Offensive lineman Walter Rauterkus put pen to paper and paper to fax on Wednesday and now it's official - he's a West Virginia Mountaineer.
The 6'-6" 285 pound offensive tackle is from Avon high school in Avon, Ohio. Rauterkus committed to the Mountaineers in late July and seems to have never seriously wavered in his college choice.
Unsurprisingly WVU offensive line coach Ron Crook led the recruitment effort, but there wasn't much of a crowd as Rauterkus received only one other FBS scholarship offer - from the University of Ohio.
Now I'll turn it over to Kevin Kinder over at BlueGoldNews.com who put together a nice little write-up on the prospect when he gave his verbal commitment last July:
Rauterkus moves well, having played tackle for his entire football career. Whether he stays at that position or slides inside at some point int he future remains to be seen, but he has the versatility to be an effective blocker in both the run and pass games, and has shown the ability to play consistently well as a left tackle in high school.
Rauterkus plays in a spread offense very similar to that of West Virginia's, down to some of the same running plays, so he won't be learning an entirely new look when he comes to WVU. That familiarity should allow him to concentrate on technique and strength improvement.
And if you would like to see the big man move quickly, here's some video: