West Virginia Football Recruiting: National Signing Day Real Time Updates, Live Map and Open Thread

Welcome to National Signing Day!

We’ll be kicking things off bright and early, as the top remaining high school and junior college athletes make their commitments official. The faxes are being dusted off, Twitter is fired up and probably already rocking with rumors and breaking news.

The West Virginia Mountaineers coaching staff will be finishing off what is considered their best recruiting class to date, and arguably one of the program’s best classes since National Signing Day really became a thing.

While this National Signing Day is expected to be a tame one for West Virginia, that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty going on. Think of this article as homebase for all things #TakeMeHome18 and check back frequently for updates, news, and fresh links. In addition to the live coverage, please consider this your OPEN THREAD to talk about everything National Signing Day in the comments!

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We’ve broken this National Signing Day Command Center into 3 sections below:

• National Signing Day News: This is where we’ll continuously put any big news, rumors, or important tidbits. Just like the Big Board, this will be updated all day and will include links to new articles about National Signing Day topics.
• Big Board: This section shows which verbal commits have already signed, who we’re still waiting on, and notes about anyone of interest that may have signed with someone other than the Mountaineers. We’ll be keeping it up to date all day and you’ll be able to find links to our commitment capsules for each signee.
• Live Map: We’ve set up an interactive map with each West Virginia target, and will be keeping it updated as the signings roll in. You can click on each recruits name, or marker on the map, for quick info.

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If work is keeping you from staying glued to The Smoking Musket today, be sure to follow us on Twitter or our Facebook page. When a story goes on the site it’ll be tweeted out and we’ll get it on Facebook too. If you’re tight on time, I’d suggest following along on Facebook for the most straight forward information. If you’re joining us on Twitter, and already follow us, I’m sure you know we have a tendency to go a little off the rails

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National Signing Day News

News is in reverse chronological order. All times listed below are Eastern Time, as God intended.

• 4:45 PM: Tavis Lee has signed a National Letter of Intent but, as I noted in the previous update, West Virginia will hold his signing to make sure his grades are in order before making it official.
• 4:00 PM: Emmitt Gooden has signed with Tennessee.
• 2:30 PM: Taymon Cooke (Graham H.S., Bluefield, VA) and Jayce Rogers (Valdosta H.S., Valdosta, GA) have both signed National Letters of Intent during ceremonies at their schools, but it is unlikely that West Virginia will make their signings official by accepting the NLI’s and announcing them as part of this class.

Cooke and Rogers will both be part of this recruiting class, provided they can fix whatever academic issues both are facing. At that time, West Virginia will make the signings official and will announce their signings. The ball is in their court. The same scenario applies to Tavis Lee (Martinsburg H.S., Martinsburg, WV).

Aussie punter Angus Davies is a slightly different issue. Davies will have to jump through hoops to get his visa, but is expected to be on campus this summer.

• 11:30 AM: West Virginia has received National Letters of Intent for Mike and Joe Brown, who were the only two athletes we knew for sure would be signing today. There is still the possibility for some last minute surprises. Stay tuned!
• 10:00 AM: In a somewhat surprising move, Shaquon Anderson-Butts has signed with Iowa Western Community College. Anderson-Butts had been committed to Penn State for a while, but there was some hope on West Virginia fans’ end that he would end up in Morgantown due to grade issues.

Early Signing Period News (December 20, 2017)

Here are the key takeaways from West Virginia’s early signing period that was held at the end of December.

• 8:25 PM: Leddie Brown’s LOI is in, and that will wrap things up until February for the Mountaineers. Stick with The Smoking Musket between now and then, and we’ll keep you updated on any new names that pop up.
• 5:30 PM: Dillon Spalding has signed his letter of intent. We’re just waiting on Leddie Brown now.
• 12:30 PM: Things are starting to wrap up. We’re only waiting on Dillon Spalding and Leddie Brown, at this point. We don’t have a specific time for Spalding’s signing, but Brown is scheduled to sign at 7PM this evening.
• 10:55 AM: Kwantel Raines is officially in, and Ohio State has announced Alex Williams’ signing.
• 10:30 AM: Kwantel Raines has signed his Letter of Intent, we’re just waiting on WVU to announce the signing.
• 9:40 AM: While nothing has been announced by Ohio State yet, Alex Williams just retweeted this:

• 9:00 AM: Dominique Harrison just signed with Arizona State. Many of us believed he would flip his commitment and sign with West Virginia today.
• 8:35 AM: There’s one of the big ones we’ve been waiting for! Dante Stills is officially a Mountaineer.
• 8:20 AM: We got off to a slow start, but the faxes are finally starting to roll in!
• 7:40 AM: West Virginia gets their first signed National Letter of Intent from Josh Chandler
• 6:30 AM: The faxes have been pulled out of the closets and are ready for the National Letters of Intent to come rolling in!

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The Big Board

Signed with West Virginia During Early Signing Period

• Dante Stills, Defensive End
• Kwantel Raines, Safety
• Leddie Brown, Running Back
• Josh Norwood, Defensive Back (Early Enrollee)
• Skyler Simcox, Kicker
• TJ Banks, Tight End
• Mike O’Laughlin, Tight End
• Josh Chandler, Linebacker (Early Enrollee)
• Bryce Wheaton, Wide Receiver
• Sam James, Wide Receiver
• Briason Mays, Offensive Guard (Early Enrollee)
• James Gmiter, Defensive Tackle
• Randy Fields, Wide Receiver
• Blaine Scott, Offensive Tackle (Early Enrollee)
• Oyenmwen “Junior” Uzebu, Offensive Tackle
• Woodrow “Trey” Lowe, Quarterback (Early Enrollee)
• Keith Washington, Cornerback (Early Enrollee)
• Charlie Benton, Linebacker (Early Enrollee)
• Tyrese Allen, Defensive Tackle
• Dillon Spalding, Wide Receiver
• Mike Brown, Offensive Line
• Joe Brown, Offensive Line

Not Expected To Officially Sign, But Expected To Be A Part Of ‘18 Class

• Jayce Rogers, Cornerback
• Taymon Cooke, Cornerback
• Tavis Lee, Defensive End
• Angus Davies, Kicker

Signed Elsewhere

• Alex Williams, Defensive End - Signed Letter of Intent with Ohio State
• Dominique Harrison, Cornerback - Signed Letter of Intent with Arizona State
• Marlon Character, Jr., Safety - Signed Letter of Intent with Louisville
• Jairus Brents, Cornerback - Signed Letter of Intent with Louisville
• Shaquon Anderson-Butts, Athlete - Signed Letter of Intent to play at Iowa Western C.C.
• Emmit Gooden, Defensive Tackle - Signed Letter of Intent with Tennessee

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Live Map