MORGANTOWN — WVU made its second splash this off-season, receiving a commitment from former Penn State outside linebacker Lance Dixon on Thursday.
Dixon, a former 4-star prospect in the class of 2019, will be a redshirt freshman in 2021 and will not need to sit out due to new NCAA eligibility rules for one-time transfers. An eligibility freeze allowed last season to not count toward his eligibility.
Virginia Tech offensive lineman Doug Nester transferred to WVU for the spring semester.
Dixon appeared in three games as a true freshman in 2019 and was able to redshirt. In a shortened Big Ten season in 2020, he played in all nine of Penn State’s games, finishing with 10 tackles, 2 1/2 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Head coach Neal Brown said last week there were about five scholarships remaining, which were intentionally left open for situations like this. Dixon fills a void defensively at linebacker, and Brown said the staff will do their research with transfers this off-season.
“We’re not going to reach. We reached maybe for one or two transfers since I’ve been here,” Brown said. “The rest have been pretty good hits, so the ones we reached, we may have been in a little bit of a hurry on. We’re going to take our time and get a little bit of a higher-quality player.”
Other than linebacker, Brown said the cornerback spot will need to be addressed after Dreshun Miller left the Mountaineers and transferred to Auburn. After spring camp, the staff will evaluate where else they need to look.
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