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

Scoop & Score and an absolute magician

April 24, 2014 by Mike Casazza

Join me and Sean Keeley of Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician for today’s episode of Scoop & Score live at 9 a.m.

Go figures…

April 23, 2014 by Mike Casazza

I’ll admit, there’s plenty to digest in my column in today’s paper.

To review, WVU figured out the difference between the total cost of attendance and the total value of a scholarship. That number would be the stipend WVU would pay players on top of their scholarship if the NCAA and its members approve that idea.

Naturally, the value of that stipend would differ from one school to another, which seems like a way around a flat fee and antitrust claims, and that variable would then become part of our ever-evolving recruiting landscape.

WVU also figured out what a student-athlete on a full scholarship would have to report on a tax return. If athletic departments are finally revealed to be businesses and student-athletes are deemed employees, if schools start chipping off money from jersey sales, then it stands to reasons the IRS would probably become interested in tax filings.

What you’ll find interesting about WVU’s discovery there is that the number is pretty significant, but not as massive as many reactionary labor ruling reports suggested. And it wouldn’t really vary much from one school to another.

Those are big items, but there are bigger things afoot.

Continue reading…

Deep thoughts after spring football

by Mike Casazza

WVU released a post-spring depth chart this morning. Discuss!

Personally, the arrangement of quarterbacks is … interesting. The depth at running back is clear. There is a need at receiver, and especially inside. The defensive line will have a different look. There are a lot of bodies at linebacker and in the secondary. There’s a backup long snapper!

Offense

WR (X)
5 Mario Alford 5-8 174 Sr.
82 Devonte Mathis 6-1 221 r-So.
1 Shelton Gibson 6-1 186 r-Fr.

IR (H)
6 Daikiel Shorts 6-1 197 So.
80 Jacky Marcellus 5-8 173 r-Fr.

LT
57 Adam Pankey 6-6 304 r-So.
74 Sylvester Townes 6-5 286 Jr.

LG
67 Quinton Spain 6-5 342 r-Sr.
89 Russell Haughton-James 6-6 293 r-Jr.

C
65 Tyler Orlosky 6-4 299 r-So.
69 Tony Matteo 6-5 297 r-So.

RG
64 Mark Glowinski 6-5 306 r-Sr.
59 Stone Underwood 6-4 293 r-Jr.

RT
78 Marquis Lucas 6-4 312 r-Jr.
63 Michael Calicchio 6-9 319 r-Sr.

IR (Y)
10 Jordan Thompson 5-8 162 Jr.
81 Vernon Davis Jr. 5-10 165 r-So.

WR (Z)
11 Kevin White 6-3 208 r-Sr.
19 KJ Myers 6-2 196 r-Jr.
83 Ricky Rogers 6-1 197 Fr.

QB
9 Clint Trickett 6-2 175 r-Sr.
15 Logan Moore 5-11 198 r-Sr.
or 16 Paul Millard 6-2 230 Sr.
or 3 Skyler Howard 6-0 200 So.

HB (B)
88 Cody Clay 6-4 256 r-Jr.
28 Elijah Wellman 6-2 235 r-Fr.

RB (A)
2 Dreamius Smith 5-11 224 Sr.
4 Wendell Smallwood 5-11 202 So.
7 Rushel Shell 6-0 218 r-So.
29 Dustin Garrison 5-8 180 r-Jr.
13 Andrew Buie 5-9 188 r-Jr. 24 11

Defense

DE
99 Dontrill Hyman 6-4 294 Sr.
97 Noble Nwachukwu 6-2 277 r-So.

NT
93 Kyle Rose 6-4 293 r-Jr.
49 Darrien Howard 6-2 288 So.

DE
95 Christian Brown 6-3 304 r-So.
45 Eric Kinsey 6-2 268 Jr. 24 4

SPUR
9 KJ Dillon 6-1 207 Jr.
39 Malik Greaves 6-2 208 r-Fr.

SAM
31 Isaiah Bruce 6-2 232 r-Jr.
47 Edward Muldrow 6-3 206 Jr.

MIKE
35 Nick Kwiatkoski 6-2 230 r-Jr.
17 Al-Rasheed Benton 6-0 238 r-Fr.

WILL
32 Brandon Golson 6-2 230 Sr.
13 Sean Walters 6-2 223 r-So. 12

LCB
34 Ishmael Banks 6-0 180 r-Sr.
16 Terrell Chestnut 5-10 185 r-Jr.
20 Brandon Napoleon 5-10 181 r-So.

