The past week for Spring Valley High School’s Elijah Wellman has been the culmination of a lot of hard work for the senior linebacker/running back. Over the weekend, he came to the WVU football recruiting camp without a scholarship offer from the Mountaineers. But within just a couple of days, he had the offer and committed to his home state school.
“I got the offer and decided not to wait around any longer,” Wellman said. “WVU was what I was waiting on and after I went to the camp last weekend, I heard some good news back and went ahead and got it over with.
“They said they were really impressed with my footwork,” he said about the camp. “And they said I worked out hard there and they really enjoyed it and liked what they saw.”
Wellman picked the Mountaineers over other scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Ohio, Charlotte and Marshall. Spring Valley, of course, is right in the center of Thundering Herd country.
“My brother went to Marshall and my family kind of went to being Marshall fans, but I stuck with WVU and I’m still a WVU fan,” he said. “I’m definitely catching some heat from a few people here and there, but for the most part I’m getting a lot of support from the community and they’ve stuck right with me.”
And ultimately, the chance to play at WVU in a BCS-level conference went a long way in his decision as well.
“There’s a difference in playing MAC football or Conference USA than going into the Big 12 and playing against big teams like Texas,” he said. “And it’s been my dream to play against teams like that and still be in the state of West Virginia and not too far from home.”
Wellman, who was a guest on Tuesday’s MetroNews Statewide Sportsline, is expected to figure in at fullback or linebacker with the Mountaineers, although he said he has no preference of what position he plays at the next level.
“It doesn’t really matter to me in college as long as I’m on the field playing and helping out the team,” he said.