Commitment analysis: Ali Jennings to West Virginia

Wide receiver Ali Jennings slowly built an impressive offer sheet but narrowed it down to eight in August. Michigan State, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Temple, Toledo, and James Madison made the cut but as the season went on it became clear West Virginia was his preferred destination. Jennings officially committed to the Mountaineers on the first day of the Early Signing Period.

West Virginia is a pass happy team and they didn’t have a commitment from one wide receiver in this class before Jennings pulled the trigger. It’s hard for his commitment to mean more to the team when it’s framed like that. Jennings gives the Mountaineers a big target over the middle and down the field. His catch radius will make him a quarterback’s best friend and don’t be surprised if you see him score on a few long catch and run opportunities off short slant routes.

West Virginia was really the only school pushing for Jennings. It was clear fairly in the season that he would end up in Morgantown. North Carolina had a shot early in the season but the Tar Heels faded. Michigan State has strong connections to Jennings’ school but the Spartans weren’t pushing for him prior to him locking in with West Virginia.