ONA, W.Va. — Cabell Midland defensive end Reese Donahue became West Virginia’s fourth commitment to its 2016 recruiting class.
The junior visited Morgantown this weekend, received an official scholarship offer from the staff Saturday and pledged Sunday.
“WVU has always been my favorite team and I was excited and really happy to go up to Morgantown for a visit and see what was going on,” Donahue said. “I got up there and Coach (Tony) Gibson was all over me. They were focused on me a lot. Coach Holgorsen talked with me for a good bit. They took me back in the conference room with my family and offered me.”
Donahue said, ultimately, it was an easy decision.
“I grew up watching WVU and I thought it was awesome that I got this opportunity,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t pass it over—that’s been my favorite team and I had to take the offer.”
The junior stands 6-foot-5, 237 pounds. He said West Virginia coaches project him to stay at defensive end in college.
“They want me to be about 260 at West Virginia,” Donahue said. “My goal for the beginning of my senior year is about 245-250. I’m already progressing and on the right track. Coach Holgorsen did want to make sure that if I didn’t gain enough weight to play at defense end, they could use me in a tight end role instead.”
Donahue finished his junior season with 84 tackles, including 18.5 sacks. He began jumping on recruiting radars last summer, earning Top Gun camp MVP honors, which helped lead to an appearance at the U.S. Army National Combine this year.
While WVU was his first D-I offer, he has been receiving interest from N.C. State, Duke, Charlotte, Cornell, Wake Forest and Missouri.
“It’s pretty nice getting this decision out of the way now,” Donahue said. “It happened so fast, but at least now I can just worry about my senior season and not where I’m going to be playing at the next level.”
He becomes the second in-state commitment for West Virginia’s 2016 class, joining Bridgeport running back/safety Dylan Tonkery.
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