Many within the Kanawha Valley have been watching the story line of South Charleston football standout Derrek Pitts.
It's understandable considering his first major offer, which came from Auburn, was a lightning bolt to the local sports scene. Since then we've followed as subsequent offers flowed in from schools like Oklahoma, Penn State, WVU, Arizona, Clemson, Florida, Marshall, Nebraska, Pitt, Tennessee, Ohio State and others. As it stands, Pitts has about 20 offers on the proverbial table.
It's been fun to follow.
What's crazy, though, is there's a ton of fun we've been missing.
You know the number and quality of offers put before Pitts? Well, two other 2017 state recruits each have the same, if not more, number and quality of offers. Another could have had that, but committed early. Another has eight offers, mostly from Power 5 conference schools. On top of that, Marshall has a commitment from yet a separate state recruit.
"It's never been like this," said Spring Valley coach Brad Dingess.
No. No, it hasn't. The Mountain State has been producing highly regarded football recruits for ages. One can go back to Sam Huff, Robert Alexander, Randy Moss ... heck, Dave Mayfield and Josh Jenkins were five-star kids. But I can't recall a year when so many West Virginia kids have been so highly regarded in one class.
Maybe coal mining is down, but major programs are mining recruits here, and the Huntington area seems to hold gold mines. Recently, Elijah Wellman (Spring Valley) and Reese Donahue (Cabell Midland) went to WVU. Trevor Stacy (Spring Valley) went to Charlotte.
Now? Well, we've well-documented Pitts. Here's a look at the others:
n Billy Ross (6-foot-5, 305, Huntington, offensive tackle) - Wake up, folks. This kid is a major, big-league recruit. Florida State and offensive line coach Rick Trickett are on him. But so too are representatives from Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech, as well as WVU and Marshall. Twenty-five schools, in fact, have offered.
"It's been pretty crazy," said Huntington coach Billy Seals. "His offers are in the mid-20s. It seems like every day there's something new."
Tech, Virginia, Tennessee and Duke representatives were scheduled to be at HHS on Thursday. Vanderbilt was headed up. WVU and Marshall were over.
"The next two-and-a-half weeks are going to be like this," Seals said. "It's good for us; it's good for our program; it's good for the state of West Virginia.
"Billy is by far the best player I've ever had. He runs really well; he has good feet; he's a punishing blocker. He looks like an old-school football player. He's physically sound."
Ross has been on unofficial visits in the Carolinas, Florida and Virginia, in addition to West Virginia. He's headed to Tennessee on May 6. He'll make official visits in the fall.
n Riley Locklear (6-6, 290, Spring Valley, offensive tackle) - You read correctly. Another giant of a recruit is roaming the Mountain State. And, again, Florida State and Trickett are on him. Ditto Oklahoma, Penn State, California, WVU, Miami, Louisville, Marshall, North Carolina, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech, among others. His list jumped to 25 when Maryland, Syracuse and Indiana offered.
"When is the last time we've had kids like that 10 miles apart this highly recruited - especially offensive linemen?" asked Seals.
"It's been hard to keep up with," said Dingess, Locklear's coach. "Coaches are coming three and four a day. It's crazy."
Like Ross, Locklear has been traveling. He's visited Florida State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Purdue, Virginia Tech, WVU and Marshall.
"He's just so big and athletic," Dingess said. "He doesn't move like a lineman. He was a fullback in the ninth grade and a tight end and defensive end as a sophomore.
"He went from 6-3, 230 to 6-6, 290. He can move. He's lean, but has a big ol' rear end on him. Just a freak athletically. He has a long reach and big hands."
Dingess said Locklear, whose brother Alex plays for Marshall, doesn't have a clear favorite at this point.
"It depends what day you talk to him," Dingess said. "When he goes and visits, they are all nice. I think he'd like to stay close to home, but who wouldn't like living in Miami or California? I know he wants to visit Ole Miss. But he also wants to wrap it all up before August."
Just don't expect a social media circus from Locklear at the end of the process.
"He's not into that," Dingess said. "He doesn't do all the social media. He doesn't do stuff like Rivals camps. He puts his phone down and goes fishing. It's refreshing."
n Dorian Etheridge (6-3, 210, Capital, linebacker) - We've covered Etheridge in the past. He's up to eight offers at last count: Virginia Tech, WVU, Charlotte, Louisville, Marshall, Maryland, Pitt and Purdue.
n Mav Wolfley (6-3, 225, Morgantown, linebacker) - You know all of the above, including Pitts? At least one recruiting site, 247 Sports, has Wolfley graded higher than all. His father Dale played at WVU and now works there. His brother Stone is a tight end there. Mav shut down the process early, committing to the Mountaineers.
n Seth Stewart (6-8, 320, Point Pleasant, offensive tackle) - This could turn into a nice get for Doc Holliday. Stewart was also offered by Arkansas.
So you get the drift. Yes, it's been fun following Pitts, but there's more fun for everyone. Which is a very good sign for the Mountain State.