MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three-star cornerback Antonio Howard, the son of former West Virginia receiver Antonio Brown, decommitted from the Mountaineers on Monday.
The 5-foot-10 speedster from Hialeah, Fla., had pledged to West Virginia in August but reportedly put himself on shaky ground by visiting other schools recently. Howard previously decommitted from Florida International last April and Cincinnati in June.
Just decommited from West Virginia gotta do what’s best for me I will announce Wea I’m going for college on signing day Wednesday at 11am
— antonio howard (@speedyhoward) February 2, 2015
That preceded a curious exchange of tweets involving West Virginia assistant coach JaJuan Seider, who has plucked numerous players from south Florida and had served as the lead recruiter for Howard:
Seider’s tweet subsequently was deleted but not before Howard responded: “He really sneak dissing me this what happens at West Virginia.”
Finally, amid speculation that West Virginia pulled Howard’s scholarship offer when he continued checking out other programs, the player tweeted: “Listen I never got cut loose from West Virginia I cut them loose remember no disrespect”
That last tweet from Howard also was deleted.
With players able to sign their national letters of intent Wednesday, Howard appears to be down to Marshall, UCF and Miami.
At various stages Howard, who was timed at 4.32 in the 40, also held offers from Kentucky, Pitt, Syracuse, South Florida, and Temple.
With 21 commitments as of Monday night, West Virginia’s class ranked No. 29 nationally and third-best in the Big 12, according to Rivals.