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7/9/11
Jul 9, 2011 8:47:40 GMT -5
Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 8:47:40 GMT -5
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:31:22 GMT -5
Saturday, July 09 2011 Shawn Falkenstein Morgantown
Three more West Virginia football players have been named to national awards watch lists.
Bruce Irvin and Keith Tandy have been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list. That award is given annually to the nation's best defensive player by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 17. The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet will be on Dec. 12 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C.
Last season Irvin led the Big East Conference with 14 sacks while Tandy had the most interceptions (6) and passes defended (17).
West Virginia left tackle Don Barclay has been chosen for the Outland Trophy watch list. The Outland goes to the best interior lineman in college football, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who which will be named on Nov. 21.
The Outland Trophy, presented annually since 1946, is the third oldest award in major college football. The winner of the 66th Outland Trophy, named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn and Kansas at the turn of the century, will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 8 on ESPN.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 12, 2012, in Omaha, Neb.
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:27:37 GMT -5
07/08/2011 Shawn Falkenstein Indianapolis
The NCAA has accepted a summary disposition on several violations by West Virginia's football program. Former coaches Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart were both charged with failure to monitor compliance with NCAA legislation while at West Virginia in findings released Friday afternoon.
The case was decided through the summary disposition process, which is when all sides agree on the facts. The review is then submitted in written form and has been accepted by the NCAA.
"West Virginia University committed major violations involving failure to monitor by two former head football coaches and by the institution, according to findings by the Division I Committee on Infractions," read the report released Friday afternoon. "The failure to monitor findings stemmed from violations within the program involving noncoaching staff members who performed duties that led the program to exceed the allowable number of coaches and coaching staff members who engaged in impermissible out-of-season athletically related activities."
"Penalties in this case include two years probation, coaching and recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions," the report goes on to read. West Virginia proposed two years' probation, took away two scholarships for 2010-11 and one scholarship for 2011-12. Other internal restrictions were imposed upon football staff members.
West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck released the following statement regarding the NCAA's findings:
"WVU is in receipt of the NCAA's final report of an investigation into violations committed from 2005-2009 related to participation and monitoring of noncoaching staff members in drill and meeting activities reserved for countable coaches within our football program. We appreciate the hard work the Committee and the NCAA staff put into this process, particularly moving cooperatively to the summary disposition process.
"I am pleased that the Committee accepted the self-imposed penalties the University proposed, without imposing any additional ones. The University has already taken corrective action and put new systems in place to address all the issues raised.
"It is also important to note that probation does not affect our bowl eligibility or ability to compete for conference or national championships. It does, however, require annual reports over a two-year period, which we will complete.
"We have taken this case very seriously from the beginning and, as we've said, will move forward with a complete commitment to compliance in all that we do. We now look forward to an exciting football season and putting this process behind us."
CBSsports.com is reporting that Rodriguez will not be penalized. Rodriguez will be an analyst for CBS Sports Network.
"Coach Rodriguez is pleased that the NCAA agreed with the findings that he and West Virginia proposed," said Scott Tompsett, Rodriguez's attorney according to CBSsports.com writer Dennis Dodd. "He's looking forward to doing television work in the fall and resuming coaching next year."
CBSSports.com was able to obtain a letter to Rodriguez from the NCAA that stated, "Although the committee did not impose sanctions upon you, your involvement in these violations will be available for review by any member institution ..." Specifically, Rodriguez' and Stewart's involvement stretched from 2005-06 to the fall semester of 2009 (Stewart only).
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:26:29 GMT -5
Saturday, July 09, 2011
By Michael Sanserino Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The West Virginia football team will lose scholarships and be on probation for two years, but it avoided harsher punishments after admitting to major violations committed under former coaches Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart, the NCAA announced Friday.
The NCAA accepted the school's self-imposed sanctions, which also include coaching and recruiting limitations and a reduction in the number of hours players can participate in athletic activities in a given year.
"I am pleased that the Committee [on Infractions] accepted the self-imposed penalties the university proposed, without imposing any additional ones," West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck said in a statement. "The university has already taken corrective action and put new systems in place to address all the issues raised."
