Much has been and ought to be made about West Virginia’s success recruiting south Florida, and certainly that’s relevant this week. The Mountaineers and Miami go nose-to-nose for some of the same players every year. Each side wins and loses.

But WVU has done well in the central part of the state in recent years with Karl Joseph and K.J. Dillon being the two most emphatic examples. This season we’ve seen bright flashes and brief glimpses of two possible successors on that side of the ball: Defensive end Adam Shuler II and nose guard Alec Shriner.

Shuler’s going to start the spring as a starter on the edge, and Shriner certainly has a chance to end the spring as the starter in the middle. I think junior college transfer Jalen Harvey as well as Jaleel Fields and maybe Jon Lewis have a chance there, too.

Before all of this, though, Shuler and Shriner were stars in Seminole County, but not only in football. They were state champions in other sports, and neither has completely separated himself from his past.

Their families have traveled to a lot of games this year — and last year, too, for the Shriners — and Shuler’s familly finally saw Adam get an elusive sack in the final regular season game against Baylor. Shriner’s family got a highlight in the opener and has been waiting on more ever since.

The Russell Athletic Bowl is a rare home game and a chance to see their favorite Mountaineers do something cool in a game with family members and friends in the stands not far from where they grew up.

“It’s literally right down the road, maybe 10 or 15 minutes away from me,” Shuler Sr. said. “I was preparing to have to go away for the game, so it was pretty exciting to hear that the game was going to be in Orlando.

“I know they wanted a bigger game for the bowl, but it is what it is, and fortunately for us, with the game being in Orlando, it allows for a lot of family and friends to come out and see him play who haven’t been able to so far.”

He said about 20 of his son’s biggest and closest fans will be in the stands. The Shriners are making plans for about a dozen. Either group could grow, and neither knows how many others who came to know their sons through the years will be at the game.

Both players seem to enjoy the possibility. A team rule prohibits Shuler and Shriner from talking to reporters during their first season playing for the team.

“Adam’s already let me know there’s going to be a big crowd there for him, and he’s excited to know he’s going to have his whole family and all his friends there at he game,” defensive line coach Bruce Tall said. “He’s already been talking about that, but Shriner is more of a quiet type of guy. He’s going to have a big crowd there too, but he just won’t tell you.”