WVU 2009 FOOTBALL RECRUTING CLASS PLAYER PROFILES

By Matt Whitfield



Shawne Alston, RB

Could be a short yardage back next year.

“He’s a big, strong back,” Bill Stewart said. “He has had some great accolades against great football.”

Had other offers from Penn State, Illinois, Maryland, and East Carolina.


Tavon Austin, RB

Heralded record holding Maryland back could follow in Slaton’s and Devine’s footsteps.

“Lonnie Galloway went into Baltimore and knocked them out,” Stewart said. “He established a great relationship with Tavon. He can go any direction and is lightning in a bottle. He’s special.” Austin also runs a 4.4 40.

Boston College, Michigan, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Rutgers also were in the hunt.


Stedman Bailey, WR

Bailey caught 68 passes for 1,163 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior from his teammate and soon also to be Mountaineer Eugene Monroe.

Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, South Carolina, Rutgers, and Ole Miss also offered.


Cole Bowers, OL

One of three in-state players that chose to dawn the blue and gold.

Virginia and Marshall also offered.


Branko Busick, LB

Another in-state recruit. Also the son of a former WWE wrestler. Busick himself was a standout wrestler and football player in high school.


Darwin Cook, S

High school teammate of Mountaineer basketball player Will Thomas. Accounted for 99 tackles, 20 sacks and six forced fumbles his senior season at Shaw High School.

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Dominik Davenport, DT

Phoebus teammate of Shawne Alston.

Also had offers from Florida State, Virginia, and Maryland.


Pat Eger, OL

His Thomas Jefferson team rushed for more than 3,500 yards and almost 50 touchdowns with the help of Eager.

Also had offers from Pittsburgh and Maryland.


Curtis Feight, OL

Native of Germany, started playing American football his junior year at Mercersburg Academy. Accounted for 41 tackles, five-and-a-half sacks, eight tackles for loss and four breakups at Mercersburg.


Tevita Finau, DE

Rated as one of the best JUCO prospects and is expected to see playing time immediately.

Also had offers from the Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Tennessee, California, and Oregon.


Terence Garvin, DB

Named to Maryland All State team. Also RB at Loyola High School in Baltimore.

Also had offers from Boston College, Maryland, Virginia, Syracuse, and NC State.


Daquan Harquett, RB

Bill Stewart sees the 4.5 running Harquett as a speedy tailback with great change-of-direction ability.

Also held offers from Clemson, Minnesota, Iowa State, and South Florida.


Logan Heastie, WR

The best player in the Mountaineer recruiting class?

Is currently enrolled for the spring semester. Participant of the ESPN Under Armour All-American Game. Finished with 58 receptions and 886 yards with nine touchdowns his senior year at Great Bridge High School.

The 6-foot-3, 192-pound, 4.3 40 running WR turned down offers from Florida, Alabama, Penn State, and Virginia Tech.


Broderick Jenkins, CB

Had 48 tackles, four interceptions and nine pass breakups while totaling close to 400 yards on kick returns, including eight touchdowns his senior season at South Fort Myers High School.

Also held offers from Wisconsin, Boston College, Iowa, Pittsburgh, and South Florida.


Nick Kindler, OL

Two-time AP Class-AA first-team all-state member. ACL injury kept him out his junior season.

Also held offers from Boston College, Rutgers, Illinois, and Virginia.


Deon Long, WR

Had 35 catches for 840 yards and nine touchdowns his senior season at Dunbar High School. Amassed 95 receptions for 2,072 yards and 22 touchdowns in three seasons at Dunbar.

Turned down offers from Michigan State, Illinois, and Maryland.


Pat Miller, DB

Ranked as the 15th best prospect in Alabama by the Birmingham News. Had 64 tackles and a team-leading five interceptions his senior year.

Miller also received offers from Oregon, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma State.


Taige Redman, LB

Had 56 tackles, 12 of which for a loss his senior year at Keyser in High School.


Jonathan Scott, DB

6’4 DB who had 40 tackles and one interception his senior year at Seabreeze. Scott should see playing time next year.

Also received offers from Alabama, Michigan, Florida State, Illinois, and Clemson.


