Welcome to the Friday Feedback and, boy, I sure wish the NBA Finals started last night and we could talk about the series and how this might be really exciting if fate treats Cleveland kindly! Can’t wait!

Let’s soldier on and consider another WVU number to treasure. The post yesterday was intended for football, and there’s a good debate we’ll get into in a moment. If you extend it to basketball, it has to be 44, right? Baseball is probably 5. Wrestling is 184. It’s a fun exercise for all the sports and even for the school. Wouldn’t 44 be the number for the school? Jerry West, Rod Thorn, Jim Braxton, Tim Agee. Not bad.

But maybe years from now we’re thinking differently. How about 88? James Jett (for a year) and Reggie Rembert (and Cody Clay?), plus the ’88 team played for a national title.

And also Kadeisha Buchanan, the starting center back for the Canadian women’s national team. She’s pretty special, if you aren’t familiar. Allow Kicking Nikki to explain.

“I’m a pretty humble person and a pretty humble coach,” Izzo-Brown said, “but I will go on the record and say she will be the best center back to ever play the game.”

Izzo-Brown is adamant about this, and she’s consistent in supporting her point.

“As incredibly gifted as Kevin White is and some of the guys who come through the football program here, she is just as athletic, just as incredibly talented as Tavon (Austin) and Geno (Smith) and all the other greats we’ve had at this level,” she said.

Buchanan, who scored on a header that got past United States goalie Hope Solo in a 1-1 draw in May 2014, is a star up north. Canada decided to feature Buchanan, the 2013 under-20 national player of the year, on a commemorative World Cup Stamp with forward Christine Sinclair, the nation’s most experienced and most accomplished player.

“I don’t know anybody on a stamp that’s alive, and it doesn’t even phase her,” Izzo-Brown said of Buchanan, who has two goals and 35 appearances (32 starts) with the national team.

A stamp! It’s Logoesque. If you’ve never seen her play, you should and can change that. The World Cup starts with Canada v. China at 6 p.m. tomorrow on Fox Sports 1. She also plays a pretty critical and visible role for the Mountaineers. She’s the starter in the middle of the back for WVU, and she takes the ball off the back line and up the pitch, which is something else if you don’t appreciate me mentioning that. Right backs will push the ball up the rail to help an attack. The center rarely does that unless the center is special. That’s Buchanan, and she’s 19.

Her WVU and Team Canada teammate, Ashley Lawrence, isn’t a slouch, either, and she’s made great strides in two years to solidify a position on the pitch and on the roster.

“With Canada, we went back and forth some, and they thought maybe she was better off at a different position,” Izzo-Brown said. “Not to say I was right, but I truly believed Ashley was a midfielder by trade and I stuck by that. These past two seasons, she’s had a great opportunity to show Canada she can be an impact on the field for them, so I’m real happy she’s been able to showcase her trade and her talent and also get better as a player.”

Of all the pipelines we discuss here, the path women’s soccer has blazed from Canada to Morgantown is perhaps most impressive. (Aside: Do we add Lackawanna now? I saw Wesco on my visit and mistakenly thought he was a tackle. He’s a brute. More Clay and less Jace Amaro, but he was a first-team all-state high school basketball star at Musselman, so he can move some.)

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, play the part.

Mack said:

I am about as big a WVU fan as anyone (though I’m in my 30’s, so I don’t have the history that some have)… and I had never once heard of the name Ira Errett Rogers until it was noted in the ESPN College Football Encyclopedia as the best WVU football player ever. Not long after that his number was retired at Mountaineer Field.

I’m not a big fan of retiring numbers. I think that all of the greats should be recognized in different form and fashion… but there’s so many ways to do it that I think retiring numbers is just lazy and doesn’t really do anything for anyone. Same with building stupid statues of people.

I love that the entrance video for the football team shows all of the great historical plays (the only criticism is that it goes way too fast through all of them and makes it impossible to comprehend them if they’re new to you). I like that WVU brings back the greats from game to game. I randomly passed Major Harris in the Blue Lot one day and got a picture with him. I like all of this stuff because it allows younger fans to enjoy what made those guys great. Just painting a number on a wall doesn’t really do anything for those guys.

