There have been a few elite Division II players who had entered the transfer portal and made the jump into the Power 5 including TE Kyle Morlock who landed at Florida State and DE Zach Durfee who landed at Washington.
Now, there's another D2 star who is set to make the jump into the Power 5 in West Liberty CB and First Team All-American Shon Stephens. The journey for Stephens to get to this point has been a roller coaster where he and his family have overcome lots of adversity to get to this point as Stephens shared with us.
"I went JUCO out of high school for 2 years in 2017 and 2018. 2019, I didn’t play. January 2020, I signed with Missouri Southern State. I did 1 semester that spring then I hit the transfer portal in July 2020 because my mom had a heart attack. I was out of school/football helping her that fall of 2020, spring of 2021, and fall of 2021. The summer before fall, I flew out here to PA and went to a Penn State camp. I got MVP of the camp and they offered on the spot! I wasn’t able to play immediately because I was out of school for a while and wasn’t 80% towards my degree. So fall semester of 2022 at West Liberty is my first year since JUCO playing ball. I’ve talked to multiple d1 schools and they are willing to file a waiver for me for what happened to my mom to get my year back plus I’ll be a grad transfer," Stephens said.
Stephens has been through a lot over the past few years with him putting family before football a couple years ago. 2022 was the year of Stephens' return to football and he did so in tremendous fashion with 37 tackles including 3 for loss plus 8 interceptions and 14 pass deflections on his way to earning Division II All-American First Team honors, one of the few non-seniors to earn those honors.
Through all this, Stephens has overcome lots of adversity and rightly earned the chance to play on scholarship at the Power 5 level. The question that remains is where that will be?
The answer could be Virginia Tech with Stephens set to visit Blacksburg on January 6th along with a visit two days earlier on January 4th to Indiana. He added that he is still considering Texas A&M and West Virginia as well though he hasn't set visits to those schools yet nor have either of those schools offered him to date.
CBs coach Derek Jones has been taking a lead role for the Hokies in his recruitment with Stephens adding this about his relationship with Jones and the conversations he's been having with Jones.
"He's had nothing but nice things to say about me so I’m pretty pumped about things so far. His perspective on my journey means a lot!" Stephens said.
He's also been in contact with defensive grad assistants AJ Hampton and Korey Rush with Stephens sharing this about his relationship and conversations with AJ Hampton.
"We are cool! Our conversation over the phone was pretty exciting!! He also had nothing but great things to say about me!" Stephens said.
When asked about his relationship and conversations with AJ Hampton, he added this about his conversations and relationship with fellow defensive grad assistant Korey Rush.
"Coach Korey happens to be from the same area as me so we already share some ties! They all feel like I can come in and be a guy!" Stephens said.
Tech's interest shouldn't come as a surprise given the talent he's shown along with Brent Pry's stated desire to add another DB who can come in and take on the nickelback, providing more depth and a bridge to the younger, next generation of DBs in their first and second years with the Hokies in 2023. Additionally, the fact that Stephens briefly landed at Penn State means there should be some familiarity between him and Pry.
Looking ahead beyond his two early January visits, Stephens told us that he is hoping to make a decision next month but February at the latest if not.
So what will be the key factors in his decision?
"Well it’ll be my last year so most importantly, an opportunity to play. Just a program that’ll max my potential!" Stephens said.
Shon Stephens has overcome a lot to get to this point and has earned his opportunity to shine at a Power 5 program with Virginia Tech hoping that Stephens chooses to come to Blacksburg.
