MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – From Malachi Ruffin to Nick Malone, WVU head coach Neal Brown is used to awarding scholarships to former walk-ons.

That trend continued this week when Brown issued a full scholarship to redshirt sophomore linebacker and Morgantown native Caden Biser.

Biser – the son of Morgantown High School head coach Sean Biser – provided depth at middle linebacker behind veteran Lee Kpogba last year, appearing in 11 of the team’s 12 games. He recorded eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

He recorded 51 tackles as a senior for Morgantown High in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season in which he won the Chuck Howley Award as West Virginia’s top high school linebacker.

Sean Biser also played at WVU as an offensive lineman from 1990-1993. He helped Brown masquerade the scholarship announcement by appearing in disguise during a WVU meeting this week in which Brown revealed the team’s uniforms for the Penn State game.

“Coach Biser played right in here in West Virginia, so this isn’t the first time he’s had the uniform on,” Brown told his team in the meeting. “And today, he gets the opportunity [along with] Caden’s whole family [to announce] Caden’s earned a full scholarship.”

Caden Biser was listed as the third middle linebacker on the preseason depth chart – which has seen various changes over the fall – behind Kpogba and junior Tirek Austin-Cave.