A preseason All-American, Kashif Walls was expected to have anoutstanding finale at West Liberty State University.
However, an academic issue has forced the senior receiver to takehis considerable talents to West Virginia University Tech.
Although Walls' grade point average met West Liberty's standards,he was three credits short of meeting the school's requirements forseniors.
"I would have been ineligible if I had stayed there," Walls said.
If he wanted to play his senior season, his only option was totransfer to an NAIA school.
West Liberty, 13 miles northeast of Wheeling, is an NCAA DivisionII school in the Princeton-based West Virginia Conference. Tech isan NAIA Division I institution in the Kentucky-based Mid-SouthConference.
"It's a second chance," said Walls, 24, who is from Sicklerville,N.J. "I'm thankful for it. I thought I was done. I was stressed out.It was hurtful because this is all I have got. I'm happy that theTech coaches and players were willing to give me a chance to playwith them for my senior year. I'm ready to give it my all.
"I want to play in the NFL," he added. "If I couldn't play mysenior season, it would be a lot harder to make it. I could havebeen invited to a tryout or a combine, and I would have beentraining all year, but there is no substitution for playing ingames."
Walls was a first- and second-team selection in the 2010preseason All-America teams selected by Sporting News and Lindy's,respectively.
"I'm going to bring a spark to the Tech offense," he said. "I'm aplaymaker. My quarterback at West Liberty had confidence and faithin me when it was third-and-long or different situations when weneeded a big play."
Walls' quarterback with the Hilltoppers was Zach Amedro, a first-team All-American in 2009 who was named Amateur Athlete of the Yearby the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Walls made 61 catches for 1,321 yards and21 touchdowns in 2009, helping West Liberty (11-2) win the leaguechampionship and make the national playoffs. He also had 10 kickoffreturns for 236 yards and one touchdown.
Walls played in 12 of the Hilltoppers' 13 games and scored in 11of those, finishing with 132 points.
His receiving yards were the eighth-highest total in conferencehistory. His points were the seventh-highest total in league historyand the most by a receiver.
Walls wants to duplicate or increase those totals this year toboost his stock as a professional prospect.
"If I have a season like I had last year, I think I will have achance," he said.
Walls played only one season at West Liberty after two seasons atNorthland (Minn.) Community and Technical College.
"He's a great player," Tech Coach Scott Tinsley said.
Tech will begin preseason practice one week from today. Walls andthe rest of the Golden Bears' newcomers will report to theMontgomery campus on Friday. Returners will report on Sunday.
"Right now, we expect to have 116 players," Tinsley said.
Among them are six returning starters on offense (senior receiverRashard Gould, senior fullback Jamal Shelton, senior tackle TraiWhite, senior tackle Troy White, senior center Ivan Yavtushenko andsophomore receiver Joey Christian) and four returning starters ondefense (senior lineman John Hellesoe, junior safety Cecil Level,sophomore linebacker Kendall Beverage and sophomore linebacker ChrisGray).
That list also could include senior tailback Josh Culbertson, aKennedy Award winner who played for Tinsley at Nitro High School.Culbertson started for the Golden Bears in 2008, but he had to sitout 2009 because of a knee injury.
"He is a threat to go the distance on every play," Tinsley said."When you have that kind of threat, it sure opens up a lot of thingsfor you."
The Golden Bears' biggest question is who will hand the ball toCulbertson and throw it to Christian, Gould and Walls.
Junior Michael Scott, who also played for Tinsley at Nitro,transferred to Eastern Kentucky after two years at Tech. Scottcompleted 431-of-825 passes for 4,685 yards with 47 passes and 39interceptions in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
However, sources said there is a chance Scott could return toMontgomery in time to be the Golden Bears' starting quarterback forthe third consecutive season.
Tinsley, however, is working under the assumption that Scott willnot be available.
Sophomore David Callison, a converted punter from PocahontasCounty, and redshirt freshman Michael Morton, a converted cornerbackfrom Huntington, manned the position for Tech during the spring.Neither is a candidate entering the fall, however.
"There is no one who is coming back who is in the mix," Tinsleysaid. "It will be someone who wasn't here in the spring or fall."
The candidates are four incoming freshmen - Michael Brumfield ofCabell Midland; Evan Ferguson of Spring Valley and Coal Grove, Ohio;Josh Weeks of Shady Spring; and A.J. Schmidt of Loganville, Ga.
"It's really worrisome," Tinsley said. "We are bringing afreshman into a system that is complicated, to say the least.
"We are going to have to be different, at least to begin with.Our experience is going to be more at the tailback position than atthe quarterback position or the receiver spots. We are going to haveto be more under center and play action early. Then, hopefully, wecan evolve into what we normally are."
Whoever wins the starting job, he will have a go-to target and anon-the-job mentor in Walls.
"I'll practice with him during practice with the coaches andafter practice on our own," Walls said. "I'll try to build hisconfidence and build our chemistry with each other. I'll tell him tokeep his head up when he makes mistakes."
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