Eugene Smith, QB

The Parade All American was ranked the third best prospect in Florida. Smith completed 66 percent of his pass attempts for 3,089 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior.

“He’s going to bring some exciting times to West Virginia,” Stewart said. “In terms of character, he’s everything we’re looking for.”

Also had offers from Florida, Michigan, Alabama, Clemson, Oregon, Florida State, and Miami.


Chris Snook, FB

Top ranked fullback. The 6’3 220 pound Snook will leave Highland High School with nearly 4,000 rushing yards including 1,851 as a senior.

“He’s everything we want,” Stewart said. “But we’ll find out how good he is when he has to block (WVU defensive lineman) Chris Nield.”

Also had offers from Wake Forest and Cincinnati.


Ryan Spiker, OL

The 6-foot-4 offensive lineman helped his Tri-Valley High School team average 32.5 points a game in 2008.

Wake Forest, Cincinnati, and Michigan State also offered.


Jordan Weingart, OL

Earned Florida Class-5A first-team honors in back-to-back seasons and was selected as the Gainesville Sun Class 3A-6A Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2008.

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2010 PROSPECT PROFILE: KYLE BAUBLITZ

By Matt Whitfield


While Western Pennsylvania gets the most attention for football, the state still produces some great teams and players outside that area. This would include schools like Bishop McDevitt and Liberty, and players like Marvin Harrison, Joe Klecko and Chuck Bednarik to name a few.

Pennsylvania’s next biggest high school player though could come out of fairly uncharted territory. Kyle Baublitz, is a 6’5, 255 pound junior tight end out of Central York High School.

Despite only being a junior, Baublitz, according to his coach Brad Livingston, already holds offers from WVU, Boston College, Pitt, Clemson, UCONN, Illinois, Temple, Virginia and Stanford.

A year ago, it was Wayne Tribue putting Central York on the map when he committed to Temple. A year from now Kyle can perhaps mark Central York as a known entity when he makes his college choice on national signing day.

Baublitz is a rare entity and as Coach Livingston puts it, “Kyle has size and athleticism. He has a great frame and the versatility to play a variety of positions. “

It also is no surprise either that Kyle has started since his freshman season at Central York, and currently is very strong for his age as he can bench 185 pounds 14 times, and squat 225 pounds 16 times.

In his college recruitment, “Kyle has indicated to me that he is looking for strong academic programs, a ‘feels like home’ environment and the chance to play for a great football program,” said Coach Livingston.

Baublitz in the next month will be in the process of coordinating junior day visits where he has received invitations, and later on this summer he’ll visit more schools. As Coach Livingston put it, “he is focused on making an informed decision.”

For all his accolades, Baublitz is still just a junior in high school. Central York was a 10-2 team this past year in which Baublitz was a great tight end and stout anchor on the middle of the defense. This year Central York has a good nucleus of players coming back; however, the offensive line has to be rebuilt and so Baublitz should see playing time in different areas.

As Coach Livingston sees it though, “Kyle will make us a strong football team.”

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NICK KINDLER COMMITS TO WEST VIRGINIA FOOTBALL PROGRAM

August 1, 2008


Trinity High of Camp Hill (PA) sends another player to the Division 1-A football ranks as 6'6, 280 lb offensive lineman Nick Kindler commits to West Virginia. The Pennsylvania Lineman Becomes the 14th Commitment for WVU (Daily Mail) and new coach Bill Stewart.

Kindler, who projects as an offensive tackle, chose WVU over offers from schools such as Connecticut, Rutgers, Maryland and Virginia, and picked WVU after narrowing his final list to include Illinois and Boston College.

Elsewhere in WVU football...

West Virginia Associate Head Coach Doc Holliday is Back Where He Belongs (Daily Mail) on the WVU sidelines. The highly coveted assistant landed a spot on the WVU staff after interviewing for the head coach opening after Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan. While Bill Stewart was given the head coaching vacancy, and the $800K that went with it, Holliday accepted the job as the #1 assistant and his $400K annual salary is a big reason why the WVU staff is the highest paid in the conference. Holliday is from Hurricane High in WV and a former player that has made his mark as one of the nation's top assistants on the recruiting scene with his work at NC State and Florida before coming back home on Stewart's staff.

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