The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

There goes one option

June 25, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Not long after Ed Pastilong announced his tiered resignation plan in February, it was assumed the next Director of Athletics would come from President Mike Garrison’s inner circle. The name we always heard was Craig Walker, who before becoming Garrison’s Chief of Staff had a spot with the WVU Foundation and as an assistant A.D. for finance.

He also had a role in the Heather Bresch Mess and, as such, probably won’t be the new A.D.

Craig Walker released a statement Tuesday, saying he would resign on Sept. 1.

“I anticipate serving the university as President Garrison’s chief of staff until Sept. 1 when he completes his service as president,” Walker said. “At that time, I will offer my resignation as chief of staff to the interim president. If asked, I will assist the new administration in any way, officially or unofficially, during the transition.”

Yes, I said “probably” because that’s a pretty vague quote, especially the last sentence. And let’s be honest, we don’t know who the next president will be, what connections he or she may have and how political his or her personnel choices will be.

Regardless, the A.D. and the President have to have some sort of a bond these days, which made Walker seem like the guy. It was he and Garrison who worked closely with Coach Bob Huggins’ people on the lifetime contract and only involved Pastilong and other athletic department officials late in the process, which, the story goes, produced a potentially nuclear follow-along-or-else standoff in the Coliseum one day.

Vague quotes aside, I cannot imagine a scenario in which Walker is the next A.D., which means we can now invite the suggestions beginning with … all together now …

Well, not everyone loves Joe

June 24, 2008 by Mike Casazza

ESPN’s rolled out the red carpet for Joe Alexander today with spots reserved for television, radio and, of course, the Internet. The Worldwide Leader’s dot-com is debating the draft and while it’s agreed Alexander goes No. 8 to Milwaukee, it’s not agreed he’s all he’s been built up to be.

He’s got CRAZY athleticism. He’s a maniac in workouts. He’ll try to dunk on anyone. In terms of intensity, Alexander is Scott Skiles’ “mini-me.” You don’t know whether to be afraid or in awe.

But then you get him in a game and the guy doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. It’s guaranteed Alexander joins Tyrus Thomas in the “I wish that guy knew how to play” fantasy discussion for years.

That might seem a bit harsh, but perhaps it’s not entirely untrue. We forget Bob Huggins seemed to indicate in one postgame discussion that he was done running plays for Alexander late in the game. Granted, that was before Alexander exploded, but is it not the same player?

That said, there’s no reason to think he’ll slide Thursday night and seeing as if the good mock drafts are inspired by conversations with front office folks, at least we know the evaluations are fair and not obsessed with vertical leaps and wingspan.

The title might be hyperbolic…

by Mike Casazza

…but there’s no denying the message for this was a pretty good year to be of WVU and its following. We sometimes get caught up in the two main draws — football and men’s basketball … and you can’t be blamed for such behavior — and I’m sometimes a culprit. Really, if you’re in Morgantown or have lived in Morgantown, can you truly say you’ve witnessed some of the great things to happen in men’s soccer or women’s basketball? If yes, kudos. If not, well, fear not for you’re among the majority.

Continue reading…

…because his stock is so high

by Mike Casazza

So life is good for Joe Alexander, who stands to make a couple million dollars in just a few days now. Perhaps he got some investing tips on Wall Street Tuesday because Alexander rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. It just gets better and better and his irresistible story is impossible for anyone to ignore. I must say, Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski has the most thorough story I’ve seen thus far.

Of course, Jay Bilas would call it a “prodigous story with great readability.” 

Bilas was sold on the way Alexander finished the season and doesn’t believe it was a fluke. That he played very little as a freshman and so clearly struggled at the end of his second season shouldn’t factor into a team’s thought process.

“You’re not looking necessarily for a perfect player at his age who has shown great consistency and not had a bad night,” Bilas said. “You’re looking for a guy who’ll continue to get better. Does he have the necessities to be a really good pro? Is he athletic enough? Is he skilled enough? He’s got all that stuff. He’s got all the necessities to be a player. He’s got the intangibles, the drive to be great, the determination, the basketball I.Q., all that stuff. There’s no one area you can point to and say, ‘This indicates he’s going to be inconsistent.'” 

Seriously, here’s a 56-second clip of Bilas breaking down Alexander’s game. It’s brief, yet he manages to use the following to describe Alexander: big-time athlete, great legs, really long arms, incredible spring in those legs, can really explode off the floor, excellent shooting form, good versatility, pretty solid defender, outstanding athleticism, upside, terrific NBA player.

Could this be applied elsewhere?

June 23, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Attorneys for WVU and former football Coach Rich Rodriguez met in Morgantown today for a status conference and WVU came away with a pretty significant victory. Rodriguez is to turn over four versions of the term sheet he and his people negotiated before agreeing to become Michigan’s coach. The letters contain what WVU believes is basically an admission that Rodriguez knew he was going to have to handle the buyout and that he was hoping his new employer would lend a hand.

Neat stuff, though not as entertaining as the first hearing.

