One of West Virginia’s top performers in 2019 will be staying for his senior year.
After leading the Mountaineers with 7 sacks en route to an All-Big 12 First Team honor, Darius Stills stated on Twitter on Sunday that he was going to ponder his future.
The current junior then followed up on Friday with a confirmation: he will stay for his senior season.
“These past 3 years having the opportunity to live out my childhood dreams of playing football and being able to showcase my talents for West Virginia University holds a special place in my heart & I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said on Twitter. “With all that said and after talking with God and my family, I have decided to forgo the 2020 NFL Draft and return for my senior season.”
His sack totaled was matched by just one other Mountaineer — his brother, Dante, who just finished his sophomore season.
2019 was a breakout year for Stills, a native of Fairmont. After feeling “overlooked” for much of his life, he saw his junior year as an opportunity to make a name for himself.
“Growing up with a younger brother that has had more attention than I have, at first it was kind of irritating,” he said in August. “But then again, it’s like, okay, I’d rather be me than Dante because I feel as the older brother the pressure should be more on my shoulders than anybody else’s like my family…and instead of just getting sad about it, I’ve put a chip on my shoulder and tried to prove everybody wrong.”