3:06pm: Hotline with Dave Weekley

Between two schools: Ferns choosing West Virginia or Penn State?

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Four-star recruit Brendan Ferns, the highest-rated linebacker prospect in Ohio for the 2016 recruiting class, said he plans to choose between Penn State and West Virginia before the start of his senior season.

That high school season starts Aug. 28.

The St. Clairsville standout would represent a plum pickup for West Virginia, where older brother Michael is preparing for a redshirt season after transferring from Michigan. Rivals currently ranks the Mountaineers’ class 32nd nationally, and Ferns would become the program’s second-highest rated linebacker recruit since 2000, behind only junior college signee Bruce Irvin in 2010.

Recruiting analysts suggest Ferns is leaning toward West Virginia, a school he and his brother cheered for since childhood. Ferns attended Fan Day in Morgantown on Sunday.

The sibling connection isn’t his only priority, however.

“His family have been West Virginia fans—I mean, they were at the Orange Bowl. But it would not shock me to see Brendan do his own thing,” said Rivals writer Keenan Cummings of WVSports.com.

“He’s probably the exact opposite of his brother in the way they play and also their personality. Mike’s real serious and Brendan’s kind of a joker.”

Penn State is uniquely positioned, too, given the buzz generated by James Franklin’s staff, the still-relevant reputation as “Linebacker U” and a curriculum that matches Ferns’ field of study.

“He wants to study petroleum engineering and West Virginia and Penn State are the two schools he’s zoning in on,”  Cummings said. Ferns essentially called it a deal-breaker upon learning that Ohio State didn’t offer that major—not many Power 5 schools do. (Among the long list of other schools that have offered Ferns, the degree is only available at Oklahoma, LSU, Stanford, Pitt and USC.)

“Ohio State was the school everybody thought would give West Virginia trouble, but they’re out of the picture now,” Cummings said.

The Nittany Lions’ class is ranked No. 6 by Rivals and already features one four-star linebacker commitment, Cameron Brown, of Potomac, Md.

Among the four linebackers pledged to West Virginia, two are three-star prospects from Ohio—Toledo Central’s Zach Sandwisch and Centerville’s Adam Hensley. The Mountaineers have five commitments overall from Ohio for 2016.

With West Virginia planning to start three senior linebackers this season (Nick Kwiatkoski, Jared Barber and Shaq Petteway), the path to playing time could open quickly for Ferns in 2016. Viewed as athletic enough for inside or outside in West Virginia’s 3-3-5 defense, Ferns enters his senior season at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds.

“He could play Sam because he can run, but I think WVU would start him at Mike,” Cummings said. “He’s a really good player who West Virginia would love to sign, but you can never discount Penn State.”