West Virginia's Preston Fox (29) returns the kickoff during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Brad Tollefson)

Jaden Bray was sitting in the West Virginia meeting room when a familiar face unexpectedly walked in. The familiar face was West Virginia veteran receiver Preston Fox.

Fox played for the Mountaineers for five seasons and racked up over 500 yards, becoming one of the veterans in the receiver room. Fox announced in January that he was done playing football for “multiple reasons.” Fox’s career received a lot of praise, including a comment from WVU athletic director Wren Baker.

Just a couple of months later, Fox decided to come back for another year.

“He just ended up walking in,” Bray said. “I had the biggest smile on my face, so I was glad he was back.”

Bray said Fox was one of his best friends and has been “great to have him back.” But, Fox’s return hasn’t been impactful for just Bray; it’s trickled down to the whole receiver room.

Rich Rodriguez’s 2025 receiver room is a mixture of returners, like Bray and Fox, but there are a lot of new additions from the transfer portal. Some portal additions came in the winter, but there have been a couple of impactful additions this spring.

The one Bray talked about, alongside Fox, for pushing the group was Idaho State transfer Jeff Weimer. Weimer had over 1,000 yards and six touchdowns last season. Weimer’s not listed in the media guide most likely because of issues with NCAA waivers, but is still allowed to practice and work out with the team.

“Jeff Weimer, that’s the one of the most competitive dudes I ever met in my life,” Bray said. “He’s just pushing everybody in that room. Then Preston Fox, another guy, who’s a returner, who pushes you to go hard every day. Those two guys do not get tired, so you usually got to look over to your right and look at those guys just lining up next, and you just realize you got to keep going with them.”

The receiver room was another position group greatly impacted by the portal. Rodriguez added seven receivers during both periods. According to the WVU’s roster, there are 15 receivers in the room, but that doesn’t include Weimer, so it’s really 16.

Even with all the new faces, Bray said the room has mixed well together.

“We always hang out, for the most part, outside of the facility,” Bray said. “We’ll always play the game or something like that. But all the receivers, all the transfers in the receiving room, so far, we’re not getting any more, so we’ve all been set in stone for probably a couple of months now. We all get along really well. We’re all really close. We always hang out, like I said, outside the facility and stuff like that.”

In the facility, the wide receivers have been working on a variety of fundamentals this summer. Bray listed the group wants to get better at three-step breaks and short-yardage routes.

“Just becoming faster off the ball as well, just having good knee drive, making it look like I’m running at you fast,” Bray said. “They don’t know what I’m doing at the top.”

There’s still a lot of work to do before the season starts. There’s no set No. 1 receiver heading into the 2025 season for the Mountaineers. One will probably emerge after a couple of weeks into the season, but right now, all 16 receivers have a chance to be the guy.

Fox’s return and the immediate impact of the transfer have made the room super competitive, which is positive to hear for Rodriguez and company, who are searching for the No. 1 receiver.

“Yeah, we’re super competitive,” Bray said. “Especially us, we’ve got to be the most in shape on the field.”