FS
24 Jeremy Tyler 5-11 202 So.
14 Ricky Rumph 5-11 181 Jr. 18 0

BS
8 Karl Joseph 5-10 194
22 Jarrod Harper 6-0 208 r-So.

RCB
7 Daryl Worley 6-1 200 So.
23 Keishawn Richardson 5-9 166 r-Jr.
5 Nana Kyeremeh 5-11 188 r-So.

Special Teams

K
8 Josh Lambert 5-11 210 r-So.
48 Michael Molinari 6-2 210 r-Sr.

P
 91 Nick O’Toole 6-3 215 Jr.
48 Michael Molinari 6-2 210 r-Sr.

PR
10 Jordan Thompson 5-8 162 Jr.
81 Vernon Davis Jr. 5-10 165 r-So.

KR
5 Mario Alford 5-8 174 Sr.
4 Wendell Smallwood 5-11 202 So.
7 Daryl Worley 6-1 200 So.

LS
87 John DePalma 6-5 240 Jr.
27 Nick Meadows 5-11 221 r-Fr.

Six days, five games, one goal

April 22, 2014 by Mike Casazza

We haven’t really discussed this, what with that tricky seven-game losing streak, but WVU’s baseball team is officially loitering.

The Mountaineers aren’t in the conversation, but they do have a look at things. They play in the country’s second-best conference and are No. 30 in the RPI, and they’ve got eight games left against teams in the top 19. And there’s reason to believe things are falling into place after reshuffling the pitching staff and winning three of four, including two of three over the weekend at Oklahoma.

Don’t confuse the qualifications for the NCAA baseball and basketball tournaments, but don’t simply ignore the RPI, either. WVU could be in a much worse position, and the team is three games above .500 with 16 games to go. The schedule is equal parts helpful and demanding, though. WVU closes with seven in a row on the road and one neutral-site game. Before that? An eight-game homestand that begins tonight (if the weather allows it) as Ross Vance seeks a mid-week encore against very good Maryland.

Show of hands

by Mike Casazza

Who’s signed up already?

Let’s take a seat!

April 21, 2014 by Mike Casazza

How often do you feel a little displaced or disenfranchised by your favorite athletic department? More and more is asked from you and your wallet and you’re wondering if requests for additions and improvements are even being heard, never mind considered.

And then when you find yourself celebrating something like the sale of soft pretzels at the closest concession stand, you wonder how crazy things have become and how you can get a greater voice to witness more yummy enhancements.

I think that’s pretty common, and I think that’s why I love this idea from WVU.

The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is forming a fan experience committee to discuss the needs of Mountaineer fans with the hopes of enhancing the fan experience at its events.

This is a great opportunity for Mountaineer fans to have their voices heard. The Mountaineer Fan Experience Committee is established for fans to provide valuable input to the athletic department on various topics.

Here’s my proposition for all of you: Let’s get a seat among the 12 to 15 people on the committee. Surely this audience has someone who meets the requirements and can make the meetings, and that someone can act as the proxy for all of the great ideas the great people here have up their sleeves.

So apply and let me know if you make the cut. When you do — because of course we’ll have a representative — we’ll gather our ideas and suggestions to include as part of the coming discussion.

Who’s with me?

Let’s just get this out of the way

by Mike Casazza

WVU’s newest basketball signee has a legal issue to address. There’s a warrant out for Tarik Phillip’s arrest after he was arrested one day two years ago and didn’t appear in court the following day.

The charge was shelved until Phillip could be located. In North Carolina, that’s called voluntary dismissal with leave, according to a magistrate in the Gaston County office. That’s not the same as having the charge dismissed. If Phillip turns himself in here soon, he’ll have to pay a secured $5,000 bond for failing to make a court appearance two years ago and then face the original felony charge for larceny.

In the big picture, it’s not a deal-breaker. It just looks bad. He’s already signed and Bob Huggins says WVU knew about the arrests — there were two — and looked into everything and WVU thought everything was resolved. Not sure what happened there, and perhaps that’s asking for another story, but there’s no jail time with the larceny charge and nothing additional for failing to appear. The story is that a kid was arrested twice in three months and didn’t appear for a second charge and that he and seemingly unsuspecting WVU have to deal with the look that comes with it.

I promise, I have a different story for Phillip for tomorrow’s paper.

(Update: Mecklenberg County says Phllip is also wanted there for failing to appear in court to fave a misdemeanor injury to property charge. The alleged offense occurred in December 2011. He didn’t appear April 11, 2012, and a warrant was issued a day later. More to come, I’m sure, but I have to believe there’s an explanation.)

