Busick Verbals to WVU

Weir’s Cooper credited with a recruiting assist

By JIM ELLIOTT
When West Virginia coach Bill Stewart put together what he considers to be the best coaching staff in America, most of what we heard about the new guys was they were great recruiters.

As it turns out, the WVU players are pretty good at it, too.

Steubenville Big Red linebacker Branko Busick, a starter since his sophomore season on one of Ohio’s most decorated high school programs, recently gave what he said is ‘‘a for real’’ verbal to Stewart after sidestepping courtships from Pitt and Penn State, among others.

And former Weir standout Zac Cooper was right in the middle of all of it.

‘‘He called me,’’ Busick said of Cooper. ‘‘He gave me a heads up about the program down there. I definitely trust what Zac says.’’

Busick and Cooper have been friends for years, dating all the way back to the days Busick was little and Cooper would come over to his house and lift weights with him in the basement.

As you might expect, Stewart had a little to do with this agreement as well. It seems the new coach’s reputation is spot on.

‘‘I heard nothing but great things about ‘Coach Stew,’’’ Busick said. ‘‘He seems like a great guy. Just from the little time I talked to him, it seems like I’ve known him for a while.’’

Busick, a rising senior at Big Red, is a ferocious competitor on both sides of the ball. On offense, no one stops him on goal-line situations, a quality Stewart really likes. On defense, he’s a hitter. He was the leading tackler as a sophomore on Steubenville’s 2006 Ohio state championship team with 98. Last season, he was the second-leading tackler with 58 on a team that has won 50 consecutive regular-season games in Ohio’s rugged Divisions III and IV.

He also rushed for 543 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.

‘‘I think it’s an opportunity that he’s earned,’’ Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia said. ‘‘You always have to improve, but with hard work and same commitment he has with us, if he keeps that same commitment there, he’ll have just as much success.’’

Saccoccia is hoping having this decision out of the way leads to an even better senior year in high school than first anticipated for Busick.

‘‘I’d’ like to congratulate his family, his parents, and his teammates from our coaching staff,’’ Saccoccia said. ‘‘But now we’re expecting double from him.’’

Busick returned that notion, saying, ‘‘I want to thank the city of Steubenville, my family, my coaching staff, and my teammates. They really helped me out.’’

There was one more.

‘‘And also Coach (Anthony) Pierro. There’s no better defensive coordinator. He’s like a best friend to me.’’

Busick doesn’t figure it’ll be tough adjusting to college life after playing high school ball where he does.

‘‘Playing for Big Red I think is definitely going to help me for college,’’ he said. ‘‘Big Red kinda does remind me of a college just the way they run the program. The coaches know what they’re doing. There’s no workout better than Big Red’s.’’

Busick, who attended Saturday’s Gold-Blue game and last season’s Connecticut game in Morgantown, said the environment around the program is what hooked him.

That’s why he said the verbal is for real.

‘‘I told my dad (Nick) when I made a decision I didn’t want to back out,’’ Branko said. ‘‘I made sure I was 100 percent with my decision.’’