LEWISBURG (WVDN) – Greenbrier East all-state offensive lineman Jacob Wickline made his college choice official on Wednesday, Mar. 16, when he signed his letter of intent with West Virginia University as a preferred walk-on.
Wickline, a 6-foot-5-inch offensive lineman, helped pave the way for East running back Ian Cline’s first team all-state season in 2021 and led the Spartans to a state tournament berth against George Washington. East reached the state playoffs in three of his four seasons, while he started at left tackle.
Wickline is a 4.2 student academically and member of the National Honor Society. He was selected to the Class AAA Second Team All-State team this past season. It was on the academic side of things that allowed Wickline to pursue his dream.
“I’ve worked hard with academics to be in a situation where that choice is a possibility,” Wickline answered when asked why he chose to walk on rather than take a scholarship offer elsewhere.
“Being a WVU fan my entire life, I was willing to make that bet on myself,” he stated.
At WVU, Wickline will walk into a unique situation with Mountaineer head coach Neal Brown and o-line coach Matt Moore. Both have been heavily scrutinized in the past several months, but with some key off-season additions so far, mainly bringing in new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, the Mountaineers can get back on the winning path this coming season.
When asked how it feels to know that he will officially be in a power five conference in Division-1 football next season, Wickline lit up.
“It’s exciting. It’s one of the highest levels of football and I can’t wait to take on the challenge it presents.”
Wickline will arrive in Morgantown this coming June and knows the work that awaits him.
“I’ll get there in summer workouts. It’ll be a lot of physical conditioning to prepare my body for that type of physicality,” Wickline said.
Spartan head coach Ray Lee will miss his left tackle, but knows good things are in store for his future.
“Congratulations to Jacob and his family in making this next step of his career,” Lee said.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.