As we know, it’s pretty difficult to memorialize a number here. I think it ought to be hard to permanently shelf a number, but I don’t have a problem with a ceremony in which a jersey is retired — and by “retired” I mean framed and handed to a former player for prosperity posterity. That seems reasonable and it’s not done in perpetuity. Statues are cool, but let’s not get all Yankees with it and give everyone a monument.

Mack said:

One last note on the above, I haven’t gone to a WVU basketball game in the Coliseum in a decade, but wouldn’t it be good for some Jerry West WVU footage to be shown from time to time? How many people on this here blog have truly ever seen a minute of Jerry West playing for WVU?

They run some in the pregame. It’s much the same as your beloved football montage. 

philip said:

he number i associate with wvu’s rise is no. 9. i’m sure the younger folk will go for no. 5.

JP said:

I was thinking 9 too. Major Harris put modern WVU football back on the map.

There’s some chicken/egg here, but without 9 do the achievements of 5 happen or matter? 

SheikYbuti said:

Here’s something you need to know about Rat Rodgers: He coached the golf team (golf!) in the 50s and 60s, and I understand that he tended to be irascible on even his best days. He was particularly so, however, and well-nigh inconsolable, when the golfers would lose to Pitt. By contrast, when his team beat Pitt, he would be ebullient for weeks and darned near weep tears of joy. That attitude doesn’t exist much anymore (nor do games in any sport against Pitt), but the best example I can think of lately is, maybe, Owen Schmitt.

A nod toward 21 that goes beyond statistics.

smeer said:

no one is alive to fight for #21 so a no vote

#9 left early never completing his mission

#5 won all four bowls – 2 BCS, oversaw us reach a peak in the polls under his tenure, most wins in four seasons and walked away with the rushing QB record

Not quite true about there being no one alive to champion Rat. Furfari will get fired up about that conversation. Will. With regard to 5 and 9 and the conversation about 21 that has to do with era, what if 9 played in 5’s time?

Shoot4Show said:

66 doesn’t get enough love. https://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/chuck-howley

I know this isn’t a discussion about the player’s pro career, but how is he not in the NFL HOF?

I’m with you. He isn’t THE number here, but he’s rarely mentioned in the conversation about the school’s quintessential players during and after their times at WVU. He’s a first-ballot quarter horse hall of famer, though.

chocolate covered bacon said:

To me, this was a rebuilding year for Mazey and his team on a lot of levels. Even home field wasn’t an advantage this year, the team didn’t get to play on the new field enough to actually feel comfortable.

WVU baseball is starting to make news for all the right reasons. Instead of making no news at all, or worse, bad news. With these freshmen, two more years of eligibility, and a brand new stadium does anybody else envision a deep run in the Big-12 playoffs and NCAA’s, or is it just me.

One final thought, and maybe others have realized before now, WVU baseball could define Oliver Luck’s legacy more than any other sport at WVU.

If baseball does define things, it falls in line with the general theme upon Luck’s exit: He did so much to point and move WVU in the appropriate direction, but there was so much left unknown and proven about his maneuvers that his true legacy won’t be defined for quite some time. Baseball’s a good example. If (if) Mazey goes elsewhere, if the novelty of the new stadium wears off and it’s just a building with games, then the progress there is stunted. If the programs makes a regional or wins a conference title and Mazey does it all before packed houses, then it’s a win. Right now, it’s a blank.

smeer said:

B12 admission will define FADOL’s legacy

the most significant move in the history of WVU sports

baseball might be the onfield memory – but baseball was so bad, it had no place to go – and the B12 money made it possible

of course if HCDH can create something, that will rearrange legacy

or golf – there’s always golf

I don’t disagree, but we can blend it all together. Baseball had to be improved because baseball had to matter and provide in the Big 12. If it doesn’t matter and/or provide and it’s just a sport with a place to play games, then it was a misstep brought about by the move to the Big 12. (It’d take a whole lot more than just that to put a pin to the Big 12 move’s bubble.)

