We’re in an odd part of preseason camp. It’s entirely encouraging for West Virginia, but it’s perplexing for the people covering it. Allow me to explain.

We’re over the top of the hill and heading for the finish. The players and all the coaches have already met the media a few times, and they know the end is very near. We’re running low on people to talk to for fresh interviews and ideas. But this ought not be your or WVU’s concern. It’s reassuring.

You see — and you knew — the Mountaineers were in a pretty decent spot when this all began. You knew who the players were and where they’d be on offense. You knew there were openings on defense, but you knew who’d be in line to fill the vacancies. There really haven’t been a lot of developments, never mind surprises, in the first nine days. I started quizzing players on the All-Camp Team (not a depth chart!) Wednesday. There were no “Oh, really?” nominations.

All of that is good for a team in August. Things are more or less happening as expected. But we can run out of things to cover. I’m not out of ideas. I’ve got stories in the bank. But I also know camp ends Saturday and I’ve got to fill the pages and the blog space until a Holgorsen news conference and interviews with players and coaches on Aug. 23.

Here’s the bummer: WVU has a team policy that limits who’s available. This is fine. It’s not new. It’s not unusual. It’s not as bad as it is at other places. But it’s the hand we hold. The best way to describe it is to say first-year players are off limits. Requests to speak with true freshmen, whether they play or redshirt, are denied. The same goes for junior college transfers, whether they play or redshirt, and Division I transfers, whether they play or transfer. A Division I transfer, a junior college transfer or a true freshman who redshirts is muted that first year and then until he plays for the first time.

So if you ever wondered why you never heard from Jovon Durant during his true freshman season last year or Yodny Cajuste during his redshirt freshman run last season, now you know. Similarly, Division I transfers Antonio Crawford, who sat out last season, and Maurice Fleming, who is eligible but who hasn’t yet played, haven’t been heard from. Same goes for all the junior college transfers, like Kyzir White and Justin Crawford.

This policy is not on paper. It exists in the wind, and there’s room for occasional exceptions. Clint Trickett, for example, was new in 2013, but he was allowed to talk to us. Fleming will probably be allowed to talk, and it’s possible White and Crawford and the others could be, too.

Here’s the point: Write down the big names and stories so far. A proper (and lengthy) list will include a lot of people who are on the no fly list. Colton McKivitz, David Long, Alec Shriner, Adam Shuler. Redshirt freshmen. Kennedy McKoy, Marcus Simms, Reese Donahue, Brendan Ferns, Carter Walburn. True freshmen. Crawford, White, Toyous Avery, Elijah Battle. Junior college transfers. Fleming, Antonio Crawford. Division I transfers. Some of them are going to be very good and very important players. Some of them are in key position battles or platoons. Some of them have good stories to share.

So when it’s the eighth day of media interviews and the third time players meet reporters, the pickings are slim. We had a short list to work with Wednesday, but everyone did their part, including admittedly exhausted Shelton Gibson, who’s working hard to catch all the passes.

On working on catching the ball more efficiently

Just way more jugs machine and coming back to the ball. Having it go really, really, really, really fast. If I can catch the real fast ones from the jugs machine, than I can catch the easy ones coming from (senior quarterback) Skyler (Howard).