The announcement brings resolution to an affair that started in 2005 and came to light last year.
Rodriguez, Stewart and West Virginia were each hit with "failure to monitor" violations after non-coaching staff members were discovered to be performing coaching duties, thus exceeding both the school's limit of allowable coaches and limits on a student-athlete's on-field activity.
"We have taken this case very seriously from the beginning and, as we've said, will move forward with a complete commitment to compliance in all that we do," Luck said. "We now look forward to an exciting football season and putting this process behind us."
From 2005-09, graduate assistants and a student manager -- whom the NCAA called "graduate assistant coaches and a student assistant coach" -- watched and led voluntary summer workouts involving players, according to the NCAA.
The graduate assistants also watched film with players. All are violations of NCAA bylaws.
"The institution ... acknowledged it failed to properly monitor the activities of the two former head coaches and their staffs," the NCAA said in a statement.
Rodriguez left West Virginia for Michigan in December '07, and Stewart resigned last month in the wake of a different scandal. Neither is currently coaching.
Despite its probation, West Virginia is still eligible to compete for Big East and BCS championships, and the Mountaineers are still eligible to participate in NCAA-sanctioned bowl games.
While on probation, the school must submit more detailed annual compliance reports.
West Virginia lost two scholarships for the 2010-11 school year and will lose an additional scholarship for the upcoming school year as a result of the self-imposed penalties.
Division I-A football teams are permitted to have 85 scholarship players.
The school also eliminated two non-coaching graduate assistant jobs and reduced the amount of time football players can participate in athletic events by 23 percent.
The school's probation will expire July 7, 2013.
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:23:22 GMT -5
July 8, 2011
By Mitch Vingle The Charleston Gazette
West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen has named Alex Hammond his new recruiting coordinator and operations man.
Hammond brings credentials to Holgorsen's program similar to that of receivers coach and Harvard graduate Daron Roberts.
Originally from Indianapolis, Hammond, 30, said Friday he earned an undergraduate degree from Texas and worked at the White House for two years and the State Department for one year. He predominately worked on a global aids relief program and spent significant time in Africa and East Asia.
Hammond then attended Northwestern University in Chicago and, briefly, worked for a law firm.
"I knew, though, my passion was in intercollegiate athletics," Hammond said.
So he landed a job with the NCAA, with which he spent the past two years as an associate director for amateurism certification.
"My NCAA background and knowledge of the gauntlet of bylaws will help Coach Holgorsen," Hammond said. "We want to be in compliance. Also, I saw game day operations at other schools and the use of social media.
"In today's college football world you have to know the rules. I'm at the front end of what others are doing and what we can be doing."
Hammond said he is a friend of Roberts, who also worked in Washington.
"My operational work in the government gave me a skill set to take to college athletics," Hammond said. "It's going to be an exciting time.
"Daron's already paying dividends in the recruiting world. And I have connections."
Hammond said he's ready to tackle the job.
"The one thing we definitely want to do well is be in compliance," Hammond said. "We want to be in compliance and be a recruiting machine, getting the best kids to Morgantown."
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:19:13 GMT -5
July 8, 2011
By Dave Hickman The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - It is tempting to say that West Virginia dodged a bullet with the now-completed NCAA investigation into its football program.
That's not really the case, though.
The truth is there was never much of a bullet there to begin with.
Yes, the school got off almost scot-free Friday when the NCAA issued its final report. In that sense it probably dodged something, but what else did anyone expect? Michigan and Rich Rodriguez had already gone through the process with charges that mirrored those at WVU and received a slap on the wrist.
There's a reason WVU chose to simply go along with the NCAA, agree to the basics of the charges and then debate the minutiae. They'd already seen it done and liked the outcome.
And let's face it, these weren't exactly earth-shaking charges. This wasn't Jim Tressel or Chip Kelly. The only accusations of substance against West Virginia were that graduate assistants and other staffers who weren't supposed to be coaching were, in fact, doing just that. They would oversee winter and summer workouts, watch videotape with players, maybe critique a 7-on-7 drill during the summer.