I love you, Doug! said:

Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to (extensively) comment on the one position on the field where you can’t earn a stat (“pancakes” = not a real stat). Welcome, kid, I hope you’re great. Peace out.

WVU’s big into knockdowns, though. Does that bring you back to the table?

SheukYbuti said:

If a lineman permits his QB to be sacked because he couldn’t decide quickly enough which blitzer to pick up, is he charged with a “waffle?”

He is now.

Mack said:

Is it just me or do we get talk every year of having depth on the offensive line, and then they only play five guys all season unless some emergency requires an additional player to receive time?

No, it’s a regularly occurring conversation. The number is just so big now that you sort of have to believe in it. We’re talking about a dozen scholarship players instead of eight. The population means you have more players to pick from and therefore a greater chance to get a player. I also think the conversation changes. It was something along the lines of, “Don’t you need to play the sixth, seventh or eighth guy just so you don’t wear down the five starters?” Now it feel like it’s changed to, “Uh, the sixth, seventh and eighth guys good enough to help, aren’t they?” That’s a nice shift. 

Dann White said:

I just think its horrible that Coach Crook has to deal with this inexcusable wealth of talent on the O-line. No head coach on my memory ever allowed such a travesty to develop, thereby assuring a certain constant state of near mediocrity in the squad.
Now HCDH has upset the former predominant state of affairs, bringing all of these unneeded recruits in to clean off the training table and wear holes in the blocking sled.
I can’t believe it, there going to spoil our chance of not having a running game.

Pity.

Mack said:

I didn’t read the specifics, but I saw where he’s been to six schools in six years. If that’s the case, shouldn’t get just go pro (wherever that may take him)? What does he gain from playing a year at WVU?

Who’s paying him? That’s what he has to gain. As well as exposure. And an education. And development. And the college experience. And the memories. 

Dann said:

Huggs,
Here me well: Anybody, anybody at all with the name Teyvon, Tavon,or the phonetic equivalent has got to be a welcome addition to any team wearing the Blue and Old Gold.
Good job coach,

Dann

What about Teyvonn or Tavonn?

Mack said:

Especially in this day and time, I think there’s nothing more enjoyable to watch in basketball than a very talented scorer. Greg Jones (circa 1998) and Casey Mitchell were both extremely fun to watch even though their impact on their teams wasn’t very significant.

I’ve seen as much of Myers as you all have, and the Mitchell comparison is interesting because he’s a high-scoring junior college guard. I don’t think Myers is as good of a shooter, though. Mitchell could get ridiculously hot. Myers isn’t as efficient, which isn’t a great fit for WVU’s overall need because he needs shots to get points, but he gets his points from closer in and at the foul line, and WVU could always use easy points. For some reason, maybe the long windup on their shots or the fact they trusted their left hands and the left side of the floor or their way of getting to the basket, I saw some Darris Nichols. Darris wasn’t a scorer (his teammates said he could score when he wanted to) and he was a facilitator (that’s not Myers’ skill). I’m not saying they’re similar. I’m saying there are similarities. Throw rocks, I don’t care.

Sammy said:

In all seriousness, WVU could (should?) have as many as five defensive players on a Big 12 all conference team (Kwit, Joseph, Dillon, Worley, Henry) and Barber and maybe Chestnut could even slip into third team. Keep in mind all 7 of those guys make up WVU’s back 8 and that’s both a very good thing (in no year in the Big 12 was this kind of speculation possible) and bad (I can’t imagine any WVU DLinemen on the Big 12 all conference team).

I agree about Dillon having a chance to maybe be the best defensive player WVU has — certainly the most disruptive. The big problem for Dillon is Gibson expects him to take on tight ends and fullbacks and he likes running around their blocks, but there’s no question for WVU to win he has to make big plays. I don’t know if either he or Joseph really translates to the NFL though.

