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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The first session of West Virginia UniversityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s summer school begins next week, and with it comes the enrollment of a large number of new Mountaineer student-athletes.

WVUÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team, which returns five players from last year (Seth Wilson, James Okonkwo, Jamel King, Kobe Johnson and Kedrian Johnson), welcomed junior college transfer Mohamed Wague (6-foot-10, 225 pounds) a couple of weeks ago. Additional newcomers for the menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team are expected to start their athletic and academic work at West Virginia this coming week. Erik Stevenson (6-4, 205), Josiah Harris (6-7, 210) and Pat Suemnick (6-8, 230) have each indicated that they are in the process of moving to Morgantown, and others will likely join them next week or in the near future.

As for West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s football team, all but a few scholarship members of Neal BrownÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s class of 2022 have now enrolled at WVU.

Thirteen newcomers entered the University this past week, including four transfers ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥“ linebacker Tirek Austin-Cave (6-1, 225) from Miami, safety Jasir Cox (6-1, 209) from North Dakota State, quarterback J.T. Daniels (6-3, 210) from Georgia and defensive back Wesley McCormick (6-0, 199) from James Madison.

New incoming freshmen from the high school ranks who enrolled this week are linebacker Raleigh Collins (6-3, 190), tight end C.J. Donaldson (6-2, 220), offensive lineman Charlie Katarincic (6-5, 285), linebacker Trey Lathan (6-2, 210), offensive linemen Landen Livingston (6-4, 290), tight end Corbin Page (6-5, 243), defensive lineman Asani Redwood (6-3, 260), defensive back Jacolby Spells (6-0, 185) and offensive lineman Sullivan Weidman (6-6, 300).

Two transfers enrolled at WVU earlier in May ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” defensive lineman Mike Lockhart (6-4, 305) from Georgia Tech and wide receiver Cortez Braham (6-2, 193) from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College.

West Virginia also had 14 mid-year enrollees this past January ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” freshman defensive back Mumu Bin-Wahad (5-11, 180), freshman defensive lineman Aric Burton (6-5, 215), Clemson transfer running back Lyn-J Dixon (5-10, 195), Murray State transfer defensive back Marcis Floyd (6-0, 188), Florida State transfer placekicker Parker Grothaus (6-2, 224), East Mississippi Community College transfer linebacker Lee Kpogba (6-2, 210), Cincinnati transfer defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton (6-3, 266), freshman quarterback Nicco Marchiol (6-3, 208), Jones County (Miss.) Junior College transfer safety Hershey McLaurin (6-2, 205), Colorado State transfer tight end Brian Polendey (6-5, 255), freshman defensive back Christion Stokes (6-0, 180), freshman punter Oliver Straw (6-2, 220), freshman wide receiver Jarel Williams (6-2, 185) and freshman defensive back Tyrin Woodby (6-0, 170).

With 29 football scholarship members of the class of 2022 now enrolled at WVU, there are just four commitments who have not arrived yet ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Navarro (Texas) Community College wide receiver Jeremiah Aaron (5-11, 190), freshman offensive linemen Maurice Hamilton (6-4, 335), Colorado State transfer defensive back Rashad Ajayi (5-11, 190) and Tyler (Texas) Junior College defensive back Jaylon Shelton (6-3, 190). ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s likely that any or all four of those will be at West Virginia soon, though they are not enrolled yet.

West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown has announced that Wesley McCormick, a 6-foot, 199-pound, fifth-year senior defensive back from Germantown, Maryland, has signed a grant-in-aid and will transfer to WVU from James Madison University. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Last year at JMU, McCormick played in one game and then redshirted to keep his last season of eligibility.

In 2020, McCormick started seven games for the Dukes, recording 20 tackles (16 unassisted) and intercepting three passes to tie for the CAA lead.

Two of those interceptions came in the FCS playoffs against VMI and North Dakota.

As a junior, McCormick made 11 starts and had 22 tackles, including one for loss against West Virginia.

He recorded 10 tackles as a sophomore and played on special teams as a freshman.

McCormick has already completed his bachelor's degree in sport and recreation management at JMU.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” I'm going to ask you, for a moment, to move out of the here and now and drift back into your almost a half year ago or so, to the days when 2021 was thankfully morphing into 2022.

You, as a West Virginia football fan, remember that time for the gloom that lay over our school, our area, our state.

Minnesota had just administered an embarrassing beating to the Mountaineers, leaving them limping into the new year with a losing record. What's more, the transfer portal was leaking such a gusher of talent out of town that even Josephine the Plumber of the famous Comet cleanser ads of the 1970s couldn't stop it.

