West Virginia loses two offensive players to transfer portal

Two West Virginia football players entered the transfer portal Wednesday, according to a tweet from Mike Farrell. Running back Marcus “Owen” Chafin and receiver Donavin Davis, both walk-ons, have decided to play the rest of their college careers elsewhere.

A Huntington, West Virginia, native, Chafin joined the Mountaineers in 2019 after helping lead Spring Valley High School to a state championship appearance. Although he remained on the team for the next three seasons, he did not receive any playing time.

Davis is also a West Virginia local, hailing from Charleston. He joined the team ahead of the 2021 season eager to make an impact for what he dubbed as his “dream school.” However, things would unfortunately take a turn for the worse shortly after he arrived on campus.

Davis got sick within the first month of being in Morgantown and claimed to have been throwing up blood during practice. He was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE), which is caused by extra white blood cell build up in the esophagus.

“It’s just kinda heartbreaking because that’s my favorite school, my dream school,” Davis said in a January interview. “And then going to play and everything, and then unfortunately getting sick so…I’ve been through a lot of obstacles the past few months, and this semester in general. But I’m just trying to bounce back and recover. That’s all I can do. Just turn my negatives into positives, that’s it.”

Davis went on to say the team told him he could return in the spring, but with his decision to enter the transfer portal it appears his time at West Virginia is done. With less than a month remaining before the 2022 college football season begins, it will be interesting to see where both he and Chafin land.