Brown Giving West Virginia Athletes A Chance To Compete

Feb 8, 2024

MORGANTOWN, WV—Did you ever wonder why some former Mountaineer football coaches may have avoided recruiting athletic talent from West Virginia? For instance, former WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen was quoted “We weren’t going to get high school kids at West Virginia that we were going to win the Big 12 with.”

Whether you like Coach Neal Brown or not, he is apparently looking for athletic talent in the state of West Virginia. Last season’s 2023 roster had at least 20 in-state athletes. For example, last week it was reported that Martinsburg, WV athlete Murphy Clement, has committed to WVU. Murphy is the younger brother of Hudson Clement. Murphy’s brother (Hudson) was a walk-on who earned a scholarship. Murphy decided to take the same road as his brother.

You can see highlight film of Murphy Clement here.

Murphy was the Gatorade Player of the Year in West Virginia. He made the decision to accept a preferred walk-on opportunity after weighing his two finalists, WVU or Shepherd. When Murphy visited Morgantown in January, the trip served to help him make his decision. “After I visited WVU, I knew it was home,” he said. During his senior season he helped to lead the Bulldogs to another state championship and passed for 1673 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 1128 yards and 20 more scores.

With this kind of in-state talent available, Brown is seemingly able to build a solid team that can compete on the big stage. Many West Virginia boys made an impact on the 9-4 winning season. Brown and his coaching staff are giving West Virginia athletes a chance to follow their dreams at home.

Many fans are anxiously looking ahead to the 2024 season with high hopes.

2024 WVU Football Schedule:

Aug. 31 Penn State

Sept 7 Albany

Sept 14 at Pitt

Sept. 21 Kansas

Oct. 5 at Oklahoma State

Oct. 12 Iowa State

Oct. 19 Kansas State

Oct. 26 at Arizona

Nov. 7/8 at Cincinnati

Nov. 16 Baylor

Nov. 23 UCF

Nov. 30 at Texas Tech