It was clear that Neal Brown's job was in jeopardy, as much for the attitude that was surrounding the program than for the results, which one could explain away as caused more by the circumstances Brown encountered than by anything he had done to create the situation.

We ask you to think back to it today because Brown and his staff ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” either his coaching staff or his public relations staff ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” had performed a miracle and pumped enthusiasm, expectations and euphoria into the mix.

West Virginia was no longer looked down upon itself but instead beginning to build the belief that things were on the upswing they had expected within two or three years after Brown had taken the job from Dana Holgorsen.

We have just passed 100 days before West Virginia has a rare Thursday night opening game while renewing the Backyard Brawl at Heinz Field.

All of a sudden, that is not a beating waiting to happen but a matchup against a team that sent the first quarterback of the draft into the NFL and that is the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion.

It is a game that has Mountaineer faithful wondering how in the world their team is a 6.5-point underdog rather complaining about being an underdog to Pitt and that is making plans to drive the 80 miles up the interstate with enthusiasm and, as important, confidence.

Rather than bleeding to death out the portal, WVU suddenly is being viewed as a place where talent is being infused into the system ... and not just for this coming season but for the future.

Think about it for a moment, how precise Brown and his staff were in pinpointing the areas of need and addressing them.

How did it happen?

It may have begun with Dante Stills decision to stay for a final year no one expected to see him play, clinging to that decision despite the fact that his D-line terror twin Akheem Mesidor and the hard and mean tackling machine at middle linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo had departed.

That screamed out that things may not be as bad as they looked in Morgantown and when Brown decided that he not only wasn't the one who had the answers to running the offense himself, he made what had to be a popular choice.

Graham Harrell had proven himself as a big-time, big time quarterback in his days at Texas Tech, then had gone into the coaching business and showed himself to be adaptive and innovative in his approach, winding up at Southern California, where he gave a bad team a good offense.

He was engaging, energetic, enthusiastic, but most of all, he believed he could produce an offense that would score points the way they had under Dana Holgorsen on his best day and Rich Rodriguez on his worst day. He got tired Mountaineer hearts beating again when he was talking of trying to score every time the team had the ball.

To do that, though, he needed more than just a scheme. What Brown knew and had to be counting on was that Harrell was coming with strings attached, one of those strings to a one-time 5-star recruit at quarterback named JT Daniels.

He had coached him as a freshman at Southern Cal, had him win the starting job and go unbeaten as a starter until injured.

He never got the job back, so he transferred. But he didn't go to Georgia Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” no disrespect meant. He went to the only Georgia school that really counts, the one state university in Athens, the one wearing national championship rings.

He was much a part of that.

However, the injury bug bit him again, so he moved on. And, funny thing, he had Harrell's number and Harrell had his.

Visions of Will Grier or Geno Smith in an Air Raid offense returned to WVU fans, knowing what those two did under Holgorsen.

If Daniels stays injury free and has what everyone saw in him though high school and two major college programs, Brown has himself a man who can deal ... someone to go with maturing, dangerous receivers.

Recent days have seen Brown address defensive deficiencies, especially in the secondary. Defensive backs are making pilgrimages to Morgantown as if were a defensive Mecca.

The latest, Rashad Ajayi, a senior corner transfer from Colorado State, signed on Friday, three days after they beat out TCU for cornerback Jaylon Shelton of Tyler (Texas) Community College and landed a third cornerback transfer in Wesley McCormick of James Madison.

And all that was just the appetizer before the main course as they collared their No. 1 recruiting target of the year and one ranked sixth among all recruits WVU has had since people were ranking recruits as Rodney Gallagher ... not for this class, but for 2023.

Gallagher is ranked the 97th top prospect in the nation, a wildly athletic and wiry 5-11 and 160-pound receiver who also has starred at defensive back, quarterback and on the basketball court.

One does not like to put pressure on kids still in high school, but if you happen to be thinking Tavon Austin when this receiver/kick returner's name is mentioned, no one connected with WVU will try to talk you out of it.

If Brown has performed the transformation he set out to this year and moves his team into Big 12 contention, Gallagher's presence for next year well may lift them into a recruiting area they had not seen since Rodriguez was building his great teams of the 2000s.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Last week linebacker Tirek Austin-Cave revealed his intention to transfer from Miami (Fla.) to West Virginia. On Monday, WVU confirmed the official signing of the 6-foot-1, 225-pound sophomore.

