Oh, So Devine: YouTube Legend Noel Coming of Age in Morgantown

You knew who he was before he did, as he broke onto the scene as a high school freshman with eye-popping, jaw-dropping performances posted online for the world to see. He became an overnight sensation thanks to YouTube (see below) and about 200,000 viewers.

The 5'8", 175-pound tailback ran for 2,148 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns in his senior year of high school. With the success came comparisons to Barry Sanders and praise from the likes of Deion Sanders, who once told a reporter at SI.com, "I haven't seen the gift he has in a lot of NFL players in my life, and that's saying a lot."

The diminutive Noel Devine is a dynamo, with blazing speed and freakish strength that don't seem to match his stature. It all makes for some exciting and unbelievable videos, but to dig deeper into who Devine really is and where he came from makes the story all the more special.

Devine lost both of his parents to complications due to AIDS by the time he was 12 and was taken in by his grandmother in North Fort Myers, Florida. That particular area of Florida is pretty rough, and avoiding trouble can prove difficult, even for youngsters from stable households.

Devine's wasn't. After staying with his grandma for a short time, he decided she was too strict and moved in with a teammate and his parents. Shortly thereafter, Devine fathered two children by different mothers within a seven-month time frame. In 2004, he witnessed the death of one of his friends while trying to settle a dispute with some other kids.

This string of events would've been tough on anyone, but his high school coach, James Iandoli, decided to intervene. Iandoli and other school officials contacted a North Fort Myers legend in NFL star Deion Sanders, who was with the Baltimore Ravens at the time. Sanders got to know Devine and offered to let him live at his home in Dallas, giving him more structure and respite from the trouble lurking at home. 

Devine agreed, but missed home too much and returned a week later.

He also had a tough time qualifying for the NCAA, which led some big programs like Florida State to back off of him, but Devine was determined and eventually did qualify. He chose to attend West Virginia.

All things considered, it's amazing that Devine made it that far and is actually a very good and polite person, according to those who know him. A reporter for the News-Press who covered Devine's high school career, Dan DeLuca, has stated that Noel is a polite, enigmatic, media-shy guy who has been "around a lot of trouble, but not really in a lot of trouble."

Some people have been critical of Devine and have already written him off as a talented kid that couldn't escape the hood, but so far he has turned the table.

His freshman year at WVU let people know that he was legit. He posted 627 yards on only 73 carries, oftentimes blazing past helpless defenders on his way to the end zone. He had six touchdowns as a freshman but also had two long runs that fell short of the end zone, at the 1-yd line, each that a teammate finished off.

This was more impressive due to the fact that he was sharing a backfield that already had two Heisman Trophy candidates in it—running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White. Devine averaged 8.6 yards per carry as a freshman. 

White is still in Morgantown with Devine, while Slaton has gone on to impress in the NFL with the Houston Texans.

This year has gone well, with Devine logging a lot more carries and becoming a workhorse back for the Mountaineers. Again, unbelievable for a guy with Devine's size. After a couple of slow starts against Villanova and East Carolina, Devine has gone off, logging 100 yards or more on the ground in four of five games. 

Last week, he exploded against Syracuse for a career high 188 yards on 17 carries, including an impressive 92-yard score, only to follow that up with a new career high Friday night in a 34-17 shellacking of Auburn, which included a 36-yard jaunt to the end zone.

With upcoming games against Connecticut, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh and an end-of-season game against South Florida, Devine should post well over 1,000 yards for his sophomore season.

Rest assured, Noel Devine has arrived. He's the man in WVU and far away from his past. He is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting players to watch in college football, and I will be watching him, very interested and hopeful that I see him make it to the bigtime one day.

After all he's been through, he deserves it.