BYU Recruiting: Charles West Evaluation And Prediction

Recruiting season is picking up. High school football seasons are over and recruits are making their commitments known across the country. BYU has a good looking class so far this season but there are still a number of big names with offers that the BYU coaching staff would love to see in Provo. Over the next few weeks, Lawless Republic will take a look at some of the prospects with a BYU offer that have not yet committed. We’ll offer as much insight as we can and make predictions as to what school they will choose. Today, we take a look at Coppell High School (Coppell, TX) RB Charles West.

Star Ratings 

Scout.com: 3-star prospect

Rivals.com: 3-star prospect

247Sports.com: 3-star prospect

ESPN.com: 3-star prospect

Charles West is a big time prospect. His biggest offers are from Arkansas and Kansas State. He’s a true home run threat. At 5’9″ (or 5’10” depending what site you look at) and 190 lbs. I’m not sure that West is the type of guy that will be a 25 carry per game back. West does have the the type of skill set that he can score any time he touches the ball. He’s not the biggest guy on the field, but he doesn’t shy from contact and can be a very physical runner. He has breakaway speed and can turn the corner on a lot of defenses.

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I’m not sure that there is a player in recent BYU history that we can really compare to West. He’s bigger than a Reynaldo Brathwaite or Ronney Jenkins but not as big as Jamaal Williams or Curtis Brown. He’s somewhere in the middle. He sort of reminds me of former Utah running back John White IV. He’s got offers from the SEC and from the Big 12 and he would be an absolute steal for BYU.

Where Does BYU Stand

It’s always going to be tough for BYU to go into the heart of Texas and get a non-LDS athlete like Charles West, but it does appear that BYU is in a pretty good spot. He visited Provo back in October and appeared to have a good time. BYU is also giving attention to his current teammate and Coppell High School and Class of 2016 running back Brandon Rice and Class of 2015 teammate Scott Huntsman (though I’m not sure how serious they’re looking at Huntsman.)

Given Jamaal Williams’ injury and Paul Lasike’s graduation, the door is open for a guy like West to come and make an impact the first day he steps on campus. BYU is offering West everything that they can. Playing time, teammates from high school and throwing the kitchen sink at West to try and get him. All that said, they are competing against the SEC and the Big 12. Both of those are very real threats for a kid from Texas. BYU can’t let up if they hope to land West.

Prediction

I actually really like BYU’s chances. I’m going to go out on a limb on this one and say that West ends up in Provo. I know that there are a lot of reasons that West might go somewhere else, but I am going with my guy on this one and saying he ends a Cougar.

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I think that ultimately the potential for serious playing time will be what entices West to come to BYU. I hope that he does and think that he would be an instant impact type of player in Robert Anae’s offense. I think he’d have a good freshman campaign  but the thought of Squally Canada and Charles West as a 1-2 punch from 2016 on is what I would really look forward to.

My prediction come signing day: BYU.

Follow him on Twitter @charles_1_west.