DE Xavier Pegues Is Officially A West Virginia Mountaineer

Defensive end Xavier Pegues is now a West Virginia Mountaineer. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds by Scout.com, the Mississippi native signed his letter of intent on Wednesday. Initially committed to Big 12 rival Iowa State, Pegues flipped his pledge to WVU in November and took no further initial visits after making the trek to Morgantown in late October.

Mountaineer nation welcome 2015 commitment Xavier Pegues to the football team pic.twitter.com/BGHrpG0975

— Dana Holgorsen (@Holgorsendana) February 4, 2015

Ranked as a 3-star prospect by all three major recruiting networks (Scout, Rivals, and 247), Pegues was primarily recruited by Mountaineer assistant coach JaJuan Seider. A native of Oxford, Miss., he did not academically qualify to play college football straight out of high school. As a result, he spent last season at Itawamba Community College in his home state in the hopes of drumming up interest from major programs. He succeeded, drawing an offer from California in addition to those he received from West Virginia and ISU. A host of smaller schools also offered Pegues a scholarship.

Depth at defensive end was a concern for WVU in this recruiting class, given the loss of Shaq Riddick, Brandon Golson, and Dontrill Hyman. Pegues has the physical size to compete for a spot in the rotation immediately, and his junior college experience should only help in that regard as well.

Here are some highlights from Pegues' high school career, courtesy of Hudl: