DL Christian Brown Enjoys Visit, Has WVU in Lead - WVU Football, WVU Basketball, News - Mountaineer Sports

A visit to campus only served to reinforce Christian Brown's interest in playing for West Virginia University.

Over the weekend, the 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive lineman came to Morgantown to confirm his own belief that the Mountaineers were emerging as the frontrunner in his recruiting.

After touring the facilities and the dormitories, Brown took in a WVU football practice and ended his trip with a seat in the Coliseum, watching the Mountaineers basketball team take down Miami.

"I saw some new stuff. I saw a whole lot of mountains," says Brown. "I really liked it, though."

Brown is looking for the next stop in his football career. Originally from Florida, Brown moved to New Jersey for seventh and eighth grade. But just before high school began, he moved back to Florida to play for Dunbar High in Fort Myers, Fla.

It was there, in his junior season, that the WVU staff first made contact with Brown. His size was certainly a draw and with four of the Mountaineers' top linemen scheduled to graduate in the next two seasons, the defensive coaches needed bodies to fill the voids.

Then, heading into his senior season, Brown moved back to New Jersey to be with his brother and attend Bridgeton High School. Head coach Dave Ellen didn't fully understand why Brown decided to make the transfer, but he had no intention of turning down such an athlete.

Unfortunately, he didn't last the entire season. Brown left the team with four games remaining, something that perplexed Ellen, particularly when the player in question had major college interest.

"He's got very good size. He's very strong and he's going to continue to get stronger," says Ellen. "He has big, broad shoulders, but most of his power is in his legs. He's a good squatter, a good bencher. He has decent speed, he's pretty explosive, he's quick. That's definitely going to help him."

It has already helped him. Multiple Division-I offers have turned Brown into a bit of a hot commodity. In addition to the Mountaineers, schools like UConn, USF, UCF, NC State, Louisville and Illinois have gone after him.

At this point, West Virginia has the lead.

"So far West Virginia's looking good right now. It's the leader right now," says Brown, who plans to make his commitment before February's signing day. "It should be probably not this month but probably next month."

There's a whole list of reasons why WVU has pulled ahead in the race for Brown's services and many of them came to light over the weekend visit.

"I had liked the coaching staff for a minute, but when I went down there and saw the field, saw how the atmosphere is and the players and they got a good relationship with the head coach, it just makes them the top leader right now," he says.

West Virginia currently has just one defensive tackle and three ends committed for the 2012 season.