West Virginia has added its second high-profile running back transfer this summer. This one will have to sit out the season, though.
The mother of former Pitt RB Rushel Shell confirmed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that her son is moving on to the Mountaineers, arguably Pitt's biggest rival. Under NCAA transfer rules, he will sit out this season and have three seasons of eligibility remaining beginning in 2014.
Earlier, Houston RB Charles Sims made the move to WVU. Because Sims already has graduated, he can play immediately.
Shell backed up Ray Graham at Pitt as a true freshman last season, and rushed for 641 yards and four TDs. He announced in April that he wanted to leave Pitt.
Conventional wisdom had him headed for Arizona State -- he was recruited to Pitt by current Sun Devils coach Todd Graham. But reports surfaced that Pitt would bar any attempt by Shell to transfer to ASU. Then, Shell supposedly was headed to UCLA. In June, news surfaced that Shell wanted to remain at Pitt, but the coaching staff did not allow him back on the team.
On Friday, he chose West Virginia.
Shell (6-foot, 215 pounds) played at Aliquippa (Pa.) Hopewell, prep alma mater of Tony Dorsett, among others, and rushed for a Pennsylvania-record 9,078 yards in his four years there. He was a consensus national top-50 prospect in the 2012 signing class.
