MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's football team has begun officially signing players to the school's next football recruiting class, but by Wednesday evening the school still was not making any official announcements.
MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's football team has begun officially signing players to the school's next football recruiting class, but by Wednesday evening the school still was not making any official announcements.
On Wednesday, the Mountaineers received at least three official letters of intent from mid-year junior college players - wide receivers Ronald Carswell and Kevin White and safety Terrell Pinson. A fourth was expected from running back Dreamius Smith.
But by Wednesday night, the school had not released any information on the signings because it did not yet have Smith's letter. A school spokesman said the football coaching staff wanted to wait and announce all four together.
White and Pinson both acknowledged via Twitter that they had signed and returned their letters, while Carswell's school did the same through a story on its web site.
Early Wednesday night, Smith tweeted a picture of himself signing his LOI, but it wasn't clear if the football staff had received it.
Junior college players are eligible to sign letters of intent during a signing period that began Wednesday, provided they will be eligible to enroll at their four-year college for the spring semester. Those who must remain in junior college to complete their required courses in order to be eligible can sign in February with the high school recruits.
Pinson and Carswell were teammates this season at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi.
Pinson is a 6-3, 210-pound safety who originally agreed to attend Mississippi State as an invited walk-on and play wide receiver. He didn't qualify academically, so he enrolled at Itawamba and they converted him into a safety. He's listed as a three-star prospect by Scout.com.
MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's football team has begun officially signing players to the school's next football recruiting class, but by Wednesday evening the school still was not making any official announcements.
On Wednesday, the Mountaineers received at least three official letters of intent from mid-year junior college players - wide receivers Ronald Carswell and Kevin White and safety Terrell Pinson. A fourth was expected from running back Dreamius Smith.
But by Wednesday night, the school had not released any information on the signings because it did not yet have Smith's letter. A school spokesman said the football coaching staff wanted to wait and announce all four together.
White and Pinson both acknowledged via Twitter that they had signed and returned their letters, while Carswell's school did the same through a story on its web site.
Early Wednesday night, Smith tweeted a picture of himself signing his LOI, but it wasn't clear if the football staff had received it.
Junior college players are eligible to sign letters of intent during a signing period that began Wednesday, provided they will be eligible to enroll at their four-year college for the spring semester. Those who must remain in junior college to complete their required courses in order to be eligible can sign in February with the high school recruits.
Pinson and Carswell were teammates this season at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi.
Pinson is a 6-3, 210-pound safety who originally agreed to attend Mississippi State as an invited walk-on and play wide receiver. He didn't qualify academically, so he enrolled at Itawamba and they converted him into a safety. He's listed as a three-star prospect by Scout.com.
Carswell is a 6-foot, 180-pound wide receiver. He caught 44 passes for 429 yards last season while also returning punts and kickoffs. Scout.com gives him two stars.
White is a 6-3, 205-pound receiver from Lackawanna Community College in Pennsylvania. He is a two-star prospect, according to Scout.com, who caught 36 passes for 535 yards and six touchdowns this season.
Smith is a 5-foot-11, 220-pounder from Butler County (Kan.) Community College who is rated as a three-star prospect by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.
He rushed for 984 yards and 17 touchdowns in 11 games this season, averaging 8.2 yards per carry and helping the Grizzlies to the junior college national championship game. He missed that game, which Butler lost, because of a broken collarbone.
Smith was a star in high school in Wichita, Kan., rushing for more than 1,800 yards as a senior. He originally signed with Kansas, but did not qualify academically.
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1.
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