrey told EERSports.com on Thursday. “I just like the school. I heard it is a really good atmosphere.”
Ole Miss, Arkansas and Mississippi State are also in the running for landing a commitment from Humphrey, who has not yet picked a favorite, among the pursuers. “I really don’t’ have any tops to be honest,” he said.
Humphrey has not taken any official visits this fall, but said he plans on taking some after Hoover’s season ends. “I think I definitely would want to take an official to WVU,” said Humphrey. “They’re still up there. They’re still in the mix.”
WVU receivers coach Lonnie Galloway has been recruiting Humphrey, though Humphrey said the two haven’t talked much lately. But besides Humphrey’s game breaking speed, he said, “I think I have the ability to stretch the field.”
ESPN Scouts Inc rated Humphrey the No. 92 overall receiver for the 2010 class and evaluated him with a 77 scouts grade.
Humphrey said he chats with Miller “every know and then” and that Miller tells him how much he enjoys the atmosphere in Morgantown.
Hoover is currently 11-1 and in the third round of the state playoffs, continuing Friday night, in a game against Bob Jones High School.
Humphrey does not yet know when he will announce his commitment. “I haven’t really thought about it,” he said.
Eers Eyeing 2011 Stars
Terrell Chestnut and Trey DePriest are two names that countless coaches will most likely rave about among the pool of talent in the 2011 recruiting class. Both are on the ESPNU 150 watch list.
Chestnut, of Pottstown, Pa., is listed at 5-foot-10, 167 pounds and stars for Pottsgrove High School at quarterback and safety. Pitt, Rutgers, WVU, Penn State, Villanova and Connecticut have already offered Chestnut football scholarships.
“I’m keeping everything wide open,” he said. “I made an unofficial visit to Rutgers this summer. I’m sure I’ll be going down to Penn State. I think I’ll go out to WVU.”
Specifically speaking on WVU, Chesnut said, “They have a good football program. From what I hear, they do a lot of things for the community.”
Chestnut does already have one tie to WVU -- Pottsgrove coach Rick Pennypacker was an offensive lineman for the Mountaineers from 1973-1975. Pottsgrove is a perfect 11-0 this year and has reached the semifinals of the state playoffs.
Chestnut said WVU defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich has started recruiting him for the Mountaineers, but the pitch so far has just been general information about the school. Academics are one of Chestnut’s priorities and he said he plans on majoring in pre-medicine.
DePriest, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound outside linebacker for Springfield South High School (Oh). DePriest said he’s already gotten 15 scholarship offers, but among those, he only recalled Duke, Pitt, Stanford, Cincinnati, Michigan, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama and Virginia Tech.
“I‘ve got to research them,” DePriest said. “I’m honestly wide open in the recruiting process.” He did name Ohio Sate, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma as four schools that stand out, at this point.
In terms of taking visits to prospective schools, DePriest said, “I want to hit all of them, for real.”
DePriest said WVU safeties coach Steve Dunlap is recruiting him for the Mountaineers. “He said that I was a physical, downhill hybrid linebacker. He said I could play middle or outside linebacker.”
Last summer during WVU’s annual camp for high school football players, DePriest got an early glimpse of some parts of the Mountaineers’ program.
“I went down there,” he said. “The facility was nice. The coaches were really cool.”
WVU is among many of college football’s elite teams who are recruiting DePriest, but he has taken notice of the Mountaineers. “When they hit me with the offer, that’s when I started watching them on TV a little bit. I went to the Cincinnati-West Virginia game,” he said. “It was a good game.”
Springfield South High finished the season with a 6-5 record after falling in the first round of the state playoffs. But DePriest maintained spectacular form -- he said racked up 101 tackles, seven sacks and three fumble recoveries.
Harris Reverberations
Star forward Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills ended a long and heavily-publicized recruitment tonight by announcing he'd chosen Tennessee over WVU, Kentucky, Syracuse, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Lousiville. While Harris' decision came as a surprise to some because Tennessee may be the least-known for basketball out of all seven finalists, in tne end it seemingly came down to the opprotunity to star early on and a relationship with Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl.
So where do Bob Huggins and Co. go from here? Well, there's plenty of time to worry about that; the early signing period is over, meaning 2010 recruits can't begin signing again until April 14, 2010.
The 'Eers did attempt to make a late push for Bishop Laughlin (N.Y.) forward JayVaughn Pinkston, and while Pinkston likes the school and the staff, he's already narrowed his list. Pinkston, however, backed out of a pending commitment to UT, apparently when it became obvious Harris would ink with the Vols. WVU may be able to get back into the mix with the talented frontcourt prospect, but Villanova and Tennessee will make it difficult. We'd expect the staff to use the third scholarship on a small forward who can score, as senior De'Sean Butler will be gone next fall and sophomore Devin Ebanks almost certainly will as well.
Huggins has never shied away from going to the junior college well, and we wouldn't be shocked if he does so again here. EerSports.com will break out any new hoops recruiting names and news as it happens.
Christian Taking Final Visit
Defensive back Cullen Christian (Pittsburgh/Penn Hills) will make an official visit to Michigan this weekend then announce his college choice on Nov. 24. Christian is deciding between Michigan, West Virginia and UCLA. (Bill Kurelic)