That was the sum and total of the accusations, along with the requisite accompanying charge that by allowing it Rodriguez, Bill Stewart and the university itself were guilty of allowing those things to happen.
Shoot, and even in that last realm the school came out a winner. The original charge against the two coaches was, as the NCAA puts it, "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.'' That was really the only charge the school fought, and it won when the NCAA's final report downgraded the charge simply to a "failure to monitor.''
But even that was predictable because the NCAA had done the same with Rodriguez at Michigan when the final findings in that case were released last year.
In the end, West Virginia basically didn't disagree with the NCAA on anything aside from the "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance'' charge. And even that didn't seem to be much of a sticking point, or at least it doesn't seem so by reading the report.
The NCAA report actually goes to some lengths to distinguish the two charges. It never mentions that in the original allegations Rodriguez and Stewart were both accused of failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance. (The school itself was never charged with that, rather the failure to monitor.) But it does attempt to explain the difference.
The report cites a dispute between the school and the NCAA over which bylaw should have been cited regarding that charge. The failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance charge requires that it be proven that a coach not only did that, but also failed to monitor the activities.
"Not only did the staff not allege a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance on behalf of [Rodriguez], the summary disposition report contained no facts that would support such a finding,'' the report reads. "The narrative spoke only to [Rodriguez's] failure to monitor and did not address any failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Therefore, the proper citation for this finding [is the failure to monitor]."
Ditto Stewart's case, although in that one the report goes to great lengths to explain that Stewart merely continued - and in some ways expanded on - the acts condoned by Rodriguez.
"[Stewart] mistakenly believed it was permissible for his graduate assistants to monitor and conduct summer skill development activities,'' the report said. "He was an assistant coach under [Rodriguez] and, after [Rodriguez] departed the institution, the activities ... continued.''
(By the way, neither Rodriguez nor Stewart are mentioned by name in the report, nor are any other individuals. Those two are referred to as "former head coach 1'' and "former head coach 2.'' How ridiculous is that?)
Oh, and there is also absolutely no mention of a sixth, secondary violation stipulated in the original charges. That would be West Virginia exceeding weekly time limits for practice and such by 75 minutes during an off week leading up to the team's 2006 game at Louisville.
I found that odd for only one reason, and it relates to the charges against Rodriguez at Michigan. In the Michigan case, Rodriguez was accused of exceeding time limits on a regular basis. As it turns out, the final report in that case cited just 65 hours, which sounds like a lot but pales in comparison to what had been alleged.
That was really the most significant difference between the two cases, and Michigan's self-imposed penalty for that was to reduce practice time by twice that much, or 130 hours. It stands to reason WVU might have been able to do the same and cut 21/2 hours of practice time, twice the alleged overage.
What's interesting is that among the self-imposed sanctions West Virginia endured was to cut those off-season hours by 46.25 hours in the winter, spring and summer of 2010. Did the school actually penalize itself too much?
Probably, and not just in that area. I doubt the NCAA would have looked upon the case differently had the number of recruiters on the road not been reduced for a week last fall and during the spring recruiting period this year. Some of the other changes that were made regarding limiting the activities of grad assistants and recruiting personnel might not have been necessary, either.
I'm sure it all served, however, to illustrate to the NCAA that the school had already been hard enough on itself and thus the NCAA didn't need to pile on. In the end, the strategy worked because the penalties West Virginia incurred aren't likely to hurt the football program one bit.
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Post by elp525 on Jul 9, 2011 7:14:32 GMT -5
July 8, 2011
By Dave Hickman The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's athletic department and football program breathed a major sigh of relief Friday. The school has escaped any major sanctions in regard to the NCAA's investigation into its football program.
The NCAA issued its final report on the matter and accepted all of the school's self-imposed penalties without adding any additional ones. Aside from the stigma of a two-year probation, none of those sanctions are significant.
