Photo courtesy of by Kevin Kinder/BlueGoldNews.com
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown looks for a goal line camera during a recent game.
College Athlete Retention: A Major Challenge for WVU Football
MORGANTOWN — While the laser focus of the moment is squarely on RaeQuan Battle’s fight to play basketball at West Virginia, the realization emerges that it is a fight that seems destined to end up in a federal court rather than the basketball court.
But to concentrate solely on his problems is to miss the big picture.
A Widespread Issue
This is not one player caught up in a flawed system. It is every college player’s issue — no matter the school, no matter the sport.
And right now, while WVU is fixated on the joy that comes with an eight-victory regular season and an intriguing bowl date with North Carolina in Charlotte, the football coaching staff is caught up in not only game preparation but, far more importantly, in shaping its future.
The Challenge of Recruitment
The involves recruiting in three areas — high school players, transfer portal players and the team’s very own players.
Now, more than ever before, a famous quote comes to mind, one that comes from the typewriter of the legendary New York sports columnist Frank Graham.
Graham wrote at the time of Babe Ruth, and one of his teammates was a cantankerous outfield Bob Meusel who was reaching the end of his career.
“Meusel,” he wrote, “didn’t learn how to say hello until it was time to say goodbye.”
Too many college athletes are putting themselves into similar situations, thinking the proverbial “grass” is always greener on the other side of the street.
It is that which put Battle into the position he is in, and it is what draws hundreds of other athletes into the transfer portal. It is not always fringe players disenchanted with their playing time or caught up in homesickness.
These are star players looking for more of the non-grass “green” that is available such as quarterbacks Riley Leonard of Duke, Dillon Gabriel of Oklahoma and Cam Ward of Washington State.
This hits right here at home as WVU head coach Neal Brown and his staff focused on the immediate future, those players on his roster.
“Retention is something we spent a lot of time on,” Brown admitted in his press conference following the final game of the regular season. “It’s ongoing. Our hope is we can hold on to our main players.”
In the four days since the portal opened this winter, WVU has lost wide receivers Cortez Braham, Ja’Shaun Poke, Davis Mallinger and Jeremiah Aaron along with defensive backs Christion Stokes, Hershey McLauren and Andrew Wilson-Lamp.
Some of them had a chance to have a big role next year, but they were not the “main players” of which Brown spoke. More losses will come, of course.
“You’re going to lose some,” Brown understands. “That’s just normal.”
Once the bowl game ends, the activity figures to pick up again.
They actually are way ahead of the game.
Quarterback Garrett Greene said on the Three Guys Before the Game podcast that “anybody could call me but I’m not leaving, 1000%.”
At the same time, Wyatt Milum, Brandon Yates and Tomas Rimac, three key members of the offensive line that was considered one of the nation’s best but lost Zach Frazier and Doug Nester, along with wide receiver/returner Preston Fox and linebacker Josiah Trotter announced they are committed to NIL funder Country Roads Trust and will return.
In addition, tight end Kole Taylor, who emerged as the team’s leading receiver as he became Greene’s most trusted target, and developing freshman wide receiver Traylon Ray said they were returning.
That eases some of the worries you could have going into the off-season. It means that WVU will be in the portal seeking not only immediate help but players with three years of eligibility left who can commit to the future.
Filling in the Gaps
WVU seeks “a proven receiver” to go with a young group carrying high expectations with Fox, Hudson Clement, Rodney Gallagher, EJ Horton and Ray.
With Greene’s return and this group of wide receivers with the addition of another player along the lines of last year’s transfer of Devin Carter from North Carolina State, Brown believes he has the makings of an explosive pass game to go with the powerful running game that is built around Jaheim White, the top freshman runner in the nation this year with 792 yards, and CJ Donaldson.
On defense, some holes must be patched.
“Defensively, we need numbers at linebacker,” Brown said, noting that they are the kind of players that also fit in on special teams, an area that sprung several leaks as the season went on.
“The secondary is going to be the primary area we’re going to focus on in the portal,” Brown added. “We’d like to take a pass rusher as well, but the secondary is going to first and foremost.”
That is a song sung across college football.