I’m supposed to be unbiased, but I hope Dillon excels because I want to talk to him as much as possible. Let’s discuss Barber, though. Are we sure about him? The coaches really, really, really like Xavier Preston, but he’s at Sam behind Kwiatkoski, and Kwiatkoski moved from Mike to Sam because Barber is back healthy in the middle. Barber’s a tough, smart player, fit for the middle, but so is Kwiatkoski, and he’s a better athletic fit there. Preston is going to be really hard to stifle, I think, so I wonder about how this looks after a while. And we haven’t even mentioned Al-Rasheed Benton, who’s bigger and faster in the middle than Barber. Worst case: They’re loaded at linebacker.

Sammy said:

My favorite thing about Steele’s all conference team is that the 2nd-4th team QBs threw an average of 115 passes all of last season. More about the systems, though that won’t make WVU fans happy.

Then again, there’s this:

“Maryland’s top 6 highly recruited QB recruits since 2000 have *combined* for 332 career passing yards.”

http://www.testudotimes.com/2015/5/31/8620025/maryland-qb-recruiting-dwayne-haskins

Scott McBrien shrugs an throws another touchdown pass.

Mack said:

Sammy, to put that in perspective, Ford Childress and William Crest have combined for more passing yards than that.

System quarterbacks!

Ron from Morgantown said:

My only concern is at QB . Historically speaking average Qb play in the B12 doesn’t usually result in a championship . And Howard is average .

I’m so confused about what happened to Crest. It was my observation in an extremely limited scope in the spring that if you stand Crest next to Howard and put them to work, Crest looks like the better option. I guess I’m wondering about his shoulder, or if his time away, which coincided with Howard’s time in the meeting rooms, gave Howard that much of an edge. Can Crest make up the ground he lost during his time off to the side? Or can Howard’s surge continue? But a completion percentage in the low 50s and 7 yards per completion won’t cut it for the offense. 

SheikYbuti said:

Howard’s completion percentage is horrible, especially considering the number of plays in the offense that call for dinks and dunks.

It’s a concern. Stretching the field is the underscored issue, especially with two outside receivers in the NFL, but Holgorsen was pretty effusive praising what happened in the spring.

smeer said:

the difference between past performance and future results will be settled now with no cameras around.

Trickett sucked his first year.

We can make some guesses on Howard’s performance based on his limited play in 2014, but that’s all they are

it again depends on the fire this summer

He gives a B effort with this D and we will be just fine.

I wanna see him play before I grade his 2015 classes before the semester starts

Here’s Howard’s defense against the way he’s being treated here: He has improved (“with no cameras  around”) since arriving on campus. He was not good last spring. Someone said he stunk except that he didn’t say that and it was all a misunderstanding. He was designated to redshirt last season. Then he was the backup. Then he tried to beat Kansas State. Then he had a 300-yard day against Iowa State. (Then the bowl game happened.) Then he wrested control of the starting spot and ran away from everyone else. That’s a pattern we at least have to give more time to. College quarterbacking, by and large, is still newish to him.

SheikYbuti said.

I am somewhat skeptical that a QB who completes 40% of his passes will transform over the course of a summer into one who completes 65%, but I suppose it’s possible. You’ll correct me if my memory proves faulty, but, if Trickett sucked, it was because: (1) he was inexperienced in the system; (2) his offensive line couldn’t protect him; (3) he wasn’t completely healthy, mostly because his offensive line couldn’t protect him; and (4) his receivers were mediocre at best. Given that Howard has only played two or three games for us (and none for another FBS team, as Trickett had) and that we are facing a fairly substantial rebuilding job this season with respect to the offensive line and the receiving corps, isn’t there every reason to believe that history will repeat itself? I mean, is everybody really going to be surprised if we finish 4-8 or 5-7? Disappointed for sure, but surprised?

Yeah, Trickett’s leap was easier to forecast. He was not new to college quarterbacking. He got his health back. His receivers were very good. He had a great rapport with his line. We should probably check in on SY over the weekend, no?

SheikYbuti said:

Points to Mike for “Punxsutawneyish.”

Felt good when I let it go.

Down South said:

I bet Mike is a handful at Scrabble.

Enjoy the weekend!