"I am pleased that the committee accepted the self-imposed penalties the university proposed, without imposing any additional ones,'' West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck said in a statement. "The university has already taken corrective action and put new systems in place to address all the issues raised."
The case stemmed from violations committed from 2005 through 2009 under WVU's last two head football coaches, Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart. The essence of the charges was that in both regimes, non-coaching staff members in the football program were permitted to conduct coaching activities. In general, that included non-coaching graduate assistants and so-called "quality control coaches'' who would supervise or monitor off-season workouts, sit in on coaches' meetings or watch videotape with players.
None of that is permissible under NCAA regulations.
The most significant of the findings, though, was that Rodriguez and Stewart were declared to have failed to monitor the activities within the program. The university itself was also found to have been guilty of the same infraction.
But even that is a victory for the program. In the initial list of charges against the school, Rodriguez and Stewart were charged with a "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.'' The "failure to monitor" finding is far less severe.
The self-imposed sanctions by the school include two years of probation (through July 7, 2013) and the reduction of one scholarship this season. The probation carries no restrictions on anything regarding bowl games, television appearances or recruiting.
It does, however, require the school to inform potential recruits of the school's probation and of the violations committed. It also requires the university to publish in its football media guide the information regarding the probation.
But aside from that the probation includes no other limitations or restrictions. It does require the university to develop an education program for athletic department personnel and file reports on the program with the NCAA during the probationary period.
As for the scholarship reductions, the school had already docked itself two scholarships during the just-completed school year and will reduce the number from the allowed 85 to 84 during the coming school year. In addition, WVU has eliminated two non-coaching graduate assistant positions.
The other sanctions have already been executed. The school scaled back its off-campus recruiters from seven to six during the 2011 spring recruiting season and from 10 to seven during last October's off week and reduced the amount of off-season workout time by 46.25 hours during the 2010 winter, spring and summer periods.
The school never had a hearing before the NCAA on the matter, instead choosing to dispose of it through summary disposition -- agreeing to the basics of the allegation and working with the NCAA to come to a conclusion. The two sides did so during a conference call on March 11, during which the NCAA's committee on infractions requested additional information. That information was accepted and the report was issued Friday.
"We have taken this case very seriously from the beginning and, as we've said, will move forward with a complete commitment to compliance in all that we do,'' Luck said. "We now look forward to an exciting football season and putting this process behind us.''
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 17:48:47 GMT -5
July 8, 2011
Ben Kercheval CollegeFootballTalk.com
Earlier today, we noted that Ohio State responded to their NCAA Notice of Allegations by slapping themselves on the wrist with a vacated 2010 season and, really, not much else.
And while the NCAA’s reaction to such a “punishment” is still yet to be seen — tOSU’s meeting with the Committee on Infractions is set for Aug. 12 — we do know the NCAA’s feeling on West Virginia’s football program following a lengthy investigation.
Thanks to a press release sent out by WVU sports information director Mike Montoro, it appears the NCAA will not inflict any additional punishment on the Mountaineers for three “failure to monitor” violations committed from 2005-2009 by WVU and former coaches Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart.
As you’ll recall, the NCAA’s investigation of the program last summer stemmed from an independent investigation of Rodriguez while he was the head coach of Michigan.
The violations found included “noncoaching staff members who performed duties that led the program to exceed the allowable number of coaches and coaching staff members who engaged in impermissible out-of-season athletically related activities.”
To take it a step further:
“The football program exceeded coaching staff limitations and conducted impermissible athletically related activities when noncoaching staff members, graduate assistant coaches and a student assistant coach participated in on- and off-field coaching activities. For example, five video graduate assistants monitored or conducted skills-development drills and attended position meetings where they worked directly with coaches. Their participation qualified them as countable coaches and the program therefore exceeded its allowable number of coaches.“
Basically, noncoaching assistants counted as coaches during drills in which no coaches were allowed to interact with players.
The violations reportedly started under Rodriguez while he was at WVU and continued under Stewart.
As a result, WVU’s athletic program imposed several sanctions on itself last year that included a decrease of two football scholarships for the 2010-11 academic year, two years probation and elimination of two noncoaching grad assistant positions.
