Dante Stills picks WVU football over OU, UF

The top-rated recruit in the state of West Virginia will attend the Mountain State’s flagship university. Fairmont Senior’s Dante Stills selected the WVU football program over Oklahoma and Florida on Thursday.

As the Fairmont Senior football team gets set to open the 2017 season against Robert C. Byrd, the Polar Bears hosted an enthusiastic pep rally complete with a dancing polar bear.

The focus of the pep rally was to excite the students and fanbase of one of the most talented prep football programs in the state of West Virginia. It also served as the announcement hub of Dante Stills’ verbal commitment.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Dante Stills joined coach Nick Bartic on the auditorium stage. Thousands eagerly awaited Still’s announcement. Hundreds were in the school and thousands more watched a live stream on various social media sites.

As soon as he took to the microphone, Dante Stills thanked God, his family, the Fairmont Senior student body, his teammates and his teachers and coaches. He also offered thanks to all the football staffs who recruited him and offered him a scholarship.

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Stills, basically, could have gone anywhere in the country. His final schools were West Virginia, Oklahoma and Florida. In the end, only one program ever really stood out.

Before speaking his own words, Stills’ mother came onto the stage with a small gift bag. Digging into the bag, out came blue and gold tissue paper which may have given away his college choice.

Stills finally reached into the bag and pulled out a blue WVU football hat. He said, “I will be attending….West Virginia University.”

He then made it Twitter official.

And then Mountaineer Nation Twitter exploded.

What’s cool about Dante Stills’ Twitter announcement is that he specified that he will be at the school for the next four or five years. That means he will be ready for whatever opportunity is presented to him by head coach Dana Holgorsen and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. If that means redshirting, Stills will accept that position.

He is committed to the Mountaineers now and forever. And, he’s actually been part of the WVU football team in prior years with his father, Gary, and brother Darius, also WVU football players. Gary Stills made a name for himself in the 1990s and Darius Stills is looking to make an impact this season and beyond.

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The verbal commitment should ease the tension for Dante as he focuses on his senior football season, getting the Polar Bears to the Class AA state championship. But there probably wasn’t much tension at all as he appeared to be heading to the WVU football program all along.

Mountaineer Nation can breathe a sigh of relief, though, as one of their own is staying home. It will be a pleasure to see what Dante Stills can do for the WVU football team for the next four or five years.