MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The situation for Ishmael Banks on Saturday is this: He's a reserve in a position touched by depth, but he's not likely to redshirt during this true freshman season.

 

He could be asked to play in the season-opener against Coastal Carolina on special teams and will be asked every day forward to insert himself into the rotation that is now handled ably by starters Brandon Hogan and Keith Tandy and backups Brodrick Jenkins and Pat Miller.

Not ideal for a kid who was with the second team throughout parts of preseason practice, but not a kick in the head, either. A year ago, college football was far off in the distance. Not necessarily a dream, but not something Banks could touch, either.

"I really didn't have too many options coming out of high school," he said. "I wasn't highly recruited."

Banks played at Varina High, in Richmond, Va., the same school that this summer game WVU running back Trey Johnson and, for a time, offensive lineman Marquis Wallace, who this week was ruled a non-qualifier at WVU and enrolled at Marshall.

Talent wasn't the issue for Banks. He was two-time all-district - and achievement greater than you might expect in that part of Virginia - and as a senior had 47.5 tackles, 15 pass break-ups, four interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Grades were the problem and, as often is the case, they broke the bank. He headed to Hargrave Military Academy, in Chatham, Va.

The situation there?

"Get up at six o'clock in the morning, get in formation, march to breakfast, go back to your room and then go to class," Banks said.

"Then after class you have study time for different classes. Then you go to practice and then study hall from 7-9:30 at night. Then you're in bed, lights out at 10."

You can understand now why the prospect of beginning on special teams and trying to work past veterans at cornerback isn't a deterrent.

"You learn to appreciate things," Banks said.

Banks got his act together first, and then his grades, all while starring for Hargrave, a school that's had a very strong relationship with WVU through the years.

"It was all maturity," he said.

"I had to suck it up. I was away from home, and it's a military school, so I really had to grind it out."

Banks picked off four passes and even blocked a punt on special teams. Rivals.com ranked the 6-foot, 185-pound Banks No. 3 among prep school cornerbacks and in the top 25 among postgraduate players. Marshall and Kent State were quick to offer and Penn State, Auburn and Maryland were interested.

Banks enrolled at WVU early and was on campus in January and in class for the spring semester.

How did the transition go? Put it this way. Receiver Deon Long had a similar path. Grades were an issue and he prepped a year at Hargrave before jumping to WVU in January.

Long was a much more celebrated addition to the Mountaineers, but he was gone by April and pretty much because he couldn't meet the demands placed upon him by the establishment at WVU.

Banks, however, cashed in on the Hargrave experience.

"It helped me get all my priorities in check," he said. "You have to get work done at a certain time. You have to set aside time to study, even if you don't have a test coming up. We've got to wake up early here and I was used to it so I didn't really have to worry about it. You have the coaches yelling at you here, but I had drill instructors yelling at me. That prepared me, too."

And don't think cornerbacks coach David Lockwood isn't at least similar to one of the unhappy men Banks would come across regularly at Hargrave.

Banks had to pause, though with a smile, to decide whose rants were worse.

"I'm going to have to say the drill instructor," he said.

Perhaps he's staying on Lockwood's good side, and with cause.

Tandy and Hogan are entrenched, but Miller, a sophomore from Hoover, Ala., has played just a handful of college snaps at corner and Jenkins, is a redshirt freshman from Fort Myers, Fla., whose next snap will be his first.

One play or one series of errors in a game or a practice could bump Banks up to an elevated position. That's how the Mountaineers handle their reserves, insisting that a backup spot is not a sentence for reduced playing time, but an invitation to earn an expanded opportunity.

"They all want to play," Coach Bill Stewart said. "That's why they came here. If you've got a guy ahead of you, just kind of emulate them and your chance will come and when it does make sure you get in there and make the most of it."

It all sounds convenient and generic, but Stewart believes it's true, not because he expects younger or lesser-known players to behave that way, but because he sees veterans act it out as an example others should follow.

For proof, Stewart pointed to Tavon Austin, arguably one of the best running backs to ever come out of Baltimore, but a sophomore who played sparingly last season as a slot receiver and will add wide receiver to his repertoire this year.

"I saw Tavon Austin make a statement and someone said, 'Wasn't that nice what Tavon said?'" Stewart remembered. "I said what'd he say and he'd said, 'I know my turn will come.' I went, 'Wow.' This guy was player of the year from Maryland, one of the most prolific players they've had there the last couple of years. You talk about take the ball and go?

"One of you guys said, 'What about running back?' He said, 'My turn will come.' That tells me we're getting it, these young guys are getting it. It's kind of a right of passage, like the military. It's not a total right of passage, so to speak, but their turn will come. The young guys need to make plays. I don't want them to sit back and say, 'Ah, let this guy make the plays.' I want them to compete."