Additionally, below is a statement from WVU AD Oliver Luck:
“WVU is in receipt of the NCAA’s final report of an investigation into violations committed from 2005-2009 related to participation and monitoring of noncoaching staff members in drill and meeting activities reserved for countable coaches within our football program. We appreciate the hard work the Committee and the NCAA staff put into this process, particularly moving cooperatively to the summary disposition process.
“I am pleased that the Committee accepted the self-imposed penalties the University proposed, without imposing any additional ones. The University has already taken corrective action and put new systems in place to address all the issues raised.
“It is also important to note that probation does not affect our bowl eligibility or ability to compete for conference or national championships. It does, however, require annual reports over a two-year period, which we will complete.
“We have taken this case very seriously from the beginning and, as we’ve said, will move forward with a complete commitment to compliance in all that we do. We now look forward to an exciting football season and putting this process behind us.”
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7/8/11
Jul 8, 2011 6:52:49 GMT -5
Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 6:52:49 GMT -5
Business runs smoothly when your supply chain is so close.
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7/8/11
Jul 8, 2011 4:47:31 GMT -5
Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:47:31 GMT -5
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:44:37 GMT -5
07/07/2011
Chip Fontanazza Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Mountaineers are full of new players on this year’s team and one of them is developing into a great leader on the court for the young Mountaineers. The only problem is his leadership skills won’t be used on the court until next season. Transfer point guard Juwan Staten is one of the many reasons why the incoming freshmen are having an easier transition to the next level.
Staten came from the University of Dayton and played significant minutes for the Flyers in his only season. He has to sit out this season because of NCAA transfer rules, but during the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Summer League Staten has proven to a great influence on the entire freshman class.
“Juwan is a great guy,” said freshman forward Aaron Brown. “On and off the court he’s giving us advice [because] he’s played at this level. For him to come in and give us little hints and pick us up is great.”
Staten has always considered himself a leader on the court because he plays the point guard position. But last season at Dayton, Staten was in the same situation as many of the freshman and the one thing that helped him adjust to the Division I level is by playing games.
“It helped me out a lot because last year I was a newcomer,” explained Staten. “I played in a lot of minutes so I had to learn on the go and I had to learn it fast. I’m able to help them out a little bit and the summer league helps out a lot because they’re not getting thrown right into the game. They actually get to play against some other college players before they actually step on the court for a real game.”
“The game is a little bit faster,” continued Staten. “They have to make faster moves and I’m just constantly letting them know what types of moves to make and what kind of things to be looking for when they play on the court.”
Even returning forward Kevin Noreen has been impressed with what Staten has been able to do on the court.
“He’s been great,” said Noreen. “He knows how to play basketball, obviously, his track record at Dayton speaks for itself. I think coming into next year he should be a starter for us right away. He’s that good, he has that type of talent.”
And that one year off will be different than any other year of basketball for Staten because he has played organized basketball almost every year of his life and sitting out a year will be a different experience, but it’s something Staten says does have its benefits.
“I’m going to be able to sit out and kind of learn the system a little bit, see what Big East basketball is all about and work on my weaknesses,” said Staten.
“It’s going to be tough, especially with the way I’ve been playing,” continued Staten. “Since I was little I never really had to miss any games so having to miss a whole year is going to be tough, but I take this and look at the positives.”
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:41:49 GMT -5
07/07/2011 Press Release Providence, RI
The BIG EAST Conference has announced that the women’s basketball conference schedule format will change from 16 games to 18 games, beginning in the 2012-13 season. With TCU joining the league in 2012-13, the Conference will have 17 schools within one division. Each team will play 14 opponents once and two opponents twice. The calendar will expand for Conference play to allow for the additional league games. Both the Conference-play start date and 18-game schedule will mirror that of the schedule used by men’s basketball.
“The change in the Conference schedule reflects the growth of BIG EAST women’s basketball,” said Danielle Donehew, BIG EAST Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball. “As the league grows, we need to adapt in order to create the best presentation of our teams and to showcase the depth and talent of our league.”
