West Virginia got their first linebacker commitment for the 2011 recruiting class late Wednesday when Jared Barber picked the Mountaineers over offers from the likes of North Carolina State and Wake Forest.
Barber had been on campus recently, and he says the moment he left Morgantown he already knew he would be committing to WVU, but he needed one more visit to make it official. This time he brought along his mother, his brothers, and his best friend to be certain that he had each one’s stamp of approval before giving the coaching staff his word.
Full Article at: wvillustrated.com
Ern is the generalist of the group. He contributes original content, posts links to news articles, tracks all the developments in Morgantown, keeps his pulse on the Mountaineer fan nation, etc... he does it all. 
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We are in trouble….our recruiting class is terrible. Pitt is killing us. Looks like the Big East will soon be Pitts conference.
How in the world do you see this class as terrible? First off, it’s July! The class is not complete until February.
Second, what are you basing your assessment on? Recruiting site rankings? Since when did our coaches evaluations not matter? We really will have no idea how good or bad these kids are until 3-4 years down the road.
I thought 5 star recruit Jason Gwaltney would be an All-American, but that didn’t quite pan out, did it? I thought Reed Williams was a wasted scholarship, but I was wrong again. And so were the recruiting site rankings.
You just landed a solid recruit. If you were a true fan you would knoe how much the coaches wanted this kid. I mean being compared to Reed Williams is pretty special. Go watch his highlight film before you comment about this years or next years recruiting class.
Reed Williams was terrible last year. I am glad we are beating out the Wake Forests and Toledos with our committments. I was sort of over reacting on purpose. Does anyone have concerns about this so far? Pitt is hitting 4 star players and we are hitting 2 to 3 star players. I know what people are going to say about the stars…..but they are beating out some of the best football schools in the country. Is this part of the dont mention anything until Bill has met there parents things. Let not ignore the fact that we lost one of the best recruitors in the country….or so we called him that before he left. Please tell me how wrong I am. It would make me feel better.
Kind of an ironic statement by you: “Please tell me how wrong I am. It would make me feel better” since you’re here telling everyone how wrong our opinions are and how wrong the coaches are.
Reed Williams finished 4th on the team in tackles last year in 12 games played (one less than the 3 above him). He also had 6 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. I’m not sure what you’re definition of ‘terrible’ is, but I don’t see that as terrible at all.
We beat out Duke & Ball State for Mike Lorello, but that worked out pretty good didn’t it? How about Dan Mozes (Kentucky)? Was he terrible too? Eric Wicks and Vaughn Rivers had no other offers, but they turned out pretty well.
Aside from that…I’ll say it again…IT’S JULY! We don’t finish our class until February and we won’t know how good or bad any of these kids are until 3-4 years down the road.
I think Dave’s point is that its a little disconcerting to see other teams, especially Pitt, pulling away in terms of recruiting. Yes, it’s still early in the recruiting season, but if other schools are getting commitments at this point in the year, why aren’t we?
And, yeah, I know verbals aren’t worth all that much, but in the arms race that is college football recruiting, every little bit of hype helps.
Now, I’m certainly one that thinks too much thought is given to trying to hang a number of stars onto 17 and 18 year old kids. But, I do think there is at least some legitimacy to the rankings that certain sites come up with. (Otherwise, why would so many big name schools go after the 5 or 4 star kids? Coincidence?)
Bottom line, though, is that all the schools are judged by the same criteria when evaluating and ranking recruiting classes. And, looking at those criteria, it looks as though we’re getting beat… by Pitt.
Pitt has beat us in recruiting virtually every year over the past decade, at least according to the recruiting services. It hasn’t garnered that big of an advantage on the football field.
I was just looking for a little encouragement. The other point is that it is not like we arent going after the 4 stars and we evaluate different….we just arent getting the 4 and 5 stars.
Pat white 2 stars steve slaton 2 stars
This kid is a 3 star because he chose not to go to all the combines and camps. At 6’2 220lbs and has over 400 career tackles (and still has one more year to go) this kid fits the WVU football “mold” very well. Like others have said Slaton, White, Williams etc were all low star recruits. I mean once you enroll and start playing for your team all those stars go out the window. GREAT EXAMPLE. Look at Pitts starting running back. He was the 250th ranked player in PA. His only D1 offer was from Pitt. And right now he is starting over a 4 and a 5 star RB’s.
Sounds like the Pitt running back is well coached!
Since we have so much success with lower ranked recruits that leads me to believe that ours are well coached too.
Just a comment that the kid is well coached. We do the same with our guys. Ern you are a piece of work. You just cannot handle any comment other than what you want to hear or accept. I was not being negative about our program. And this is fair and balanced??
Sorry Rob – I took that as a shot on the program/our coaches. It seems like there is so much negativity surrounding the program right now that I feel like I have to be overly effusive in my support.
Honestly, I don’t understand all of the negativity. Had we come off of back to back 3 win seasons then perhaps I would understand. It just seems like there is a consensus that Stew can’t coach, can’t recruit, can’t do anything right. I’ve always been a glass half full kind of guy and instead of looking at the negative I try to see the positive in everything.
And I do think that our site is fair and balanced. I may be a tad on the optimistic side where as others who contribute may see things a bit differently. We’ll have a good balanced article about the coaching staff coming up in a week or so.
We always appreciate you weighing in with your opinion Rob.
Texas, LSU, USC, Ohio State…..they all build there National Champion type teams on 2 and 3 star? If these rankings are right 50% of the time….half of the 4 and 5 might be 2 or 3S, but that also so mean the 2 and 3S are going to be complete busts.
Notre Dame, Michigan, UCLA, Tennessee, FSU, Pitt, etc. always have highly ranked recruiting classes with 4/5 star recruits. What are they winning?
The way I see it, Stewart’s new recruiting tack is about graduating the players he gives scholarships to. The recruiting services do not factor in classroom performance in those star ratings, they should. How can a student athlete have a five star rating and not be able to qualify academically for college?
To further support Stewart’s stance on recruiting, check out this site,
http://oversigning.com/testing/index.php/about-2/
Stewart has chosen to walk the walk. The individuals represented by those stars are students first. As a parent, and grandparent, I am tired of seeing kids enter a program to play football, then leaving two/three/four years later without a degree. It may be old fashion, and it may not be popular, but football can be taken away in a flash, a degree from a university will help support that individual their entire life.
It is past time for the recruiting services to add class room performance to those star ratings. After all, these kids are student athletes. To those that choose to question Bill Stewart’s recruiting policies, maybe you should look in the mirror and ask yourself how you would feel if it were your children.
Classroom performance in football ability ratings!!!! That’s just ridiculous….we all pay thousands of dollars to pack Morgantown on Sundays to watch these guys study. Come on now! You could less if they are good students.
Actually, I care a great deal about whether student athletes graduate at WVU. While it may not be popular, Stewart’s intention of increasing that graduation rate only solidifies his acceptance by me.
I do not subscribe to the concept that increasing graduation rates equates to a decrease in on field performance. If anything, I believe the two go hand in hand. This years basketball team graduated all of its senior members, it also holds the record for most wins in a season. True, its only one year, but a perfect model for this debate.
Dave,
You are on track with your observations. Let’s take the 3,4 and 5 stars on this years team off the field and see what would happen. The football program is in a spiral downward. The people who want to argue with you are angry themselves but try to give themselves comfort by denying reality.
Back to back 9 win seasons and the program is in a downward spiral? Wow!
“People” aren’t angry, astonished over the lack of integrity maybe…
This time he brought along his mother, his brothers, and his best friend to be certain that he had each one’s stamp of approval before giving the coaching staff his word.