West Virginia inks 16 on early signing day, including No. 1 tackle in the state

West Virginia coach Neal Brown secured a promising 2021 recruiting class during early signing day Wednesday with several talented players from all over the country.

Offensive lineman Wyatt Milum (Kenova, W.Va.), wide receiver Kaden Prather (Germantown, Md.) and running backs Justin Johnson Jr. (Edwardsville, Ill.) and Jaylen Anderson (Perry, Ohio) highlighted the class as four-star recruits, according to Rivals.com, but the Mountaineers also signed several three-star prospects.

Rivals.com ranked the Mountaineers’ recruiting class as the 42nd best in the country as they brought in 16 signees, including two international players in defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen from Helsinki, Finland, and tight end Victor Wilkstrom from Uppsala, Sweden.

“I believe this is the first opportunity we’ve had relationship-wise during a traditional cycle, during a two-year run where you recruit guys,” Brown said Wednesday. “Our initial plan when we started building this class in January of 2019, we felt like this would be a class where we would make a splash nationally.”

The big name is Milum, a 6-foot-7, 280-pound force. He was the only player the Mountaineers were able to keep in state this season, but he’s a good one — a Sports Illustrated All-American ranked as a top-10 tackle in the nation.

He played at Spring Valley, where he racked up 198 knockdowns in his career and never allowed a sack.

He picked the Mountaineers over Alabama, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Florida State and Georgia, among others.

“They’ve done a really good job at Spring Valley of developing offensive linemen. I don’t know if there’s something in the water there or what, but they’ve had a lot of big kids come out of there, and Wyatt is the latest one,” Brown said. “He’s a kid that can be a longtime starter here at West Virginia and can be one of the high-level tackles in the Big 12. He was a must-get for us.”

Like Milum, Prather garnered national interest and picked the Mountaineers over Maryland, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona State and Auburn.

The 6-3, 210-pound wideout didn’t play this season because of covid-19, but he had 895 receiving yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. He also finished with 101 receiving yards in the Maryland state title game.

Brown and the Mountaineers might have started a trend with recruiting international players after bringing in cornerback Jairo Faverus from the Netherlands and then two more international players this season.

“We’re kind of in a trial run,” Brown said. “If the kids that we’ve signed pan out, I think you’ll see West Virginia be more active internationally, and I think there will be a trend across college football.”