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If you’ve been following West Virginia football recruiting for any amount of time, you’re probably well aware of The Legend of Tevita Finau. If you’re not, here’s a quick rundown:
Recruited heavily by the Mountaineers, Finau was a 6’5”, 275-pound defensive end from Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona. Finau was reported to run an impressive 4.8 forty-yard-dash time and, as a four-star recruit, was a key piece of Bill Stewart’s signing class in 2008. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the grades to graduate from Phoenix that year, and instead had to reclassify as a member of the 2009 signing class. Finau was expected to enroll on campus that summer, but when Fall camp rolled around he was nowhere to be found.
When Bill Stewart was questioned about Finau’s whereabouts, it was obvious that he didn’t know much more about the situation than anyone else. And that’s when the legend was born.
For almost a decade, Tevita Finau has been a running gag with Mountaineer fans across the Internet, essentially making him the Mountain State Bigfoot.
Today, Tevita Finau broke his silence.
I swear this last online class is almost done yall ♂️ best wishes to great state of WV and it's awesome football program. Praying to see them country roads one day again for a live game! Much love out to #MountaineerNation #HailWV
— Tevita Finau (@T_Finau92) December 18, 2019
The legend continues to grow.