… but I’ve got a lot on my plate. This Villanova thing is unfolding — and seems to be unraveling — rapidly and other things are afoot. Let’s not neglect the news of the weekend, though.

Ford Childress apparently gave up his dream of running wild in the Sprint Cup Series to play college football. He’s picked West Virginia and before he hits the summer camp tour in Texas. I know, I know. We always proceed with caution and I’d have to think that’s especially true with a kid from Texas who hasn’t had Mack Brown or Texas A&M or anybody else in his living room to talk about the future.

Yet as told to West Virginia Illustrated, Childress is stuck on WVU.

Hill says he has been fielding calls from other schools the past two days and has told them each that Childress is no longer available. Childress and his family are people of their word and would not go back on a commitment, says Hill.

“He told Coach Holgorsen, I believe, he said that we’re giving you a commitment and for us, that’s as good as gold,” says Hill. “They want to play for Coach Holgorsen. Oklahoma State had called me yesterday morning and I told them that he was up at West Virginia and was going to commit and they were upset and they asked me how solid was it, I said, ‘It’s firm.’ He wants to be a Mountaineer.”

This is exciting. Supposing  Childress puts pen to paper and signs in February to play for WVU, he has to be one of the school’s top five best-named quarterbacks, right? And shouldn’t Peter Secret and Gory Hogg be worried? We need a list, everyone. And I’m certain Josh24601 has a head start on all of you on this.

Moving on, if you’re keeping score at home in this game of Southwest comes to the Big East — TCU, Dana Holgorsen, Todd Graham, Mike Haywood before him, Paul Pasqualoni (?) — WVU now has three kids fresh from Texas. This, of course, is driving people into a frenzy. I understand that. I appreciate what’s been done. I just don’t think this splash is a tidal wave.

Try and follow me here: I absolutely believe WVU will have a presence in Texas and the Southwest. I am similarly certain efforts will be concentrated in specific markets and schools and even with specific players. Every now and then, WVU will win a battle for a kid. I just don’t think we’re seeing that yet. Too early.

No offense to Paul Millard, who has been very good in camp so far and is exactly the Geno Smith insurance the Mountaineers and the offense needed in the spring. No offense to Dustin Garrison, who isn’t even here, but put up ridiculous high school numbers that made Millard’s look lethargic and, as such, already has his running backs coach thinking about him. Both of those guys were late additions who didn’t have (many? any?) other Division I schools to consider.

Millard was certain the offers would come his way and he pounced on the one from WVU because he had a strong relationship with Shannon Dawson when he was at Stephen F. Austin and felt comfortable with the offense. Garrison was considered too small and initially passed over by Oklahoma State, which got the kid it wanted. When Robert Gillespie came to WVU, he hooked up with Garrison, though without the Millard-Dawson bond.

They’re promising players from Texas, but the coaching staff didn’t mine gold there. The circumstances lined up perfectly for everyone involved and for that, no one should apologize. Heck, they might be good or great players and ambassadors of a pipeline to WVU. They’re not why WVU secured the services of Ford Childress.

His high school offense was modeled after what Holgorsen did while he was at Houston. Childress was terrific his first year as a starter this past season and won a state championship and, I suspect, would have lit it up this summer and become an even bigger name. So, for that, kudos to WVU.

Yet Holgorsen is here now. His offense isn’t so easily studied by teams in that Southwest region. Holgorsen, Dawson and Gillespie are here now. They’re not a rental car away from driving to eight schools in a day. They can’t have as many familiar face-to-face relationship. They can’t be as frequent an in-person visitor to a school or a home. It’s going to be more difficult now than before to have those ties in Texas.

Yet it’s not impossible … and that’s the dynamic by which I am fascinated. The coaches can still have them — though likely not in the same abundance — but I’m much more interested to see how that happens than I am in seeing how many of those players come to WVU.