Apr. 12—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia redshirt senior wide receiver Jaden Bray has been unlucky when it comes to catching the injury bug. He's been injured in two of his four seasons in college football, and last year, he missed most of the season with a lower leg injury.
Bray had a lot of promise after a 30-reception season at Oklahoma State in 2023, transferring to the Mountaineers as a 3-star transfer portal prospect. An injury plagued his Morgantown start, but wasn't bummed out about his season last year.
"It was definitely up and down last season, " Bray said. "I still had fun, though. Even though I wasn't really playing, it was just good to be around all my friends. All my friends, all the receivers we had, coaching staff that we had at the time did a great job at making sure I was doing okay mentally and physically. It wasn't that difficult because I've been injured before. It was something I had already been through, so it wasn't difficult."
Bray hopes to make a bigger impact this season at full health. Bray showed out at the Gold-Blue Spring Showcase, making a couple of grabs down the field.
Other than getting healthy, Bray's been working on perfecting his craft. He wanted to improve fundamentally this spring. Bray wants to be cleaner at the top of his routes, not having a false step and coming off the ball faster.
Bray's still adjusting. He's one of the players on the roster who are in their third-straight year with a new head coach and scheme. Bray was with Mike Gundy in 2023, Neal Brown in 2024 and now Rich Rodriguez in 2025.
He said learning another system has been tough, but his receiver coach, Ryan Garrett, helped the transition.
"They do a great job making sure that we're all ready to go before we step out on the field, " Bray said. "I would say I've been learning this offense pretty well. I would say this offense is pretty much receiver-friendly. And like I said, they just do a great job making sure that we're all prepared and ready to go out on the field."
The transition of offenses hasn't been too difficult. From Brown's offense to Rodriguez's, it's a bit different, but Gundy's offense was more tempo. Oklahoma State was 20th in snap time last season, nine spots behind Rodriguez's Jacksonville State.
"It's hard getting back into shape, tempo shape, " Bray said. "As far as it being difficult, I don't think it's difficult. I actually really enjoy playing in this offense."
Bray was one of the few accepting the new challenge of adopting a new offense. West Virginia lost four receivers in the portal. He's also one of the few who've experienced the portal "speed dating, " as linebacker Reid Carrico called it.
Bray didn't question portaling. He saw Morgantown as a place to "lock in " and wanted to give Rodriguez a chance, providing another asset for WVU.
"I just really like everything about West Virginia, " Bray said. "Just wanted to give the staff a chance, and I've really enjoyed it. I'm really enjoying it now and playing for Rich Rod and his staff."
