Jan. 11—For the first several years of Neal Brown’s tenure at WVU, the Mountaineers faced a severe talent drain by way of the transfer portal.
Year after year, WVU lost promising, talented and productive players to the portal while never bringing in quite enough to make up the deficit.
Following Brown’s best season in Morgantown, a 9-4 campaign that culminated in a Duke’s Mayo Bowl trophy, the Mountaineers have come out of the first transfer window of the off-season with more gains than losses for perhaps the first time.
“Our hope is we can hold onto our main players, ” Brown said the day after the portal opened. “You’re going to lose some, that’s just normal, but we hope we can keep them all together.”
During the first window, which was open from Dec. 4 through Jan. 2, 16 former WVU players entered the portal and eight new ones committed to WVU (safety Tahj Ra-El de-committed from WVU on Tuesday).
Of those leaving, only three were full-time starters—edge Jared Bartlett, defensive tackle Mike Lockhart and safety Hershey McLaurin—and only three more were role players—defensive lineman Tomiwa Durojaiye, safety Keyshawn Cobb and running back Justin Johnson.
The only others of mention are safety Lance Dixon, who had started in the past but was not with the team for most of the season, and cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp, a highly-regarded high school recruit who never caught on. The rest had little-to-no on-field roles with the team.
Of the eight players WVU is bringing in, six were full-time starters, although two, cornerback Ayden Garnes (Duquesne) and edge Ty French (Gardner-Webb), were at the FCS level. The others are cornerback TJ Crandall (Colorado State), defensive lineman TJ Jackson (Troy), offensive lineman Xavier Bausley (Jacksonville State) and safety Josh Minkins (Louisville).
The part-time additions are…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cody-nespor-portal-gains-outpace-033300989.html
Author : The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Publish date : 2024-01-12 03:33:00
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