In-state players providing strength in the trenches for the Mountaineers
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MORGANTOWN -- From his first day in Morgantown, WVU football head coach Neal Brown has talked about his desire to keep the best in-state talent here at home playing for the Mountaineers.
Now entering his fourth year at WVU, Brown has largely accomplished his goal with 16 in-state products currently listed on the team's roster heading into 2022 and at least a few more who should be added over the course of the summer.
The Mountain-staters are most prevalent in the trenches, where nine of the 16 make their home. Several of them project to be starters heading into next season, including Dante Stills (Fairmont Senior) and Zeiqui Lawton (South Charleston) on the defensive line and Zach Frazier (Fairmont Senior), Doug Nester (Spring Valley) and Wyatt Milum (Spring Valley) on the offensive line.
"I love it, I feel like our state breeds O-line and D-linemen," Stills said after participating in a youth football camp in Morgantown on Monday. "I love getting to compete against guys I never got to compete against in high school like Doug and Wyatt. Going against them every day makes them better and makes me better."
Stills predates Brown's time in Morgantown, joining the Mountaineers when his brother, Darius, was on the team in 2018. He said he has loved seeing more and more in-state products join the team in recent years.
"I try to tell people all the time that there's talent all over the state," Stills said. "I want, and all the guys just want, to give (current high schoolers) the motivation that they can (play in college), it's possible. I feel like sometimes they feel like it's impossible and I feel the opposite way."
"I think there's plenty of Division I talent (in West Virginia)," added Nester, who originally signed with Virginia Tech before transferring to WVU last year. "It just took a couple of people to open the doors before us and you can see all the kids in our areas who are getting recruited now. I think the talent's always been here but now it's really starting show."
Nester comes from a program at Spring Valley that has produced at least eight Division I scholarship players since 2015, including Milum and fellow lineman Bryce Biggs in 2021 and tight end Corbin Page this year.
"It's something very special," Nester said. "It's unique, you don't get many (Division I) kids coming out of the state, especially to play in the state and stay home."
Going to Virginia Tech and then returning to West Virginia has given Nester a unique perspective on what it means to play for WVU.
"It means a lot to play for my state, especially now being around people I grew up with," he said. "To us, living our dreams out playing college football is great."
Like Nester, Lawton originally left West Virginia as well, signing with Cincinnati out of high school. After a year with the Bearcats, however, he transferred back home to WVU.
Other players along the offensive line include Nick Malone (Morgantown), Jackson Oxley (Cabell-Midland) and Shawn See (Keyser). On the defensive line, there's also Bluefield's Sean Martin.
"I played against Dante and Zach my whole high school career so I've known them since sophomore year (of high school)," Martin said. "Having Wyatt, Nick Malone, Doug Nester, Zeiqui -- hopefully we can just continue to build and have more West Virginia athletes (on the team)."
Also listed on WVU's roster are Caden Biser (Morgantown), Owen Chafin (Spring Valley), Preston Fox (Morgantown), Casey Legg (Cross Lanes), Graeson Malashevich (Spring Valley), Markquan Rucker (Tyler Consolidated) and Wil Schoonover (Moorefield).