A native of Pennsauken, New Jersey, Austin-Cave is the ninth transfer from a Division I college to sign with the Mountaineers as part of their class of 2022. Running back Lyn-J Dixon (Clemson), defensive back Marcis Floyd (Murray State), placekicker Parker Grothaus (Florida State), defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton (Cincinnati) and tight end Brian Polendey all enrolled at WVU in January and went through spring practice with coach Neal BrownÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s program.

Austin-Cave, safety Jasir Cox (North Dakota State), quarterback J.T. Daniels and defensive lineman Mike Lockhart (Georgia Tech) signed grants-in-aid with WVU in the last month, and each is expected to arrive in Morgantown in the next few weeks.

Austin-Cave, who has three seasons of college eligibility remaining, spent the past two years at Miami. He played in nine games at UM in 2020 as a true freshman, seeing most of his action on special teams. He finished the season with nine tackles, including two unassisted stops.

As a redshirt freshman in 2021, Austin-Cave again saw a majority of his game action for the Hurricanes on special teams. He played in eight games and recorded five tackles, including two in the regular-season finale against Duke.

A three-star prospect coming out of Camden (N.J.) High School, Austin-Cave picked Miami over an offer list that also included West Virginia, Baylor, Minnesota, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, Nebraska and others.

He had 148 tackles, 11 sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt as a senior in high school in 2019, leading Camden to the New Jersey Central Group 2 championship game. The inside linebacker earned first-team all-conference, first-team All-South Jersey and first-team all-state honors in his senior season.

Austin-Cave is expected to be used at middle linebacker by the Mountaineers, where heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll compete for playing time with Lee Kpogba, a junior college transfer who enrolled at WVU in January.

The Mountaineers still have two scholarships to available for the class of 2022, and both will almost certainly go to transfers, according to WVUÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coaches. Brown has indicated previously that West Virginia needs to add more depth at cornerback, so at least one of the scholarships is expected to go to a player at that position.

With the other grant-in-aid, WVU will apparently target an offensive lineman, a wide receiver, an edge rusher or maybe even another defensive back.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Last week linebacker Tirek Austin-Cave revealed his intention to transfer from Miami (Fla.) to West Virginia. On Monday, WVU confirmed the official signing of the 6-foot-1, 225-pound sophomore.

A native of Pennsauken, New Jersey, Austin-Cave is the ninth transfer from a Division I college to sign with the Mountaineers as part of their class of 2022. Running back Lyn-J Dixon (Clemson), defensive back Marcis Floyd (Murray State), placekicker Parker Grothaus (Florida State), defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton (Cincinnati) and tight end Brian Polendey all enrolled at WVU in January and went through spring practice with coach Neal BrownÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s program.

Austin-Cave, safety Jasir Cox (North Dakota State), quarterback J.T. Daniels and defensive lineman Mike Lockhart (Georgia Tech) signed grants-in-aid with WVU in the last month, and each is expected to arrive in Morgantown in the next few weeks.

Austin-Cave, who has three seasons of college eligibility remaining, spent the past two years at Miami. He played in nine games at UM in 2020 as a true freshman, seeing most of his action on special teams. He finished the season with nine tackles, including two unassisted stops.

As a redshirt freshman in 2021, Austin-Cave again saw a majority of his game action for the Hurricanes on special teams. He played in eight games and recorded five tackles, including two in the regular-season finale against Duke.

A three-star prospect coming out of Camden (N.J.) High School, Austin-Cave picked Miami over an offer list that also included West Virginia, Baylor, Minnesota, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, Nebraska and others.

He had 148 tackles, 11 sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt as a senior in high school in 2019, leading Camden to the New Jersey Central Group 2 championship game. The inside linebacker earned first-team all-conference, first-team All-South Jersey and first-team all-state honors in his senior season.

Austin-Cave is expected to be used at middle linebacker by the Mountaineers, where heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll compete for playing time with Lee Kpogba, a junior college transfer who enrolled at WVU in January.

The Mountaineers still have two scholarships to available for the class of 2022, and both will almost certainly go to transfers, according to WVUÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coaches. Brown has indicated previously that West Virginia needs to add more depth at cornerback, so at least one of the scholarships is expected to go to a player at that position.

With the other grant-in-aid, WVU will apparently target an offensive lineman, a wide receiver, an edge rusher or maybe even another defensive back.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” NCAA rules ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” what few there seemingly are anymore ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” maintain that if a transfer wants to be immediately eligible at his/her new school next fall, that student-athlete must enter the transfer portal by May 1.

Thus, you can expect a flurry of transfer movement throughout the college ranks in the upcoming days. That includes further activity from West Virginia University, though the Mountaineers have already sustained plenty of to and fro in terms of transfers in the past eight months. There have been 20 departures in football, five in menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball and four in womenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball in that time.

