Welcome to the — wait for it — 200th Friday Feedback. A bicentennial! How about that? Has it really been 100 since we turned 100? And since I’ve been doing this for five years and five months, have I really skipped out on 70 or so Fridays?

No fanfare or celebration today. I’ve got a better one in mind. Allow me a brief and sincere moment of gratitude, though. Hardly much time transpires between occasions when people tell me how much they enjoy this place and how much things make them think and laugh. I know I’ve told this story before, but a frequent reply I offer is, “Yes, thanks, but I really have almost nothing to do with that.”

And then, almost without fail, the person says, “Yeah, it is great.”

Yes!

Let’s move on, onto more important matters, like agenda-driven pushing and pulling that surrounds WVU’s Tier 3.

Another media mogul, Bray Cary, is reportedly seeking a piece of that deal. Cary runs West Virginia Media, which could become an IMG subcontractor.

Payne is an investor in Cary’s West Virginia Media.

Now, Raese plans to send a letter that raises a number of concerns about the pending deal, Gwynne said.

“We are closely watching this process,” Gwynne said in a telephone interview Thursday. “Obviously over a long period of time, basically 73 years except for two seasons, we have managed those rights for the West Virginia athletic department.”

Raese’s letter is expected to go to WVU President Jim Clements, Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and David Raese, who is John Raese’s brother and business partner and the publisher of the Morgantown Dominion Post.

Payne dismissed the whole thing.

“John Raese has proved his ass over the years and this is nothing new,” Payne said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Stop the fight! Throw one under Payne’s chin, as was the case Wednesday, and Payne bounces one off your dome.

I have feelings and thoughts on this — Example: Would Payne, understanding the visibility and certain scrutiny of this process, leave himself so exposed and vulnerable to objection? — but I’m not taking sides here. I’d rather just take this all in. Much as I’d like to think Payne just defused the situation, I doubt anyone will be willing to take the final, unanswered punch to the nose here.

Also, that story is easy reading and it happened on @ryrivard‘s second-to-last day with us … and they ought to let him go home early today. Significant loss for the good guys. Ry was, and presumably will be in his next stop, very connected and very dogged and he helped me out a bunch through the years without fear or hesitation. Here’s what I came to know to be true about him up here: When someone had a voice mail from Ry, people held meetings before returning the call.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, know your signs.

Jeff in Akron said:

Here’s the thing, “IF” Murray is the best all around player on the WVU basketball team; a team that is ranked 311 in field goal percentage, 189 in points per game, and 96 in rebounds per game. How much mileage can a player get from NBA scouts being the best player on a team with those stats?

It gives Mike’s final quote increased meaning, “I don’t want to leave like this,” he said “I’m not leaving like this.” Seems to me that’s a fairly accurate statement, on many levels.

That has to be the reality settling in, but I do wonder about the depth of Murray’s pledge. It sounds so good after a strong game and while surrounded by the crowd and it changes the talking points. Murray isn’t stupid.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

The quotes you missed Mike were on his weekly show with Tony on at least a couple of occasions……let’s face it, this guy is a head case; however, he’s our head case and I think Huggs can make him better.

I think he’s kind of the same guy as the Turk without the attitude — both seem to like Huggs and playing for him, have the ability to play hard when they want to, and take plays off while on the floor.

I see it this way — I’d leave that scholarship in place, continue to build on two guards from this year, and hope that the guys coming in are as good as advertised. We don’t want two huge classes on this team (though I guess this one becomes huge only if all the guys are not retained on scholarship) and we still have the hope he finally “gets it” and becomes the player that God Gifted him to be.

Making your living on the whims of 17-22 year old young men must be a tough way to get it done.

That’s theater. Never happened.

Bobby Heenan said:

As mentioned by Oklahoma mountaineer, Huggs on his weekly show with Caridi (?maybe 4 weeks ago or so?) convinced me he thought Murray was gone. He didn’t even preface it with any “if he does this or that.” He did make it clear it may not necessarily be NBA, but “professionally somewhere” or something like that. If I wasn’t so busy at work I’d try to find the podcast.

All I remember for sure was that I had the distinct feeling he was VERY likely gone after this year. Then all of the sudden a couple of weeks later there are reports of Murray having changed his mind.

With that said, other things have changed from what Huggs talks about on the show. He’s dealing with kids, so lots of things are in flux. I also remember just a week or so before the season on Toni’s show he mentioned that he was pretty sure either Harris or Henderson would red shirt. Whichever one pulled ahead he would play and the other guy would sit out to red shirt. Turns out they’re 2 of our best 5 guys out there any night. So stuff changes

… neeeeever happened.

em2 said:

Yeah. Still trying to figure we have 3 guys seniors leaving after this year and 4 recruits coming in . . . . . who is out ?

Well, Murray’s early exit would even out things, but you also limit yourself to thinking guys who aren’t playing this season and/or who didn’t play last season will stick around again … especially if Huggins has recruited replacements. I don’t want to do this to Aaron Brown, but if you’re Aaron Brown, would you like your junior year to be like your first two years or would you like to go down the road and play and maybe star at Fairmont State? Guys want to play.

