West Virginia has officially - some might say finally - jumped into the pursuit for George Washington running back and Kennedy Award winner Ryan Switzer.

Switzer posted on his Twitter account Saturday that WVU had become the latest school to offer him a scholarship, joining 10 other Division I football programs to make that commitment.

"It's exciting,'' Switzer said in a telephone interview. "I'm fortunate, and I'm happy that it came.''

The other schools offering Switzer so far are Florida State, Penn State, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Bowling Green, Ohio, Marshall, Purdue, Duke and Vanderbilt. Additional schools showing a lot of interest are Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Switzer said he is also scheduled to meet with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer today in Columbus, Ohio.

In his first full season as the featured running back for the Patriots, Switzer gained 2,796 yards on the ground and ran for 40 touchdowns as GW reached the Class AAA championship game. Prior to that, he served as a hybrid receiver-runner.

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.