Of course, the portal is a two-way avenue, and Mountaineer football has already added seven transfers. Running back Lyn-J Dixon, defensive back Marcis Floyd, placekicker Parker Grothaus, defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton and tight end Brian Polendey enrolled at WVU in January and will soon be joined by linebacker/safety Jasir Cox and quarterback J.T. Daniels, with five more scholarships available for other transfers.

MenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball has picked up transfer guards Erik Stevenson and Joe Toussaint, while on the womenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s side, new coach Dawn Plitzuweit has picked up guard Kyah Watson and forward Kylee Blacksten.

Seven players from this past yearÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s 15-15 WVU womenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s team (Isis Beh, Jayla Hemingway, Messiah Hunter, J.J. Quinerly, Wynter Rogers, Savannah Samuel and Madisen Smith) are still listed on the roster, so add those with the two transfer signees and Plitzuweit has room for six more newcomers. (NCAA rules allow Division I womenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball teams to award a total of 15 scholarships, while menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s teams have a maximum of 13.)

Bob HugginsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s squad still has space for at least one more addition, and while he and his staff have been involved with many transfer prospects in the past month, two more who recently entered the portal are worth keeping an eye on.

Emmitt Matthews (6-foot-7, 215 pounds) spent the first three years of his college career at WVU before transferring to Washington last summer. He started 31 games for the 17-15 Huskies during the 2021-22 season and was second on the team in scoring (11.7 points per game) and rebounding (4.7 rebounds per game) while hitting 40 of 119 3-point attempts (33.6%).

His best season with the Mountaineers was 2020-21, when he averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds and made 30% of his threes (15 of 50). He started 67 of the 92 games he played in during his three season at WVU before returning closer to his hometown of Tacoma, Washington, last year. Now Matthews has decided to leave the UW program, and donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be shocked if he comes back to WVU. In todayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s world, nothing is definite until itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s definite, but his return to the Mountaineers appears to be a possibility.

Another player with ties to the state of West Virginia has recently entered the transfer portal, and heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s already been linked with WVU. David Jones (6-6, 195) is a native of the Dominican Republic who spent the final two years of his prep career at Teays Valley Christian. From there, he signed with DePaul over offers from Virginia Tech, Georgia, Houston, Cincinnati, Louisville and others and enrolled at the Big East school in January of 2021.

He played in nine games for the Blue Demons in that first, abbreviated season, averaging 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds. As a redshirt freshman this past season, JonesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ numbers exploded. He was second at DePaul, which finished with a record of 15-16, in scoring (14.5 points per game) and also led the squad in rebounding (7.4 per game) and steals (1.7 per game).

Jones, who was a top 150 prospect coming out of Teays Valley Christian, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, and within 24 hours he already had drawn interest from not only WVU but also Oregon, Ohio State, Maryland, Illinois and others.

As Huggins looks to rebuild his squad, which was 16-17 in 2021-22, Matthews and Jones are two transfers worth watching.

While West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s athletic programs are concentrating on filling holes, those who have left have been announcing their new homes.

From menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball, Taj Thweatt (Coastal Carolina), Seny NÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Diaye (South Carolina Upstate), Jalen Bridges (Baylor) and Sean McNeil (Ohio State) have revealed their destinations, leaving Isaiah Cottrell as West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s only portal entrant who hasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t declared a landing spot yet.

For WVUÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s womenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team, Kari Niblack (Georgia) and Esmery Martinez (LSU) have recently announced their transfer decisions, while JeAnna Cunningham and KK Deans have not yet revealed their choices.

From the Mountaineer football team, outgoing transfer linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo, linebacker James Thomas and tight end Charles Finley have not yet announced new destinations, but defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor (Miami), defensive back Nicktroy Fortune (UTSA), defensive back Daryl Porter (Miami), wide receiver Isaiah Esdale (Rice), wide receiver Sean Ryan (Rutgers), defensive back Jackie Matthews (Mississippi State), wide receiver Winston Wright (Florida State), quarterback Jarret Doege (Western Kentucky), tight end T.J. Banks (Akron), linebacker VanDarius Cowan (Maryland), offensive lineman Parker Moorer (East Carolina), wide receiver Sam Brown (Houston), running back AÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Varius Sparrow (Middle Tennessee), linebacker Devell Washington (Northern Iowa), defensive lineman Darel Middleton (Alabama A&M), defensive back K.J. Martin (Akron) and defensive lineman Eddie Watkins (Alabama A&M) have all announced new their new schools.

The portal on-ramp will remain busy through May 1, and the off-ramp will continue to have a steady flow through the summer.