I still contend that Team Rodriguez must settle. Trouble is, the longer this goes on, the better it looks for WVU, which means it’s less likely to accept a settlement offer or one that Rodriguez would find appealing. He’s running out of options here and I often wonder if he really knows what he’s gotten himself into. In fact, as I was thinking about his plight and about his possibilities with the buyout, I wondered if he could perhaps learn a thing from Duke football.

U of L sued Duke for $450,000 — or a series with another Atlantic Coast Conference opponent — after the Blue Devils backed out of a four-game football contract with three dates remaining.

The contract called for a penalty of $150,000 per game if a date with a “team of similar stature” could not be arranged.

Duke’s lawyers argued that the Blue Devils, who are 6-45 the past five seasons, are so bad that any team would be a suitable replacement.

Judge Shepherd agreed in his summary:

“At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke’s argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.”

That’s a hell of a way out of a buyout. Imagine if Rodriguez, for example, stood up in the courtroom and said, ”Look, I understand the concept and I know I signed the contract, but there’s no way I can pay that. None. You can keep coming after me, but I literally cannot pay you that money.”

The bigger question, though, is if his ego would ever allow himself to make such a statement. 

They’ve got you, uh, covered

by Mike Casazza

Proving it’s never too early for degenerate behavior, an online sports book has established West Virginia as a five-touchdown favorite in the Aug. 30 season-opener against Villanova. And proving there’s no limit to degenerate behavior, another sports book has provided a draft-night debate about who will get picked first: Joe Alexander or Danilo Gallinari.

If gambling were legal — and clearly, it’s not; these Web sites are just creative hobbies for people — one would be inclined to say the Wildcats can’t keep up and we’ll see what Gallinari is wearing first.

Talking points

by Mike Casazza

…from the weekend that was. For your use in elevator rides, trips to the water cooler and other awkward moments on a Monday.

> If you haven’t voted in our preseason Big East poll, you better think carefully about Cincinnati.

> Joe Alexander had many of us fooled.

> Oh, so that’s where Mike Vanderjagt went.

> Larry Ford has a rather unusual problem.

> Armand Basset to WVU?

Friday Feedback

June 20, 2008 by Mike Casazza

(One of the last few reminders, I promise, to vote in and spread the word about our preseaosn Big East football poll.) 

Turns out Joe Alexander’s vocal chords were not injured during his pre-draft preparation and he can, in fact, still speak like nobody’s business.

True to his imperturbable nature, the process never intimidated him. Alexander quickly found comfort in realizing the schedule wasn’t all that different from the routine of the season. He’d travel, hit a hotel, practice, compete and repeat.

In truth, it was pretty easy.

“What is this, really? It’s nothing,” he said. “You’re playing basketball and people are watching. If you’re good, they tell you you’re good. If you suck, they tell you to go back to school.”

His gift of gab is no secret and it was fun while it lasted to cover him and fill a notebook for three years. If he was WVU’s go-to guy on the court, he was our go-to guy off the court.

No pressure, Dee Proby.

Let’s dive like Pete Rose into the Friday Feedback and cross our fingers that no one gets too exuberant about West Virginia’s 145th birthday and we don’t witness anything stupid. You know, like two players at the same position, one who doesn’t get another chance and one who needs to set a better example, hoping to punch one another in the face.

As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, errors can be costly. Oh, and just an FYI, Rich Rodriguez is not in my Morgantown office as I type this.

The 25314 said:

My question is: If Rich Rodriguez was in Charleston, who was guarding Hell?

And the standard is set…

Continue reading…

The Rich-Stoops discussion

June 19, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Clearly, Rich Rodriguez does not possess the moral ineptitude to deliberately sabotage his former team only days before a BCS bowl … although, if he did, does that mean he botched that gameplan, too?

No, he was up to something else and I think it’s pretty obvious Rodriguez was merely passing along to Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops the contact information for the WVU people involved with the new scoreboard at Mountaineer Field. You see, the Sooners have a pretty ingenious way of raising money. Frankly, I’m stunned and saddened to discover WVU has never done this.

Suited for success

by Mike Casazza

So the future of Joe Alexander is no longer in question, but it remains intriguing. His agent says he’s definitely in the lottery and perhaps in the single digits and there’s no reason to believe otherwise.

There are scenarios in play where a team could jump up from the 12-15 range — that’s the Kings, Trail Blazers, Warriors and Suns, who all worked him out — or lower in hopes of grabbing Alexander before No. 8, where Milwaukee is poised to pounce and fill a need.

Then again, the possibilities will change a bunch before the draft June 26, when Alexander is invited to sit in the green room.

The NBA compiles this select list of players by polling teams that have the first 15 picks in the draft. This reduces the chance of having a presumed top prospect get disappointed in public when he falls in the draft — think Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, a projected early selection in the NFL draft who fell to the 22nd pick.

“They don’t want to see a guy on national television slide in the draft. It’s an emotional process,” said Doug Neustadt, president of the Neustadt Group, which is Alexander’s agency. “So they only select 15 guys, so Joe is one of only 15.”

This is when the magnitude of the moment sets. Really, all the work is done and you just sit and wait while wondering if it was enough. To be invited to the green room is significant and it hasn’t escaped him one bit.

I kid you not, he’s already picked out what he’ll wear that night. Said so himself. Think he’s looking forward to this? Read about that and more tomorrow.