Logan Heastie and Deon Long Say Bye Bye to Morgantown

The news every Mountaineer fan was expecting for months officially broke this week.

Receivers Logan Heastie and Deon Long will be transferring.

It comes with very little shock as both have been on thin ice with the team since the beginning of the year. Their lackadaisical approach to early morning winter conditioning put the two in Bill Stewart’s doghouse early on and they never had a chance to get out.

Heastie and Long came to West Virginia as two of the more prominent receiver recruits in the program’s history but neither were ever able to show their talents on the big-time stage.

Heastie came to the Mountaineers last season from Chesapeke, Va., and looked to have the makings of a future star. Ranked by many recruiting services as one of the top 10 receivers in the nation, Logan looked like he could add an explosive element to the Mountaineer offense.

His opportunity to back up the fanfare surrounding him would never come though. He watched from the sidelines throughout the season as fellow stud receiving recruit, Tavon Austin, emerged into a contributor instead.

Long came to West Virginia this winter from Hargrave Military Academy after having a sensational career at Dunbar High School in Washington D.C., the same school that produced Illinois receiver Arrelious Benn.

He didn’t possess the same type of size as Heastie but he was every bit as explosive.

After enrolling in January, Long showed little dedication to winter workouts and seemed aloof from the team.

After not making the initial spring roster, it seemed inevitable that the two would eventually depart from the school. Even with Bill Stewart saying he would welcome them back if they were ready to do the work, neither seemed up for the challenge.

So now it is official that their futures do not include suiting up for the Mountaineers.

As for where they will go now, it seems Logan Heastie will head back to his home state of Virginia to play for the upstart Old Dominion Monarchs. Because it is an FCS school, he will be eligible to play right away.

For Long, it is unknown just exactly where he will land. It seems he doesn't prefer to go the FCS route like Heastie.

Virginia, Virginia Tech, New Mexico, and Arizona have all been discussed.

The provisions of Long's scholarship release make things complicated. He can not transfer to a Big East school or one on West Virginia’s 2010 schedule without approval from WVU. So that seems to take Long’s No. 1 choice, his home state Maryland Terrapins, out of the equation.

Texas Tech just hired former Hargrave coach Robert Prunty, who Deon Long played for while at the Military Academy. A familiar motivating face might due to the young man some good.

Both these players have the talent to succeed and become great players, they just need to take this situation and use it as a realization of the work and discipline needed at the collegiate level. Lavish recruiting hype can be great to have, but it means nothing once you enter the reality of big-time football. There is a long line of recruiting all stars that never panned out for one reason or another at the top level of this game.

So with all of this we can now close the Long and Heastie chapter even before it had a chance to be opened.

This leaves the Mountaineers dangerously thin at the receiver position after returning starters Bradley Starks and Jock Sanders, and emerging star Tavon Austin.

Hopefully, some players like Stedman Bailey can step up in the spring.

It would also be nice to see big-time recruits Ivan McCartney and Quantavious Leslie come in and prove that they have what Heastie and Long were lacking in, commitment and desire.

Deon Long and Logan Heastie, good luck in your future, no hard feelings from the Mountaineers. We hardly knew you.