Repeat opponents will continue to be determined annually by the conference staff and will be chosen based on the following criteria: providing additional attractive television inventory, competitive issues/RPI implications and geographic rivalries so as to minimize travel costs.
The conference had previously announced the 2011-12 matchups including repeat opponents. The 2011-12 format for league play is a 16-game schedule. Each team will play 16 conference games - seven opponents home, seven opponents away and one repeat opponent, home and away. Each member has a total of eight home and eight away games.
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:39:34 GMT -5
Friday July 8, 2011
by Mike Casazza Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Hardly a day goes by when Quincy Wilson isn't reminded of his unforgettable touchdown catch-and-run against Miami in 2003. He is asked about it again and again.
Lately, though, the former West Virginia University running back is asked about something that may be just as memorable.
He and former WVU linebacker Grant Wiley are the driving forces behind West Virginia Legends Inc., which will play host to its first official event in Morgantown on Tuesday.
The two WVU greats will be joined by many others from WVU football and basketball and conduct a youth football camp and a celebrity basketball game.
The camp is free and admission for the basketball game is $10 for the general public and $5 for kids and students. All money raised and donated goes to the mother and brother of the late and former WVU receiver, Chris Henry.
"The more I have people ask me why I'm doing this, the easier it is to answer," Wilson said. "I actually ended up running into his mom and brother after I'd seen her on that CBS special about what had happened to Chris.
"I had always had it on my mind to do something for Chris, so when I saw his mom and talked to her and heard what she was doing for organ donation and all that, I started to think about all the people I know, all the contacts I've made and I thought, 'Let's see if I can put something together.'"
Wilson collaborated with Wiley beginning in January and they came up with this WV Legends Classic. The camp, which is free thanks to Chesapeake Energy's sponsorship, will be at Pro Performance at Mylan Park.
It's open to youth ages 7-14 and opens with registration at 8 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m. The basketball game will be at Morgantown High. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Wilson and Wiley have lined up a list of recognizable names, including Owen Schmitt, Rasheed Marshall, Pat McAfee, Angel Estrada and Lance Frazier.
"Every penny we get, all the proceeds, the donations, the sponsorship, will go to Chris' mom and brother," Wilson said. "It's up to them to spend it however they want."
Wilson was Henry's teammate at WVU in 2003 and knew him the year before when Henry sat out as an academic non-qualifier. They were together later with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006 and 2007. Wilson acknowledges the irony in his association with Henry.
Wilson, from Weirton and once the state's all-time leading high school rusher, is thought of as one of the most likeable and approachable players to come through WVU in recent years.
Henry, who died Dec. 17, 2009, after he fell out of the back of a truck driven by his fiancee, was shy and withdrawn and sometimes in trouble with the Mountaineers.
He'd have more problems when he was in the NFL.
Yet Wilson had a close look at a man who had sought to change his life. Wilson was rooting for Henry to turn things around.
"I spent a lot of time with him here and in Cincinnati and I definitely saw a different side," Wilson said. "Everyone sees the arrests and the trouble he was in and all that stuff. That's what's glorified these days.
"I felt his story was so much more than that. He had three little kids and you could tell he was getting ahold of his life. He was excited about getting married. There was so much more to him than what people see. I feel like everyone would have seen those things happen."
Wilson is moved by what Henry's mother, Carolyn Henry Glaspy, is doing these days. She donated her late son's heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and pancreas. All went to transplant recipients. She continues to advocate organ donation.
"That's a positive I don't think people realized," Wilson said. "It's a tragedy, but there's a positive spin you can put on this, and this is an event I hope can do that."
Wilson doesn't want the camp and the basketball game to be a memorial and insists it's a celebration of Henry's life and the life he allowed others to have after his death. He also hopes it's the start of something big for the West Virginia Legends Inc. group.
Wilson wants this to be the first of a series of events to benefit a cause or visit a community. Rather than round up former players and do autograph signings, Wilson prefers the more personal camps and enjoyable competitions.
