MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As one of the most highly-touted recruits of the Neal Brown era at WVU, Maryland native Kaden Prather carries the weight of high expectations. The true freshman receiver showed flashes of his playmaking ability last Saturday at Kansas State. Seeing his most significant playing time of the season, Prather caught four passes for sixty yards and also recovered teammate’s fumble to keep a drive alive.
“You could see it coming. He got some balls thrown to him,” Brown said. “That’s the hard thing about playing wideout, a lot of things have to go right for you to get the ball. He has really played better. I felt like he was coming and I think he is another guy that you talk about projecting well. I think he is going to be a big-time player. You saw some of that on Saturday.”
“He has done it the right way,” said WVU offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. “Compliments to our older guys to get him to that point. Sometimes, we as coaches make mistakes in playing a guy too early and too soon based off a lot of different things and variables that go into it. He has learned that the truth lies in the work. In order to earn the right to play in games like that and play at a high level, there’s a process that has to be followed to get a young player there.”
Prather is one of the few true freshmen to break into the two-deep this season. He arrived on campus in time for winter conditioning and spring drills, allowing him to get a jump start on the transition to the college game.
“It was a quick turnover for me,” Prather said. “I got thrown in the fire pretty early so I had to get adjusted pretty early. It has been good so far though. I developed very much since I have gotten here. As the months have been going on, I have been getting better with my consistency, which has helped me play.”
When Prather took the field in September, it marked his first competitive action in 22 months. Due to COVID, Maryland’s high school football season in 2020 was postponed. Expectations were high for Prather’s Northwest High School squad.
“I was very bummed out,” Prather said. “We had big plans for my senior year. We were the runner-up in 2019 so we wanted to get that state championship for 2020. But due to COVID, we didn’t get that done.
“It didn’t set me back at all. My wide receiver coach and trainer, Miles Gray, we worked from the pandemic until I left. So I came here ready.”
Prather had his eye on West Virginia for many years and his connection with Gerad Parker led him to Morgantown. Recent history of producing NFL wideouts helped as well.
“I have always loved West Virginia. It has always been a dream school. Me and Coach Parker are very close. He recruited me when he was at Penn State and our relationship grew from there.
“I was a big fan of the Tavon Austin and David Sills eras. They threw the ball a lot and lit it up. So that caught my attention.”
Prather has been mentored by veteran wideout Bryce Ford-Wheaton since his arrival on campus. Ford-Wheaton expects performances like the one from Saturday in Manhattan to continue.
“He did exactly what everybody expected him to do,” Ford-Wheaton said. “We have a high standard for Kaden. He did literally, exactly what we thought he was going to do with the opportunity. It was a good game by him. It really was his first time out there playing meaningful reps. He had a pretty good game.”
“We are very close,” Prather said. “He had the job of being my big brother when I got here and not letting me make the same mistakes he made. He has done a good job teaching me.”