VAUGHN RIVERS
DB, 5-9, 165 lbs., 4.5
Perry Traditional Academy – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pittsburgh Athletic Association player of the year at 13-1 Perry
Academy, the three-time city league champions … all-state and
all-city for coach Bill Gallagher … returned five punts and three
kickoffs for touchdowns … tallied 18 career interceptions.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette Fabulous 22 and Pittsburgh Tribune
Review Terrific 25 teams … 15 catches for 225 yards as a senior
… PrepStar all-regional … Pittsburgh City Player of the Year,
according to the coaches’ association … District 8 Player of the
Year … helped lead a Commodore defense that recorded 13
straight shutouts, as Perry outscored its opponents 689-0 through
the regular season, two rounds of the City League playoffs and
two rounds of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.
Perry scored less
than 43 points just once during that run, outscoring its foes by an
average of 53-0 … the shutout string set a new Pennsylvania
state record and came within one of the national single-season
shutout record (14, Daingerfield, Texas, 1980) before Perry fell
in the state playoff semifinals, 20-3, to Hopewell, the eventual
AAA champions … joined by Perry teammate Eric Wicks in
signing with West Virginia
“It’s nice to have a friend who will
be going to college with me. That will make the situation more
comfortable,” said Rivers. “Eric and I are very close, so it’s really
the perfect situation; we both get to go to a great college, and we
get to go together.”
Three-year starter on both sides of the
football, playing wide receiver on offense and strong safety as a
sophomore on defense before moving over to cornerback as a
junior and senior … WVU wants to use him as a cornerback, as well as a punt and kick returner.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do,”
admitted Rivers. “I’ve watched some other guys I’ve known
who’ve gone on to college, and I’ve watched the things they’ve
struggled with. In watching them, I know I have to really work
hard on my footwork. That’s very important at that level. Also I’ve
got to be very fundamentally sound and strong in good technique.
You can get away with bad technique and bad fundamentals at
times in high school, and just use your athletic ability. But in
college, everyone is a good athlete, so you have to be
fundamentally sound.”
Also played basketball, coming off the bench
for the Commodores as a backup point guard and
a defensive specialist, averaging nearly six steals a game … also
a member of the track team, where he runs the 200 and the
4x100 … an excellent student who is a member of the National
Honor Society … a member of the Pennsylvania’s all-state
academic scholar/athlete team … will be a business major at
WVU … son of Margaret and Anthony Rivers.
What Rich Rodriguez says: “We had Vaughn in camp, and
we were one of the first to offer him. He accepted early and then
went out and had a great senior year. Vaughn’s a great athlete
who could play receiver, but he’ll probably play corner for us, as
well as return punts and kicks.”
What Herb Hand says: “Vaughn is another one of those
athletes who could do a lot for us. He could play DB or slot
receiver. He returned eight kicks for touchdowns this past year.
We’re really excited about him, because he’s a tremendous
talent athletically.”