The recruiting calendar will shift this coming season with the early signing period opening the first week of December instead of being positioned in the middle of the month.

The new date for the 2025 class is set for Dec. 4-6 on the 2024 calendar, moved up from the Dec. 20-22 window that was in place for the 2024 cycle. That small window gives college coaches the chance to sign players in their recruiting class to letters of intent and effectively close the door on the recruiting process.

But what does that shift forward mean for college coaches?

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said that the adjustment won’t have a major impact for the Mountaineers in large part because of how the coaching staff has gone about constructing their recruiting classes in recent years.

And that is tied to the fact that the summer official visits have been the critical component to assembling classes with the bulk of players committing during that timeframe.

For example, out of the 22 commitments for West Virginia in the 2025 class, 13 came from those official visits during the month of June with only one of those pledges coming outside of that month.

That has been the formula that has been successfully utilized by the coaching staff is recent years and while it will limit the ability to bring late pieces on visits during the early part of December it shouldn’t change much to the general operation.

“So, it just kind of moves it up,” Brown said.

Now, where the real adjustment will be made is the fact that a dead period will now be in effect from Dec. 2-8 and Dec. 9-22 will represent a quiet period which means coaches can host recruits but can’t have any in-person contact away from campus.

That means that the focus will shift from the traditional recruiting of high school prospects to an emphasis on the transfer portal. That window will open Dec. 9 and stay that way until Jan. 7 to recruit transfer options.

“You’re going to be focused more on portal kind of things,” Brown said.

Associated Press

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Sydney Shaw scored 20 points and made four 3-pointers, JJ Quinerly added 14 points and No. 12 West Virginia handed Boise State its first loss, 82-47 on Saturday in the Gulf Coast Showcase.

West Virginia advances to the championship game on Sunday, while Boise State plays for third place. The Mountaineers have started 8-0 in back-to-back seasons after last year’s 11-0 beginning.

Quinerly also had three steals to help West Virginia reach double figures in that category in every game this season. The Mountaineers also forced 20-plus turnovers for the eighth straight game.

Boise State was held to just six points in the first and third quarters.

West Virginia went on two 10-0 runs in the first quarter to build a 16-point lead. The Mountaineers led by double figures the rest of the way. It was 45-23 at halftime then Quinerly scored four straight points to begin a 9-0 run that ended in a 32-point lead.

Freshman Jordan Thomas, coming off her first career double-double, had 10 points and six rebounds for West Virginia.

Elodie Lalotte scored 11 points for Boise State (7-1). Teryn Gardner addd 10.

West Virginia was coming off an 89-54 victory over High Point on Friday to begin the tournament. The Mountaineers led by as many as 39 points and forced 22 turnovers in that one.

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Tahj Brooks ran for a season-high 188 yards and three touchdowns in the final home game for Texas Tech’s all-time leading rusher, and the Red Raiders rolled to a 52-15 victory over West Virginia on Saturday.

Texas Tech (8-4, 6-3 Big 12) kept alive faint hopes for a bid in the Big 12 championship game by winning at least eight games in the regular season for the first time since 2009 under the late Mike Leach.

Garrett Greene threw an interception and lost a fumble on Terrell Tilmon’s strip-sack in the final three minutes of the first half as the Mountaineers (6-6, 5-4) raised more questions about the future of coach Neal Brown by falling behind 35-3 before the break.

Behren Morton threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, including a 31-yarder to Caleb Douglas to put Texas Tech in front 42-3 early in the second half. Josh Kelly had 150 yards receiving.

Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire, who will have his third winning record in three seasons, called timeout with 5:57 remaining and his team-leading 45-15 to take Brooks out of the game. Teammates mobbed Brooks as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Brooks ran for at least 100 yards in all 11 regular-season games, breaking the single-season school record of 10 he shared with Byron Hanspard and Bam Morris.

Brooks pushed his career total to 4,557 yards in his first home game since breaking Hanspard’s 1996 school record of 4,219 yards two weeks ago at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Two of Brooks’ TDs came on 2-yard runs from direct snaps, and the other was a 37-yarder when he stumbled on a cut but stayed on his feet and bounced off defensive back Ty French. Brooks has 17 TDs rushing this season and 45 for his career. Brooks set up one of his short TDs with a 30-yard catch.

Jahiem White ran for 124 yards with a spinning 21-yard touchdown for West Virginia, and Greene had a 15-yard scoring toss to Rodney Gallagher III. Greene threw two picks.

West Virginia: A perfect season on the road in the Big 12 ended with a thud. The Mountaineers were 3-0 away from home in conference before allowing 29 second-quarter points followed by another TD just 2:12 into the third.

Texas Tech: Tight end Jalin Conyers, one of Brooks’ fellow seniors playing his final home game, made up for a dropped pass in the end zone with a juggling, diving catch for 18 yards to set up Morton’s 1-yard scoring toss to Mason Tharp. Conyers, an Arizona State transfer, also had a 2-point conversion run on a swinging gate play from the PAT unit.

Both teams are eligible for bowl games. At the game’s end, Texas Tech’s fate for a spot in the Big 12 title game was still up in the air.

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