MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Not every signing day surprise is a fright.
West Virginia lost two verbal pledges — receivers Kahlil Lewis to Cincinnati and Shaquery Wilson to Georgia — Wednesday but flipped receiver Gary Jennings, a Virginia commitment, late to cap the Mountaineers’ 23-man 2015 recruiting class.
In the end, it was a happy crowd of coaches in the Milan Puskar Center war room. Eighteen recruits faxed in national letters of intent, joining five others who enrolled at West Virginia in January.
The Mountaineers’ class is 33rd overall in Rivals.com’s rankings and third in the Big 12 Conference, behind Texas (No. 12) and Oklahoma (No. 14).
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said the focus was to fill in a variety of positions.
If there’s any position that needs immediate attention, though, it’s receiver, and Jennings could be the prize of the class. This 6-foot-2 receiver from Valley Forge High School in Stafford, Va., had offers from Notre Dame, Nebraska, Wisconsin among others.
The departures of seniors Kevin White and Mario Alford leave West Virginia trying to replace 90 percent of its outside-receiver production.
Receivers coach Lonnie Galloway spent the past few weeks selling Jennings and his family on the school and the opportunity to make an immediate impact.
Finally, Jennings’ fax rolled in at 3 p.m. Wednesday, and Galloway had his guy.
“He was the final piece to this puzzle,” Holgorsen said. “He was a high priority, so we were extremely excited to get him on board.”
Holgorsen loaded up on receiver prospects, adding Jennings, junior-college transfer Ka’Raun White, Jovan Durante — from the Miramar, Fla., pipeline — and twins Jacquez and Jordan Adams from Reisterstown. Md.
Quarterbacks Chris Chugunov and David Sills enrolled in January and will participate in spring camp, as will offensive lineman Kyle Bosch and fullback Michael Ferns, both offseason transfers from Michigan who are expected to redshirt this fall.
Holgorsen said this spring will be the first time in his four years in Morgantown that he will have more than two scholarship quarterbacks to work out. Now, he’s got five fighting for the starting spot.
“It’s all about competition,” Holgorsen said. “If you want guys to get better, then they’d better have someone to compete against.”
National signing day was a family affair, too, as three signees had close ties to the program.
Defensive end Stone Wolfley is the son of former West Virginia standout Dale Wolfley.
Ka’Raun White is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Kevin White, who transferred to West Virginia from Lackawanna College in 2012 and left this year as an All-American. Ka’Raun White has three years of eligibility remaining.
Offensive lineman Jah’Shaun Seider, a native of Belle Glade, Fla., is the brother of running backs coach JaJuan Seider.
“It’s going to be fun,” said JaJuan Seider, who is 19 years older. “I missed a lot of his years growing up and being away. We get to make up for that now.
“Plus, he knows I’m going to be harder on him than anybody.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: February 4, 2015, 12:00 p.m.
Updated: February 4, 2015, 10:27 p.m.
