Update: 2024 Country Roads Trust Football Commits

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Jan 6, 2024

Here’s a quick update and overview of the Country Roads Trust and its impact on Mountaineer football.

The latest Country Roads Trust commit was announced on January 4, 2024. Defensive Lineman, Edward Vesterinen. Over 15 other commitments have been made over the past few months. 12 of those players had at least one start last season.

Let’s take a quick look at those commitments:

  1. Garrett Greene, QB
  2. Jaheim White, RB
  3. Traylon Ray, WR
  4. Preston Fox, WR
  5. Rodney Gallagher III, WR
  6. Kole Taylor, TE
  7. Wyatt Milum, Tackle
  8. Ja’Quay Hubbard, Guard
  9. Brandon Yates, Guard/Center
  10. Tomas Rimac, Guard
  11. Ben Cutter, Linebacker
  12. Johnny Williams, OL
  13. Nick Krahe, OL
  14. Josiah Trotter, LB
  15. Trey Lathan, LB
  16. Edward Vesterinen, LB

The Country Roads Trust has over 1,650 members as of December 28. They more than doubled their subscribers since December 4. A $500,000 anonymous donation was also made when subscribers hit 1,500 prior to the Duke Mayo Bowl which the Mountaineers won against UNC, 30-10.

On3.com had Country Roads Trust listed as a top 10 collective in all of college football. From their website: Former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and Ken Kendrick, a West Virginia alumnus and general managing partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, established Country Roads Trust in January 2022. The collective connects local businesses and corporations to athletes who provide value to their brands. The athletes will engage in autograph sessions, advertisements and social media campaigns. Country Roads Trust has created an athlete advisory team to provide guidance to the trust. Members of the advisory team include former WVU luminaries like Jerry West, Don Nehlen, Pat White, Darryl Talley and Mike Gansey. Within months of launch, Country Roads Trust says it’s working with more than 100 WVU student-athletes. “Our focus is for them to just take care of the classroom, take care of the weight-room, practice, the games,” Stephen Ford, General Manager, said. “We don’t want them to be bogged down with any of this. That’s not what they’re in school for. What we are here to do is to handle the business side.”

Collectives are a unique new aspect of college football. Will it help? Time will tell.

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