Breaking Down WVU recruits

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Many members of West Virginia’s Class of 2021 are expected to put pen to paper on national letters of intent on Wednesday. The following is a breakdown of the group position-by-position:

(All star ratings are from rivals.com)

Running backs:

Jaylen Anderson (Perry H.S. – Perry, Ohio) – 4-star – SIGNED


Jaylen Anderson
Collected two dozen Division I offers, including the likes of Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.
3-time first-team All-Ohio selection.
Perry went 12-1 in 2019, advancing to the third round of the Ohio Division IV playoffs.


Justin Johnson (Edwardsville H.S. – Edwardsville, Illinois) – 4-star – SIGNED

Justin Johnson
Led the Edwardsville Tigers to an 8-3 season in 2019. He rushed for 1,120 yards and 19 touchdowns despite missing a pair of games with an ankle injury.
Also listed California, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota and Washington State in his top six. He also owns ‘Power 5’ offers from Illinois, Indiana and Purdue.

Quarterbacks:

Will Crowder (Gardendale H.S. – Birmingham, Alabama) – 3-star – SIGNED


Will Crowder
Top-rated quarterback in Alabama by 247sports.
Selected to play in Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game (9-12, 152 yards, TD in win earlier this month).
Crowder picked West Virginia over interest from UAB, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech. Crowder also had an offer from Dartmouth of the Ivy League.

Wide receivers:

Kaden Prather (Northwest H.S. – Germantown, Maryland) – 4-star – SIGNED


Kaden Prather
Owns 40 Division I offers, 34 of those from FBS schools. He narrowed his top five down to WVU, Maryland, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina. Prather’s offer list is deep and impressive, containing the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.
Led Northwest High School to a 12-2 record in his junior season. The Jaguars advanced all the way to the Maryland 4A state championship game. Prather caught 41 passes for 895 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2019.


Davis Mallinger (Cocoa H.S. – Cocoa, Florida) – 3-star – SIGNED

Held offers from a variety of Division 1 schools including: Toledo, Florida International (FIU), UCF, and Morgan State. He also held a couple “Power 5” school offers from Illinois, South Carolina, and Mississippi State.
Caught 46 passes for over 700 receiving yards his junior season and contributed over 1,200 all-purpose yards.
Caught 49 passes for 818 yards with 7 touchdowns in 10 games as a senior.
Cocoa advanced to the Florida 4A state semifinals, ending the season with a 10-1 record.


Tight ends:

Victor Wikstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) – 3-star – SIGNED


Viktor Wikstrom
First verbal commitment to WVU’s Class of 2021.
Participated in one of West Virginia’s camps in summer of 2019 as a part of an American tour of college football camps. He also earned offers from Georgia Tech and Eastern Michigan after camping at those campuses.
Second European player to commit to Neal Brown at WVU. Jairo Faverus, a cornerback from Bristol, England, was a member of the 2020 class.


Treylan Davis (Jackson H.S. – Jackson, Ohio) – 3-star – SIGNED


Treylan Davis
A dozen FBS programs made offers to Davis, including Arkansas and Tennessee. Davis verbally committed to Cincinnati but reopened his recruitment on April 14.
Jackson High School went 11-1 in 2019, advancing to the regional semifinals of the Ohio Division III playoffs.
First-team All-Ohio in senior season.

Offensive Line:

Wyatt Milum (Spring Valley H.S. – Huntington, West Virginia) – 5-star – SIGNED


Wyatt Milum (Photo by Christopher C. Davis/@EP_BigCameraGuy)
5-star prospect by several national recruiting services.
First-team all-state selection in 2020 (three-time all-state pick).
Helped Spring Valley to 28-4 record in three seasons with the Timberwolves.
Milum had a litany of impressive offers, picking the Mountaineers after visiting Notre Dame, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia.


Tomas Rimac (Brunswick H.S. – Brunswick, Ohio) – 3-star – SIGNED

17 FBS programs have extended a scholarship offer to Rimac. The list includes ‘Power 5’ programs Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Wisconsin. Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Kent State, Toledo and Western Michigan round out his FBS offer list.
Team advanced to the third round of the Ohio Division I playoffs this season.


Defensive Line:

Brayden Dudley (Mill Creek H.S. – Buford, Georgia) – 3-star – SIGNED

Brayden Dudley
Possesses twenty FBS offers, including ‘Power 5’ offers from Iowa State and Michigan State. Other offers included Air Force, Appalachian State, Army, Bowling Green, Connecticut, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kent State, Liberty, Lousiana-Lafayette, UCF, USF, Troy, Tulane and Western Kentucky.
Played in 12 games in his junior season, collecting 33 tackles, 5 sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and 3 fumble recoveries. Mill Creek went 9-4 in 2019, advancing to the state quarterfinals in Class 6A.

Hammond Russell (Coffman H.S. – Dublin, Ohio) – 3-star – SIGNED

Also fielded offers from Iowa State, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Indiana and Georgia Tech among others.
First-team All-Ohio in senior season.
Team advanced to the third round of the Ohio Division I playoffs this season.

Edward Vesterinen (Helsinki, Finland) – 3-star – SIGNED


Edward Vesterinen (Photo by Giulio Busi/FIDAF)
Competed on European Junior and Finland national championship teams in his prep career.
Listed as the No. 2 defensive lineman recruit from Europe in this year’s class by ‘Europe’s Elite’ recruiting service.

Ja’Corey Hammett (Northwestern H.S. – Miami, Florida) – 3-star – SIGNED

Originally committed to Miami and collected around twenty Division I scholarship offers, eleven of those have come from ‘Power 5’ schools. In addition to WVU and Miami, Arkansas, Florida State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Carolina and Tennessee had offered.
Helped NHS to a 13-2 record and the Florida Class 5A state championship in 2019. Hammett collected 63 tackles for the Bulls (34 were solo) and 11 sacks in his junior season.


Defensive Backs:

Andrew Wilson-Lamp (Washington H.S. – Massillon, Ohio) – 3-star – SIGNED

Andrew Wilson-Lamp
Plays both receiver and cornerback but is projected to play on defense at WVU.
14 FBS offers, including Cincinnati, Kentucky, Michigan State, Penn State and Pittsburgh.
Team advanced to Ohio Division II state championship game in senior season.

Saint McLeod (Imhotep Charter School – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) – 3-star – SIGNED

Saint McLeod
McLeod will be joining former high school teammate Tykee Smith in the WVU defensive backfield.
Holds 16 FBS offers, including Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

Aubrey Burks (Auburndale H.S. – Auburndale, Florida) – 3-star – SIGNED

Reopened his recruitment on September 16 after verbally committing to Indiana. In May, he listed his top seven schools with WVU, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh and South Florida.
Auburndale went 8-3 in 2019. As a junior, Burks racked up 63 tackles (17 for loss), 6 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 forced fumbles.
28 tackles, 2 sacks, 5 forced fumbles in 5 games this fall.

Wyatt is a 4-star, but either way, he's a great pickup. Maybe the one I'm most looking forward to. Prather might also be a really fun one.

Thanks for the breakdown. I know it's a small class, but honestly, I think this is a really good haul. If it had been bigger, I could easily see this being a Top-30 class.