Mack said:

The team is what it is. If WVU wins this game, it’s not going to miraculously turn into a top five Big 12 team. We’ve seen them play enough games to know that WVU isn’t very good, certainly not an NCAA Tournament team, and is – at best – a “last four in” for the NIT. My guess is the media, sorry Mike, will spin this season into having at least five more “TURNINGPOINT GAMES” but we’ve seen enough of this team to know what they are.

The only “encouraging wins” this year have been against Virginia Tech (who we’ve since learned is terrible) and Texas (which, in hindsight, seems flukey just like the football game).

The Strength of Schedule may be good, but you have to beat some of the teams for that to matter. Has WVU beaten an NCAA tournament team yet, this year?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Top five is within reason. Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and then Baylor/Oklahoma. Would you be shocked if WVU ended up better than one of those two in the standings? I’m with you on the general premise. The “you are what you are” test is my thing. I think, realistically, the ceiling is relatively close, but I’ve still got nine more games to cover. Maybe they get that first W against a NCAA team yet!

JC said:

Salvageable doesn’t necessarily mean a NCAA tournament birth. The extra games and practices allowed with NIT or other tournament births could do nothing but help.

Eh, personally, I think that’s overrated. It’s not like the bowl practices, and that’s overrated, too. It’s good for the guys who don’t practice or play. Can’t do that in the NIT. You have finite time to prepare for a game with the guys who will play. For bowls, you have the handful of practices for the game and then a few leftovers for giggles.

WVMANIAC said:

I think this is at least an NIT team, because people underestimate the star power of Bob Huggins…. His teams sell tickets

You could end up with Roy Williams, Coach Cal, and Huggs in the NIT – I bet the NIT is really wanting those in their tournament….

Can’t believe I’m saying this … but that’s a good point. You wouldn’t see any of those teams, or one of that caliber, in the Coliseum, though.

jtmountaineer said:

During our two-game winning streak, I have not posted during the game. You’re welcome. Although if the streak is only two games, it might be more of a winning smudge.

If the guys can continue to pick up the wins they should, there could/should be enough momentum to get them a few games against better teams. I don’t think anyone can realistically say there’s a shot at the real tourney, but any kind of postseason play would be welcome additional playing time for a team that can use all the experience it can get before next year. Nice to see Denize showing his more talented side in the last few games.

You are on the record. Go away!

Karl said:

On TV, that crowd sounded pretty good for its size.

Agreed. Absolutely. Sometimes less is more and I give you two versions. 1) The people who were there were united by some special, inspiring bond. They were the few, but they were the proud and they were going to make some noise. 2) The most empty sections were the lower sections — especially before fans were invited to move down to the seats closer to the floor — and those lower sections are the ones often accused of sucking the lives out of crowds.

Foul Shot said:

Is Deniz making the late season push like Alexander in 2008?
Hopefully they can get to the NCAA, no one wants NIT.

Man, people forget this, but Joe did his thing for exactly nine games that season. Nine!

oklahoma mountaineers said:

Mike, does this mean that the other kids are qualified academically already??

If that’s true, we are in pretty good shape and we don’t tie up a scholarship for a Deon Long/Tivata Finau and lose a kid who is ready for school.

Some are good to go. Dorchester said five are in the gray area.

JC said:

So we recruited a 4* ILB who is now 290lbs and will likely play NT…….welp

Fact. Interesting story here and, again, I didn’t sense people  were upset with this like they were when Ryan Clarke ballooned to like 265 pound before his freshman camp. Yet people are insisting I’m wrong about this. Don’t you know where I was Wednesday and who I talked to?

Phil M. said:

I can’t believe anybody would ask Tony Gibson if it was ethical to turn the 2 players away from Arizona to WVU. Lets not forget who we’re talking about here. We are talking about Rich Rodriquez. The words ethical and Rich should not be mentioned in the same breath. Good job Tony and welcome home.

Well it’s obvious I’m still not where I need to be when it comes to Rich Rod. Oh well I’m sure I will not lose any sleep over it.

Pulled that one out of the fire, huh? What Gibson did is a touchy subject. I gave him an opportunity to defend his position. And I’m inclined to agree with him. It doesn’t matter if it’s the right or wrong thing to do. It’s the thing people are doing. Gibson’s job is to get the best players he can to play for WVU. But seriously, yhat was a hell of a way to re-connect with Gibby, right?

ffejbboc said:

Props to Keaton Miles. Dude didn’t play for, like, what? 10 games. But he came in and played with energy. Never heard him complain or see him pouting on the bench.

That being said, why hasn’t he been playing? He is a great shot blocker, decent rebounder/defender. He doesn’t score much, but who on this team really does on a consistent basis?

He doesn’t play because he doesn’t do that nearly enough and has had far more bad moments than good runs. If he was good enough in practice and games, he’d be playing because, honestly, who’s owning that spot? That said, he was nice against Oklahoma State, where the crowd kind of hated him, and Texas. All that matters.

Mack said:

I’ll try to avoid the all-encopassing statements, but here goes:

Fouling a three-point shooter with 0.7 seconds left when you have a four-point lead is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen on a basketball court.

It’s up there, compounded by it being the second time it happened in the final minute.

Dave said:

At least it wasn’t flagrant.

Enjoy the weekend!