Ben Councell is watching as the offers continue to come in heading into the summer before his senior season at A.C. Reynolds High in Asheville, N.C. He is open to listening to whichever team expresses interest in him, and he says he is sure he would be interested in West Virginia as well.

That is, when the Mountaineers offer him.

Councell has spoken with WVU coaches and was told he should be expecting an offer shortly, but as of now, he is still waiting on it. It’s tough to imagine what the Mountaineers are waiting for. Just by looking at Councell’s measurables, you can’t help but come away impressed.

A 6-foot-5, 220-pound outside linebacker and rushing defensive end who has been clocked at 4.39 in the 40-yard dash, though he likes to round it up to an even 4.40, likely out of humility. That’s fast for any position of the field, much less a tall, rangy defender of Councell’s stature.

He finished his junior season with 142 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and four interceptions, leading his Rockets to the 4A North Carolina state title.

At the college level, he knows he will probably find himself bulking up and lining up with a hand in the ground and tackle in his face. Still, he feels his athleticism and speed leave him capable of playing both OLB and DE in a system that sends an extra rusher off the end, as Jeff Casteel has made a habit of doing in recent years with the 3-3-5.

As it stands now, Councell has six offers from Maryland, NC State, East Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame and says he is still waiting on a number of other pending scholarships opportunities. He has visits scheduled for the summer and hopes to begin narrowing down his choices throughout his senior season.
 

One part of the recruiting process Councell says he is not a fan of is the number of hollow promises he feels players are frequently given regarding playing time or other factors. He would rather know exactly what sort of situation he was heading into and be able to work his way through the hard times to prove himself to a staff.

That said, he couldn’t have picked a better coach from the Mountaineers to handle his recruiting. WVU wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway has a long history with Councell’s head coach, Shane Laws, and the two have kept in contact discussing how the rising senior could make an impact at West Virginia.

He says if and when the offer from the Mountaineers becomes a reality, he would like to take a visit to Morgantown to learn more about the university and its football program. Ultimately, his decision will come down to how comfortable he feels off the field, and not necessarily on it, in his college town.

“If I should get hurt or something during college and I can’t play football, would I fit in at that school? So I need to get a feel for the school and see if I’m comfortable there,” he says.

If Councell gets his way, he will be able to make that assessment of WVU in the coming months.