Old Dominion defensive back transfer Tahj Ra-El told me that this process was a whirlwind. He jumped into the portal and in less than a week he wanted to try to sort down his list to a couple schools, visit them and make a decision so he could enroll at his next stop to get to work for his final year. West Virginia and Cincinnati are the two that emerged from the list but he actually held offers from Miami, Louisville, Oregon State, Washington State, SMU and more that were trying to get him on campus for a visit. He had some ties to the Bearcats by knowing some players on the team, but told me that once he visited West Virginia it was a no-brainer for him with the facilities and the culture around the program. Plus it didn't hurt matters that he wants to win in his final year and West Virginia could provide an opportunity to accomplish that. Ra-El is a safety that can play all over and the coaches really like the versatility that he brings to the table to play all over the backend of the defense. He also was familiar with the scheme as his defensive coordinator at Old Dominion was Blake Seiler, the former linebackers coach here and he brought a lot over when he took the job with the Monarchs. He has one year left and the plan is to enroll as soon as possible to get started.
