In 2009, West Virginia University will feature 27 players on its roster from its home state. That includes five players from the projected starting lineup or two-deep plus a bunch of always undervalued special teams players.

It comes and goes in this state, but the Mountaineers are determined to find and attract the best players in the state, no matter their reputation.

“You don’t have to be a five-star, four-star, three-star or any star. All you have to be is our star,” said head coach Bill Stewart. “We have a number of good players come from the state of West Virginia. There is good football in West Virginia.”

I think there are three things to focus on here as it relates to the talent in West Virginia and the trail that talent follows to WVU.

1) WVU has been really good the past few years

Explanation? Kids want to be a part of something special and you’re starting to see kids now who were growing up watching the Wristbandito build a program in their home state. Something special was looming and people were working to be a part of it. No, that wasn’t all too different than it was in the past, but there was a desire to be a part of the process and an urgency to keep it going — to say nothing of greater recruiting competition from other colleges. When the Mountaineers punched their ticket at the Sugar Bowl, everything was legitimized. WVU was a destination as opposed to a … hmmm … conclusion. Who doesn’t want to be a part of something that makes their state proud, where family and friends can come a few hours — if that — up or down the road and spend a fun day with 65,000 friends? And if the friends and family can’t do it for some reason, chances are it’s on TV.

2) The coaching staff is committed to the state

Doc Holiday is one of the best recruiters in the nation and everything I’m told suggests Lonnie Galloway and Chris Beatty are stars-in-waiting — it’s just a matter of the establishment getting to know them. Pennsylvania, Maryland and OHio remain important neighboring states that continue to produce good players. WVU can go to different states and get great players, but WVU is focused on its backyard.

To do this, every West Virginia coach has in-state responsibility. Each coach is responsible for about 12 of the 127 football-playing high schools, making contact and assessing talent.

“If there is a kid in the state, we don’t want to miss him,” Holliday said. “The worst thing that can happen to us is miss in-state kids.”

3) High school’s three-week summer workouts

The opinion varies here. Many high school coaches say it’s helped their teams, but it hasn’t sent a greater number of kids to college on scholarships, both of which are true. Other coaches say it’s working, but you usualyl find those are the Class A or Class AA teams. Yet we’re really only seeing the second wave of kids who have spent four summers doing this, which means four yeas of optimal development. That’s a factor when other states — namely Florida, as it relates to WVU — have spring football sessions similar to what you’d find in college.

“There is good football in West Virginia,” Stewart said. “What’s made it better is the three-week summer and what I see is going in on the weight room across the state. Our young men are lifting more than they ever did. The more you play, the better you get.”