"We have such a great fan base across the state that instead of having people stand in line and paying 20 bucks to have us take a picture and sign something and move along, this event is a full day where a fan can come and be social and take pictures and just have fun," Wilson said.
"Next year we want to do stuff all over the state - Martinsburg, Charleston, Beckley, Parkersburg. We want to get the ball rolling. This is our grand opening, so to speak, and hopefully people will want us to go around and reach out even more next year."
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:35:47 GMT -5
July 7, 2011
By Mitch Vingle The Charleston Gazette
THERE'VE BEEN whispers of late that the Maryland-West Virginia basketball series of yore might be restarted.
There is indeed a little fire to the smoke.
"We've talked about it," said WVU deputy athletic director Mike Parsons. "I don't know if you'd call it 'negotiating' or not, but we've talked. We'd like to get it started again."
It would make sense. The schools have a rich tradition of playing. The Mountaineers hold a 23-14 edge in a series that began in 1926. The last time the schools played was in 2004. That, however, was in the four-team BB&T Classic, played in Washington, D.C., and Morgantown.
Prior to that, the schools last played a home-and-home series in 1991 and '92. The word is Gary Williams, the Terrapin coach at the time, didn't care for ex-WVU coach Gale Catlett and pulled the plug on the series.
Whatever the case, it's a shame the two schools haven't been meeting. A loss to either program can't be considered "bad" and it's a nice, attractive regional matchup.
There are other neat angles. Billy Hahn, WVU's assistant to the head coach, was an assistant and associate head coach at Maryland from 1989-2001.
Anyway, Williams was said to be receptive to restarting the series with Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins now in place. Williams, though, retired and gave way to former Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon. Huggins knows "Turg" but the hunch from here is the fire around a restart isn't intense at this time. Which is a shame.
What is heating up, however, is an effort by Huggins to sew up a "four-team deal that's going to move around."
The Mountaineer coach wouldn't elaborate, other than to say Kentucky isn't involved. (When reached, by the way, Huggins was sitting by UK coach John Calipari and watching prospects. Huggins ribbed the Wildcat coach about being scared to play WVU. Calipari's reply: "Come to Rupp!")
Anyway, the "deal" is something WVU fans can anticipate hearing about in the future. Huggins said he's waiting to "get TV on board" before particulars can be announced.
nn
While on the subject of scheduling, I asked Parsons again about the reported possible 2012 matchup between the football Mountaineers and James Madison at FedEx Field, the home of the Washington Redskins.
The first report came out June 27. Since then? Crickets.
"Way premature," Parsons said of the report.
Just because it's called "premature," of course, doesn't mean it was incorrect. What I wondered is if public outcry of moving a home game with JMU to Washington is causing WVU officials pause. So I asked Parsons if the scenario might not take place.
"There's always a chance, sure," he said. "[The contract] is far from being done. It's not a done deal."
He was asked about negative feedback.
"Obviously we read a couple articles on it," Parsons said. "We got a couple emails, although I wouldn't say they were negative."
What he would say is "we certainly won't do it unless it's advantageous to our [athletic] department."
He confirmed a profit from a typical home football game is "$1.8 to 2 million." So a move would obviously have to clear that. But by how much?
The thought from here is WVU should hold out for at least $2.5 million or leave the game in Morgantown.
And even that figure tugs at me. I mean, the extra half mil might come in handy, but is it enough to ding all the hotels, restaurants, bars, etc., in the Morgantown area that lean on WVU home games? Would there be enough excitement around the game, enough national attention, to justify the hit to the community?
I understand WVU has to pay its bills (and its Danas), but this is one proposal I hope athletic director Oliver Luck and company carefully consider.
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Post by elp525 on Jul 8, 2011 4:33:37 GMT -5
July 7, 2011
By Dave Hickman The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - Don Barclay bristles at the notion that he and the rest of West Virginia's offensive line underachieved the past few years.
OK, so he doesn't simply scoff at the notion that there were issues with blocking. In fact, that goes almost without saying.
