Mountaineers have small European invasion with 2021 football commitment class
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (BVM) — When looking down the list of West Virginia University football commitments for the 2021 class, there are some of the usual suspects. Among the smattering of recruits from the typical locations like West Virginia, Ohio and Florida, two don鈥檛 fit that same mold in the slightest. That鈥檚 because three-star defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen and three-star tight end Victor Wikstrom are not from the United States, but instead hail from Europe with Vesterinen coming from Finland and Wikstrom coming from Sweden.
Both Vesterinen and Wikstrom took similar paths to the Mountaineers, even though they came from different countries, leagues and playing styles. Vesterinen, who comes to West Virginia from Helsinki, Finland, played for the Helsinki Roosters American Football Team and Finnish Senior National American Football Team and would travel for many camps and games across the globe. Vesterinen鈥檚 teams were among some of the most elite in all of Europe with the Helsinki Roosters Football being ranked the No. 3 team in Europe by AFI while his Finnish national team would play in both the International Bowl in Arlington, Texas and the U19 men鈥檚 European championships in 2018 and 2019.
It鈥檚 not as if Vesterinen is only the product of a strong program, as he has proven to be a top athlete as well. Vesterinen won the 2019 Finland Men鈥檚 National League Lineman of the Year and was an all-star at defensive lineman, showing his ability to stand out on his own. In addition,聽 he traveled to the United States in 2019 with Brandon Collier of PPI Recruits, a German-based recruiting company that handles some of the best European American Football prospects, during the DreamChasers Tour for camps across the country and was able to post a 4.75 in the 40-yard dash. With his athleticism and scheme versatility, Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown is excited about what the lineman from Finland can bring to the table.
鈥淸Edward] is a big, strong guy,鈥� Brown said in , 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 got a lot of versatility. He鈥檚 got great bend.鈥�
Fellow foreign recruit Wikstrom also has the Mountaineers coaching staff excited. Wikstrom has a bit of a benefit over his other European counterpart in terms of football experience because in Sweden, players play on two teams at the same time. They belong to a home team where games are played and the high school team provides practice, which gives Wikstrom a leg up in reps and understanding of the game. As the No. 1 prospect from Sweden, Wikstrom continually impressed throughout his football career, becoming a three-time MVP at the Dukes Tournament, Scandinavia鈥檚 biggest American football tournament, as well as winning MVP honors at the Nordic Championships in the bronze medal game. Wikstrom鈥檚 teams were also successful as the tight end was able to participate in The Nordic Championships in 2017 and 2018, the World Championships in 2018 and the European Championships in 2019.
Like Vesterinen, Wikstrom also came to the U.S. in 2019 with PPI Recruits as part of the DreamChasers Tour. Wikstrom provides a unique blend of size and speed as he is listed at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, but has had a 40-yard dash time clocked in the 4.4鈥檚 at numerous camps. In addition to his measurables, Wikstrom just simply impressed the Mountaineers鈥� coaches when he came to a camp at the university.
鈥淚鈥檓 just glad he stayed in Sweden and didn鈥檛 come to the United States because if he would鈥檝e come and played high school ball in the United States, it would鈥檝e been a fight like no other [to get him],鈥� Mountaineers assistant coach Travis Trickett said. 鈥淲hen he was here at camp, he was just a guy who wowed you. 鈥� He won just about every one-on-one matchups against DBs and safeties in camp.鈥�
While it remains to be seen just how much the two recruits can add to the Mountaineers in the future, it is clear that West Virginia has confidence in bringing players in from overseas. With the Mountaineers getting Dutch cornerback Jairo Faverus, who also participated in the DreamChasers tour, as part of last year鈥檚 recruiting cycle along with a handful of Canadian players, the trend of foreign players making their way to the West Virginia sideline could continue. Brown expressed that over the past two years of his recruiting, he has treated dipping into the foreign markets as a sort of test to see if this would be something to expand on into the future.
鈥淗ow this goes we鈥檙e kind of in a trial run,鈥� Brown 鈥淚f the kids we sign pan out, I think you鈥檒l see West Virginia become more active internationally and there will be a trend throughout college football.鈥�
With two European prospects making their way to the Mountaineers, watching their development will be something many fans will keep an eye on. If things work out and the two recruits prove they can be strong players in the sport, regardless of the level of competition, expect many more European players to make their way to college football and not necessarily exclusive to the mountains of West Virginia.
