Tonight, Darius Millines explains how a pair of SEC powers are still recruiting him, including one school that will give him an in-home visit on Sunday, Travis Bell says he’s still all-Mountaineer and WVU head coach Bill Stewart analyzes the importance of the Backyard Brawl on the recruiting trail.
Millines Mulling Other Options
Delray Beach, Fla. wide receiver Darius Millines’ high school career is not quite over at American Heritage-Boca-Delray High School and his recruitment is not entirely wrapped up either.
Millines, 6-foot, 171 pounds, committed to West Virginia back on Sept. 12, following his official visit to Morgantown, when the Mountaineers played host to East Carolina. But since then, he said Florida and Tennessee have continued to sway him their way. UT assistant coach Eddie Gran has scheduled an in-home visit with Millines, for this Sunday.
“I’m pretty interested in them,” Millines said of the Volunteers. “They are coming to my house to talk to my family and stuff.”
Since visiting WVU and announcing his verbal pledge, Millines, the No. 26-ranked overall receiver for the 2010 class, has not taken any additional official visits. However, that appears it will change.
“I want to see how it is [at Tennessee]. I would probably plan one while he’s [Gran] here,” said Millines.
WVU is still very much in the running for Millines, who wants to take an unofficial visit back to Morgantown. “I like it up there. I’m still trying to find a date to get back up there,” he said.
Millines said WVU’s coaches are aware that he’s being courted by other schools. He said the WVU staff has been telling him, “’I hope you stay interested in us and make sure you make the right decision.’”
WVU assistants Doc Holliday, JaJuan Seider and Chris Beatty have maintained regular contact with Millines throughout the fall, he said.
After watching the Mountaineers lose to both South Florida and Cincinnati, Millines said, “They are real shallow at receiver right now.”
American Heritage-Boca-Delray is 8-3 on the year and will play in a regional final playoff game on Friday, against Calvary Christian. Millines confirmed he’s recorded 24 touchdown receptions this season.
Bell Still Solid for WVU
Travis Bell, a prized safety for Glades Central High School, in Belle Glade, Fla., is also still being recruited by the likes of South Florida, Pitt, Florida State and others, but said his commitment with WVU is a done deal.
“My decision is solid,“ Bell said. “Schools are still recruiting me but I’m not going to change my mind regardless.”
Bell, who is 6-foot-1, 171 pounds, explained how the WVU staff has made it a point to stay in contact with him since he committed back on Sept. 12. “I just talked to Bill Stewart yesterday,” Bell said.
Holliday and Seider have both remained on the trail for Bell, as well. “I talk to coach Seider every week. We are somewhat family,” said Bell. “We keep in touch like brothers.”
Bell was in attendance when WVU played at USF back on Oct. 30. He said he’s been keeping up with the Mountaineers on TV and that he watched WVU play on Nov. 13, at Cincinnati.
Glades Central High (11-0) will play American-Heritage Plantation in a regional final playoff game, on Friday. Bell has been instrumental to his team’s success this season, contributing seven interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Bell is excited to join the Mountaineers once his prep career concludes. “I’m very excited just to be a part of something better,” he said.
Pitt Coaches Help WVU in Recruiting?
On Monday, WVU head coach Bill Stewart explained the importance of the Backyard Brawl rivalry in the context of winning recruiting battles over Pitt, in the talent-laden area of western Pennsylvania. Stewart described the impact of the game as being “colossal.”
“Football is always important, as is each win. But with Pitt and West Virginia – that’s an intense rivalry, and it goes to recruiting too. You just develop that rivalry, and recruiting helps intensify it.”
Much of the Mountaineers’ recruiting success in its backyard across the state border has to do with offensive line coach Dave Johnson.
“David Johnson does a tremendous job, as do all of our coaches,” Stewart said. “Dave has a great rapport. What it goes back to is that Dave is one of them – he was born in West Virginia, but raised up in Penn Hills, Pa. He was an All-American, a great player and coached at IUP with Frank Cignetti, Sr., for all of those years. David Johnson has a tremendous name.”
Stewart detailed how some Pitt coaches even extended a helping hand with recruiting information, back when he was appointed head coach, in 2008.
“When I got him on board here, I received calls and notes from some Pitt coaches,” he said. “I was very impressed. They did not have to do that – Dave already had the job. A couple of them in particular were looking forward to Dave being a part of our staff and representing West Virginia. They really like him”
Stewart first heard word of mining Pennsylvania for recruits from a famed former WVU head coach.
“Coach [Bobby] Bowden made a statement 25 years ago saying that Pittsburgh was such a hot-bed for these coaches and high school recruits,” noted Stewart. “You didn’t have to leave the Pittsburgh area to find the best athletes in the United States. It still holds true to a certain point; there just aren’t as many as there used to be, because the population has declined”
But despite the recruiting tips, Stewart, Johnson and Co. still have tough roads ahead of them in landing the superstars of tomorrow.
“He [Johnson] has a hard row to hoe, as does every coach in recruiting, because it’s just so tough these days with the internet and with recruiting news services,” said Stewart.