Getting tough yards in tough situations - particular short-yardage situations - was one of the Mountaineers' biggest problems over the course of the past three seasons. Sacks were up. Rushing yards were down. And much of the responsibility for that has to fall on those who are blocking.
To put all the blame on the shoulders of those blockers, though, is perhaps unfair. It was as much a system issue as anything else.
"I wouldn't say we've struggled the past few years,'' said the fifth-year senior left tackle. "I think what hurt us was trying to run power [football] when that's not the kind of offense we are. Our weight's not up [to where it should be in order] to do that.
"I think now people are going to see what they want to see, spreading out and [playing at] a faster pace. And we're going to be good at that this year. We have the line to do that.''
Indeed, the state of - and purpose of - West Virginia's offensive line over the course of the past few years has been ever changing. Take Barclay, for instance, because he's a perfect example.
Recruited by Rich Rodriguez's staff - he was a freshman who redshirted during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl season - Barclay arrived prepared to step into the strictly zone-blocking scheme that helped produce the wildly successful rushing numbers put up by guys like Steve Slaton and Pat White.
That was an offense, however, that lacked much of a passing threat. So when Rodriguez left and Bill Stewart stepped in, offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen and line coach Dave Johnson changed things. They kept some of the zone-blocking principles, but also tried to teach pass blocking and power blocking.
None of it seemed to work. Not only did West Virginia lose the quick-strike big runs that were produced in the Rodriguez spread, the line couldn't open holes for the power game (thus the third-and-short woes) and the number of sacks allowed increased each year. Yes, the number of passes thrown increased, too, but WVU still went from 27th in sacks allowed in 2008 to 57th in 2009 and 71st in 2010. The rate of sacks per passes thrown got steadily worse, too.
Blaming the line for that is probably fair, to a point. But the personnel on the line?
Perhaps they were simply being asked to do too much.
"If you're thinking too much, you're not going to be playing as well as you can,'' Barclay said. "If you're taking a power step you're going straight ahead usually. If you're taking a zone step you're going sideways. It's hard. I think what we're going to do is master what we're going to do and we're going to be great at it.''
That's all due, of course, to a change in philosophy. New coach Dana Holgorsen has completely revamped the offense and brought in a new line coach in Bill Bedenbaugh. while the new offense seems to be multi-dimensional in that passing, running and power football are all possible, the looks from which those different plays are run remain basically the same.
"What the line does doesn't change much from play to play,'' said Bedenbaugh. "It's what happens behind them that's different.''
That suits Barclay just fine.
"I think we've gotten our identity back,'' Barclay said. "We're a spread-out offense now. We're going to hit the outside or inside zone. We don't have to worry about doing the inside zone and then running power the next play. We're consistent and we're going to be good at what we do.''
They will do it at full speed, too.
"Like [Bedenbaugh] said, if you're going to mess up, then mess up strong. Hit them and knock them over,'' Barclay said. "Don't just stand there. It's a different thing and I think we're doing well with it.''
If that's the case, though, it will have to come with a rather new-look mix of the personnel up front. Even though there are four starters back from last season, Barclay and center Joe Madsen figure to be the only ones playing the same position as 2010. Right tackle Jeff Braun looks like he will move to left guard because Josh Jenkins' health is a big question mark after he injured a knee in the spring game.
Redshirt freshman Quinton Spain appears to be the leader at right tackle going into fall camp, even though he didn't play that spot at all in the spring. Fifth-year senior and former walk-on Tyler Rader from Nitro enters fall camp No. 1 on the depth chart at right guard.
And Barclay - along with Braun - will be practicing for the first time in eight months when camp begins in early August. Both missed the spring after undergoing shoulder surgery, which is why Spain has yet to line up at right tackle. He played Barclay's left tackle spot in the spring.
That hurt Barclay perhaps even more than his shoulder.
"I think the biggest thing was that someone was getting better than me every day at practice. That's what bothered me,'' Barclay said. "If someone's getting better than me it kind of kills me inside. That's the biggest thing I had to think about. So now I'm just anxious to get out there for camp.''
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