By Mark Pszonak
With action in the transfer portal slowing down, it is time to take a closer look at how each P4 school did during this cycle. Up now are the West Virginia Mountaineers
The skinny: Head coach Neal Brown was facing the firing squad coming into the 2023 season with a 22-25 record in his previous four seasons. However, that all changed in 2024 as the Mountaineers finished at 9-4, their most wins since 2016, and won the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina. Suddenly there is excitement back in Morgantown, especially since West Virginia returns a good portion of their important players from last season. And to further help the situation, Coach Brown used the portal to solidify a position of need, the secondary.
Total # entries into portal: 28
Total # of scholarship players who entered portal: 21
Number of scholarship players who withdrew: 0
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Key losses: DL Tomiwa Durojaiye (Florida State), DL Mike Lockhart (SMU)
Key additions: WR Jaden Bray (Oklahoma State), DB TJ Crandall (Colorado State), DB Ayden Garnes (Duquesne), DB Garnett Hollis Jr. (Northwestern), DB Jaheem Joseph (Northwestern)
Final thoughts: With Oklahoma and Texas now in the SEC, there is an opportunity for Big 12 teams to make a move up the ladder. After their 2023 season, the Mountaineers believe that could be them. While the team was already solid at several positions, such as offensive line, running back and linebacker, a couple received some fine-tuning through the portal. The biggest priority was the secondary, where TJ Crandall, Aydan Garnes, Garnett Hollis Jr. and Jaheem Joseph will all be battling during summer camp to solidify their spot on the depth chart. At wide receiver, Jaden Bray was brought in to further strengthen a promising group. 2024 will be an important season for the program and Coach Brown, as they will be trying to prove that 2023 was the start of something big and not just an abnormality.
