Former WVU HC Dana Holgorsen, Houston Flips 4-Star DL Justin Benton Away from West Virginia

Despite a day that went mostly according to plan for West Virginia, the Mountaineers did suffer one major blow on National Signing Day.

Justin Benton, who had been committed to WVU since June and visited with defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley less than two weeks ago, flipped and signed with Houston. This means former WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen was able to poach a big recruit away from his old team, doing so as he brings the Cougars into the Big 12. He made an official visit to Houston on Dec. 18th, just two days prior to switching on National Signing Day.

SACK AVE 🦍🦍🦍 https://t.co/J3MmOOEReK

— Justin Benton ✞ (@JustinB42023) December 21, 2022

Benton initially picked the Mountaineers over a top eight that included Duke, Houston, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee and Georgia, which is where most recruiting experts predicted he would end up.

Dana Holgorsen swooping in and flipping DL Justin Benton, who was committed to West Virginia, as he brings the Cougars into the Big 12 has to aggravate the WVU coaching staff. Add that to reasons Houston could become a rival.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) December 21, 2022

ESPN is the only recruiting service to list him as a four-star recruit, the other three major recruiting services all list him as a three-star. Despite the same star rating, he is getting extremely different rankings on all three.

He’s a top 100 defensive lineman for the class of 2023 by all four services, but none agree on where to place him in their top 100.

Rivals has him the highest as the No. 16 rated defensive lineman for the class of 2023 while 247Sports Composite follows with No. 59 ranking. On3 trails behind the other two with a ranking of No. 87.