Two Former WPIAL Football Stars Transfer to New Colleges

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, July 28, 2013 | 7:22 AM

A pair of WPIAL football stars from the last two high school football seasons have officially transferred to different schools. Both Rushel Shell, a 2012 graduate of Hopewell High School and Chavas Rawlins, a 2013 graduate of Monessen High School are coming and going from West Virginia University.

The WPIAL and PIAA's all-time leading rusher ends what turned out to be a tumultuous five months in which he left the University of Pittsburgh, enrolled at UCLA, decided against playing his college ball in California, had Pitt close the door on his chances to return and now will sit out this fall and have three years of eligibility left in Morgantown.

Shell gained 641 yards as a true freshman in 2012 and was slated to be the number one running back for the Panthers upon the graduation of leading rusher Ray Graham. Shell missed a couple of spring practices then took some time away from the team before deciding he wanted to play his college ball further from home.

After a transfer to either Arizona or Arizona State was blocked by the University of Pittsburgh, Shell decided on UCLA as his next college choice. However last month, Shell had a change of heart and wanted to come back home to be close to his 1 1/2 year old twin daughters. He approached some Pitt officials about returning to the program, however second-year coach Paul Chryst decided against it and Shell's search continued.

He narrowed his choices to West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio State and made the decision to continue his career in Morgantown.

While Shell lands in Morgantown, former Monessen quarterback Chavis Rawlins has opted out of West Virginia, instead transferring to Duquesne University.

Rawlins had enrolled at West Virginia in January and decided to make the move before his college athletic career got started in Morgantown. Rawlins was 71 of 165 passing last fall at Monessen for 1,382 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Tags: Hopewell