MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Conner Dotson, who made five appearances for West Virginia this past season while recovering from a broken arm suffered in 2017, plans to leave as a graduate transfer.
The 6-foot-4 right-hander said he’s headed to the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, where he’ll be reunited with former Mountaineers assistant Derek Matlock.
“It was truly a blessing to lace up my cleats and wear the Flying WV these last four years,” Dotson tweeted. “Morgantown, thank you for giving me friends for life and I will always be proud to say I graduated from WVU and that I am a Mountaineer for life.”
His career at WVU was derailed by a scary injury in April 2017, when the humerus bone in his throwing arm snapped as he warmed up for a start at Oklahoma State.
After missing the final 39 games of the 2017 season — including West Virginia’s first NCAA regional berth in 21 years — Dotson made his return this past February out of the bullpen.
He appeared in only three early-season games, however, before missing all of March and April.
“I came back too soon and tweaked something in my shoulder,” he said Wednesday.
Dotson pitched in two games in May and finished the year 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA while throwing only five innings.
A native of Flower Mound, Texas, Dotson went 10-12 with a 4.53 ERA over his WVU career. His best season came in 2016, when Dotson went 7-4 and made the Big 12 all-tournament team.
He’ll have one year of immediate eligibility at Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Matlock wrapped up his first season as UTRGV’s head coach with a 23-31 record. He had been West Virginia’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-2017.
“We’re both pretty excited,” Dotson said.