Former Bishop Canevin standout Daiveon Taylor, now at Aliquippa, commits to West Virginia

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, April 27, 2024 | 8:29 PM

Daiveon Taylor wasn’t traveling to Morgantown this weekend just to watch West Virginia’s annual Gold-Blue spring game.

He was there to commit.

“I had it planned all week,” said Taylor, a 6-foot-2, 227-pound sophomore linebacker who recently transferred from Bishop Canevin to Aliquippa.

Taylor shared his decision with WVU head coach Neal Brown and inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz when they met Saturday morning. He later announced on social media that he’d committed to the Mountaineers, making him the first member of their 2026 recruiting class.

Brown’s staff offered him a scholarship more than a year ago, and Taylor said he’d built a relationship with the coaches over the past 13 months.

“No matter what happened, they stuck with me,” he said. “And they always believed in me from the start.”

Committed to @WVUfootball pic.twitter.com/MY8ZjxzWno

— Daiveon Taylor 3⭐️LB (@certified_Dai13) April 27, 2024

Taylor also listed offers from Pitt, Penn State, Bowling Green, Marshall, Miami (Ohio) and Syracuse. Rivals.com rated him as a three-star prospect.

He’d been to WVU’s campus multiple times. On this trip to Morgantown, he was among a crowd of 18,540 watching the spring game, met with former WPIAL star Rodney Gallagher and chatted with Mountaineers alum Pat McAfee, who served as an honorary coach for the day.

“Penn State was very hot and so was Pitt,” Taylor said. “But just the atmosphere has always had West Virginia at the top.”

One of Taylor’s former Bishop Canevin teammates, senior safety Jason Cross, signed with West Virginia in December. Aliquippa has also had a number of players commit to WVU over the years.

Taylor earned all-conference honors playing defensive end for Bishop Canevin, which went 10-2 last season and reached the WPIAL Class A semifinals. He said he could play inside or outside linebacker at WVU, but first has two more years of high school football ahead.

He attended Canevin the past two years before returning this spring to Aliquippa, where he went for middle school.

Taylor can’t officially sign with WVU until December 2025, but said it was a relief to be committed to a school he likes. He was happy that the coaches shared in his excitement when he surprised them with the news.

“I think Coach Koonz might’ve had an idea,” Taylor said. “But I don’t think Coach Brown did.”

Great visit @WVUfootball spring game thanks @NealBrown_WVU @CoachKoonz @trey_neyer can’t wait to get back‼️ @vpat122 pic.twitter.com/aJHDlIp5Cv

— Daiveon Taylor 3⭐️LB (@certified_Dai13) April 27, 2024

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa