What a surprise.
January 23, 2017 by Mike Casazza
— Mike Harley Jr. Ⓜ️ (@harleyxvi) January 23, 2017
So, Mike Harley, one of the longest-tenured and highest-ranked recruits in West Virginia’s 2017 class, is no longer in the mix. I’m told he is not signing with the Mountaineers on Feb. 1, in case you’re curious about another waffle from the exciting receiver. The relationship ended Sunday night when it became clear Harley, who had just visited Miami and was suddenly touting an offer from UCLA and planning a visit there, wouldn’t say with certainty he’d sign with WVU.
I know recruiting isn’t for everybody — and this is an example why — but we’ve been following this one for a while, and there was a reason.
Harley’s stock soared in the past year, and he’s one of those players who WVU offers and/or who commits to the Mountaineers and then gets a lot of attention. This happens, especially in Florida, because he wasn’t a first-cut player down there. The major schools believed other prospects were worthier, but then that begins to change when an outsider spots the talent and then that talent backs it up — and Harley did that. He showed up at camps and then as a senior. Those other programs look at him and say, “WVU? We can pull him away.”
Some are ripe for that treatment.
Remember, this is the same player — high school All-America player, it must be said — who was previously committed, thinking about Miami, choosing the Mountaineers or the Hurricanes based on the bowl game, saying he didn’t say that and then shutting down his recruiting to stick with the Mountaineers.
It’s been a weird month for WVU. Harley is, let’s say, the offensive recruit observers would not want to lose. He’s a highlight-maker. But WVU has done well recruiting receivers this year, like it has the past few years, and junior college transfers David Sills and Dominique Maiden are already on campus. But WVU also lost Shelton Gibson a year earlier than anticipated to the NFL, and he’s the returning offensive player observers would not want to lose. But WVU has good and promising depth at receiver.
That fact WVU has solutions is encouraging, and that’s what happens when you have numbers, but this is the sort of turnover and recovery that happens at other places. In some regard, you can take a bit of satisfaction out of one or both of those losses and the built-in relief.
Plus, more help could be on the way from high school recruits and junior college or graduate transfers.
Of all the positions where WVU could afford to make the move they did, it was wide receiver. There are already eight scholarship wide receivers on the roster for the spring, nine if you count incoming star Tevin Bush who could line up in the slot if playing time is not available at running back. Of that group, six have already caught a pass at the Power Five level.
And wide receiver recruiting likely won’t stop at National Signing Day, as the Mountaineers have a strong history of recent success with transfers that sign in the spring or summer. (Do the names Will Grier, Clint Trickett, Charles Sims, Rushel Shell and Shaquille Riddick ring a bell?) The coaches already have a list of targets on their board from these ranks, including Kentucky grad transfer Jeff Badet, who led the Wildcats in receiving this past season. He would be able to enroll in the summer and would be eligible right away.