MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After signing defensive linemen from Fairmont Senior High during back-to-back recruiting classes, West Virginia is looking to add a third in 2020.
Nose guard prospect Zach Frazier, a rising junior, closed this weekend’s camp in Morgantown by receiving a scholarship offer from Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
“I was excited, because it’s my dream to play college football,” Frazier told MetroNews “Sportsline” on Sunday night. “ I obviously like WVU a lot. I live 30 minutes from there and it feels great.”
So great that Frazier’s first inclination was to phone Dante and Darius Stills, his former high school teammates who are now angling for playing time at West Virginia. Darius signed in 2017 and could be next season’s starting nose guard. Dante is a four-star recruit who enrolled this month and figures to be one of the Big 12’s high-impact freshmen.
Frazier credited his experience playing alongside Dante Stills on Fairmont Senior’s Class AAA state runner-up team last season.
“I soaked up so much technique from Dante. He was a great teammate,” Frazier said. “In practice I wanted every opportunity to go against him. I lost most of the time, but it always made me better.”
At 6-foot-2 and 277 pounds, Frazier won wrestling state championships during his first two years in high school. Though he plans to continue wrestling — “it’s great for staying in shape and it helps me with leverage” — Frazier considers himself a football-first prospect in college.
“I think he’s going to end up with quite a few offers if he continues to camp,” said Rivals writer Keenan Cummings, who watched this weekend’s drills at Milan Puskar Stadium. “The only thing that might hurt his offers are if programs are totally convinced he’s coming to WVU so they don’t want to waste their time.”