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For the West Virginia Mountaineers, the 2018 recruiting class has the potential to be a game-changer. Capitalizing on the 10-win season from 2016, the coaches - from cornerbacks coach Doug Belk to receivers coach Tyron Carrier to Tony Gibson and Jake Spavital - have all helped bring in recruits who are highly rated.
The gem of the class is Alliquippa safety Kwantel Raines. Raines, who was courted by a host of Power 5 schools, including his home state Penn State Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh Panthers, gave an indication on Twitter that Christmas won’t be December 25th but actually December 20th.
100% committed and will be signing December 20th to make it official #Dawgs pic.twitter.com/mbyp7wv2H7
— Telly Mac (@KwantelRaines) December 12, 2017
If you have followed me or the Musket on Twitter, you know that recruiting class is extremely tight. It isn’t uncommon for the first recruit of a class to try and bring others to his school but generally once the class starts filling up, recruits are busy with their high school seasons. This class however has remained close and upbeat, often retweeting each others highlights along with tweeting at potential classmates to join them in building something special at WVU.
Kwantel’s decision should be considered the cherry on top of a spectacular recruiting season. Most of the current class is expected to sign early on December 20th when high school recruits are allowed to sign with their prospective schools. Kwantel was considered a bit of a wildcard since he was such a highly rated safety from a talent rich area that does not often bring players to WVU. Also in play for Kwantel was the recent news that Penn State commit Ishem Young was recently charged with robbing a Wawa convenience store.
West Virginia fans and coaches would be right to be nervous about Raines flipping to his home state college but Raines has remained committed to the ‘Eers. Only 9 more days until Dana and the ‘Eers are looking at the future that could include Dravon Askew-Henry, Kenny Robinson and Kwantel Raines in the secondary, Dante Stills and Lamonte McDougle on the line and Will Grier handing off the Leddie Brown.