Friday Feedback

April 18, 2014 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which is Logan Moore’s world and I’m just typing in it. This was a week for quarterbacks and walk-ons, so of course a walk-on quarterback captured our attention. Those aren’t like topics, sort of like apples and piano as opposed to apples and oranges, but they have one thing in common, at least around here.

Things are about to change.

West Virginia is going to trot a quarterback out onto the field Aug. 30, and if we’re lucky, we’ll know who a few days ahead of time.

And the NCAA is changing, or is being made to change, and if we’re lucky, the Have-Nots won’t kill this latest adopted legislation with the override. And that can still happen.

Two really interesting things came out of all the calls and conversations I had this week. One was the almost uniform opinion that this may be spiked by the override … because, you know, there’s precedence. (There’d be a side effect attached to that because the Haves would be even more wound up about this disparity between the top and the bottom than ever before. But that’s a story for another day.)

The other interesting thing? It seems there’s movement to no longer refer to the five big conferences as the Power Five. “I think ‘Higher Visibility’ is the talking point now,” a person told me. Tremendous.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, there’s a place for creativity.

Dann said:

Hey, did anyone else get a kick out of Dana’s new wardrobe? I think it goes well with the recent additions of people with WVU connections to the staff.
Perhaps there is something to that “school spirit” thing after all, and maybe coach is beginning to see the wisdom of it.

Dann

I didn’t get a ton of email or Tweets or blog comments about state of the union stuff after the spring game. I got some. And most of the some were in praise of Dana’s apparel. And that is that.

Continue reading…

Are we ready for the new arms race?

April 17, 2014 by Mike Casazza

We hadn’t talked about this yet because I wasn’t ready to, but Tuesday saw the NCAA adopt a handful of well-being rules for its student-athletes. The highest profile belonged to the one granting unlimited meals and snacks to all players — those on scholarship and those who walk on to a team.

It’s a tectonic shift for the same body that infamously billed three Oklahoma football players $11.49 for consuming extra pasta at a graduation banquet.

With time passed now and some of the information, um, digested, I spent parts of yesterday talking to people I know who work at different places in different aspects with different sports. There’s a lot left to be decided and maybe even deciphered still — and that’s if the thing survives the initial override and is approved next week.

What seems clear, at least preliminarily, is this is a game-changer. Literally. It’s great for the nutrition, the sustenance and the development of student-athletes. But it’s also going to become a big part of how a university sells itself to prospective student-athletes.

We know about the ordnance and the ordinances of recruiting, but on the shore today, it seems like this is the next wave in the great arms race.

“I think right now our early discussions are mostly about ‘What does this mean?’” Hammond said. “Is it three meals a day and a late-night snack? Is it having a breakfast and a dinner and a deli bar? What does this mean? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered as we get further into this.

“Certainly down the road I can see there being a recruiting element to it. If School A is doing something and School B is doing something else, what ends up being the most attractive?”

I don’t think I can stress strongly enough how momentous the inclusion of walk-ons is here. Fortunately, I have help. Here’s a real email from a real mom of a real walk-on at a real university.

Mike,

Thanks for writing about this much needed change.  As the parent of a walk on at [a school], it has been very frustrating dealing with the food issue.  [My son] has the largest meal plan [the school] offers but he rarely gets to use it in season. He goes to  practice before dining hall opens, does not normally have time in day because he carries 18 hours then to practice. When practice is over, others eat at meal table but walk ons head out without eating.  Once to dorm, all dining halls are closed. My son has means to buy food but not time to find healthy food after practice.  He was only eating one meal per day due to time constraints and sheer exhaustion when he first walked on.  Because of this he lost 10 lbs in first month.  He has bought plenty of meals for his friends and we never complain but this change is great for the health of all.  We asked to pay extra or if his meal plan could be used at training table like at other schools and answer was no.  It has been very frustrating but as walk ons they try not to create too many waves out of fear of being cut.

Scoop & Score meets the Matrix

by Mike Casazza

(Podcast: Tada!)

We’re live again right here at 9 a.m. with a few things to discuss in just one hour. We’ll discuss the adopted NCAA legislation allowing for free food for student-athletes and the inevitable reaction. We’ll put a bow on spring football at WVU and ask and answer some key questions. The highlight, though, is a visit from Dave Bartoo of the indispensable CFBMatrix.com. So many questions about the past, present and future, but so little time.