WVU’s big athletic freshman CB Vincent Smith is already gaining excitement
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia true freshman Vincent Smith isn't a normal cornerback. He’s much bigger than the average corner at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, but he’s still as fast and athletic as a corner.
"I talk to my teammates about it all the time," defensive back Geimere Latimer Jr. said. "I can’t believe it. He’s an athletic freak. I think he’s gonna be able to contribute at some point this season, and I think he’s taking great strides through fall camp as well. So a guy like that, you can’t teach that. That’s just God-given ability."
His not-normal look on the field mirrors his recruiting journey, which, too, isn't normal. Smith is originally from Orlando, Florida. His mom, Lataisha Skinner, had a job transfer and moved to Illinois before his sophomore year. Skinner was always on the move, leaving it to Smith to be on his own most of the time.
Smith would go to school, work a job afterward, and head to defensive back training every day while he was in high school.
"To me, that was very refreshing," corner coach Rod West said. "I think a lot of guys you recruit now want attention, what can you do for them? Vincent was always a hard worker. It was hard to get a hold of him sometimes because he may be either at work or training until 10 p.m., but every day he showed that maturity level, and we’ve been pleased to have him."
West sneakily secured Smith's commitment. Smith went to a camp and ran a 4.42 40-yard dash, which is impressive, but it's usually what smaller defensive backs run. Smith was running that at 220 pounds, which would've turned a lot more heads if there wasn't a typo on his card, reading that he was 202 pounds.
"If you can find a kid that’s 220 pounds, that's strong, that explosive, to me, I think big picture in a few years that kid is going to be 240 pounds, and he’s going to be hell on wheels," West said.
West was even more surprised when Smith's uncle, who is a producer at Tyler Perry Studios, came on the official visit with him. Tyler Perry Studios was founded by Tyler Perry, and established Perry as the first African-American to outright own a major film production studio. Being from the South, West was a big fan of the studio’s work growing up.
"I was kind of starstruck by that," West said.
Smith was bumped up to a consensus 4-star and a top 4 recruit in WVU's big 2026 recruiting class. He was rated as the No. 11 player in Illinois and the 36th highest-rated corner in the class. Smith committed in July of 2025.
Now, West gets to work with Smith on campus in the corners room. As a true freshman, he'll probably see a lot of the early work on special teams. There's no redshirting anymore with the new 5-for-5 rule, so no reason not to play him. Smith could eventually see action on defense later in the season.
The only issue, and it's not a bad problem to have, is Smith might outgrow the corner room. He's 215 pounds as a true freshman, so he'll only get bigger and could shoot up to 240 pounds. Safety might be in the cards down the road.
"Obviously he looks like a safety, like a third-year safety right now," Latimer said. "But he moves well to be his size. Like I would have thought myself that he would have been a safety. I thought he was a safety until I realized. It’s crazy."
Wherever Smith plays, he's going to be a difference-maker just with his size and athleticism. It might not be seen for a little time, but he's already drawing a lot of attention from teammates and coaches.
"What position that is, we’ll see," West said. "I hope he stays at cornerback, but he’s a naturally big kid, and I think at some point you’re just going to see him get bigger, stronger, faster, and just continue to grow. But we’re excited to have a new program."