West Virginia finished their 2023 campaign with a 30-10 victory over UNC in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. In doing so, they collected their ninth win on the season, the program’s most since winning 10 games in 2016.
While winning a bowl game is a great way to finish off one season and jumpstart another, in today’s era of college athletics, nothing gets a team primed for the following season better than the transfer portal. West Virginia football head coach Neal Brown and his staff had been very active in the transfer portal over the last several weeks. Mountaineer fans should be excited about the potential this team has for 2024. Due to the talent they have coming back to surround quarterback Garrett Greene and the additional pieces they have acquired out of the transfer portal, they may be putting together a team that can compete to win a Big 12 title.
While West Virginia football has had a number of players enter the transfer portal, the new players coming in limit that damage significantly. In the new age of college athletics, players will come and go, but this transfer portal class has WVU eager to start the 2024 season.
Incoming Transfers (as of Sunday, January 7th)
Ayden Garnes – CB – Duquesne
The first transfer portal commitment the Mountaineers received was from cornerback Ayden Garnes. At Duquesne, Garnes earned First Team ALL-NEC honors and was listed as the third-best cornerback at the FCS level by Pro Football Focus. Garnes will look to have a big impact on a WVU secondary that has lost consensus All-American Beanie Bishop Jr. WVU has also lost members of their secondary to the transfer portal in Andrew Wilson-Lamp, Hershey McLaurin, Keyshawn Cobb, and Christion Stokes.
Crandall chose the Mountaineers over UCLA, Oregon State, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Cincinnati, and many others. Crandall will have an opportunity to compete for a starting position in the West Virginia secondary. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
