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

Gone: Jabarie Hinds, Aaron Brown and Voldy Gerun

April 1, 2013 by Mike Casazza

You knew it was coming, and on April 1 WVU announced each has asked for and been granted the chance to transfer out of the men’s basketball program.

Brown and Gerun aren’t surprises at all and might have to be talked into a life at the Division II level. Hinds has a bigger name and profile, but given his slide as a sophomore and the way his role dipped, that’s not exactly a stunner.

It’s a big hit, though. Remember that seven-player recruiting class in 2011? Four have transferred and Dominique Rutledge was a senior. Only Gary Browne and Keaton Miles remain — and I’ll add “for now” because, really, who knows?

I’m most interested in seeing where Hinds ends up because he has skill. No use in arguing that. It’s the confidence that disappeared. He could use a few pounds, too.

As for what this means to the Mountaineers, Bob Huggins was one-over on scholarships for next season. They now have two scholarships to shop around to improve guard play.

Yet here’s what I’m left to wonder on a day when three names were revealed in one release: Is that it or is that the start?

(4:15 p.m. update below …)

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Honestly, Garrett Hope is a nice kid

by Mike Casazza

Looks like he’s a good player, too, which is why Keith Patterson has asked Hope to play inside this spring. Last season, it looked as though Hope might have a knack for playing outside and finding a way to pressure the passer.

You know the deal with spring football, though. Sometimes these things stick and other times they do not. Hope’s initial impression is that he likes the inside because he’s not dealing with slippery slot receivers and he actually likes collisions with linemen intent on bulldozing him out of the way.

And don’t be fooled by a polite disposition. He’s actually wired to play that chaotic way.

“My mentality during the game is I just want to kill everybody,” he said. “I could say that I’m crazy during the game.”

Patterson has to isolate that trait and bring it out during the spring so that Hope can take on and take out the linemen intent on flattening Hope, so that Hope can chase down and take down running backs, so that Hope can control the chaos in a much smaller space.

“During practices, going against your buddies, it’s a little different,” Hope said. “I can’t get fired up to hit my buddies, but I definitely need to start practicing how I play. I’ve been going faster and taking every single rep 100 percent.”

Patterson, the linebackers coach who tutored Hope last season and oversees the entire defense now, has his ways.

“He’s good at what he does,” Hope said. “He gets in your head for reasons you have no idea, but whenever he’s in your head, you know you need to get going.”

Rawlins isn’t ready, but are you?

by Mike Casazza

We have, understandably, a fixation on the quarterbacks at WVU this spring. It’s the marquee position in college football and when you’re playing it for Dana Holgorsen in the Big 12 Conference, the interest is a little more intense.

Add the slight-until-it’s-August-and-then-holy-crap sensation you get when you realize how thin the receiving corps is and that intensity is upped a little bit.

Nothing new in there, even if this is a newish experience for the Mountaineers.

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Easy listening

March 28, 2013 by Mike Casazza

I’m out for the weekend for a family birthday party and an Easter celebration, but I have ammunition to make Friday a Good Friday. I usually can’t recommend podcasts by The Solid Verbal enough, but I’ll take it a step farther today with two tips:

1) Chris Brown, a.k.a. Smart Football and a useful guide to New York City’s oddly named eateries. He has a regular interest in WVU and doesn’t skimp on that in this episode.

2) Bruce Feldman, super smart and connected to Dana Holgorsen and Alex Hammond and others over in the office through the years. He goes around the nation, but also speaks to how hot Dana’s seat might be in December.

Wait, so that wasn’t a joke?

by Mike Casazza

Text from a friend this morning said, “Bridgeport blocking Wvu (sic) baseball stadium. Mon Co. Counters with parochialism claim.”

And I chuckled over my coffee because, well, come on now.

The joke is on me, though. Bridgeport is seeking a “formal resolution” to prevent the TIF district in Granville because, according to the president of the Monongalia County Commission, Bridgeport is tired of Morgantown’s growth.

I knew nothing about this before this morning, but taking in the quotes from the Commission president, it sounds not like news to Mr. Callen, but perhaps more like an explanation for the news conference Tuesday.

By the way, don’t you just love the precedent that’s been established around WVU business?

Robbed of playing days, Crook calls career audible

by Mike Casazza

From a player in the West Virginia Conference to an assistant coach at West Virginia University, Ron Crook has gone from a player with a balky back who had to give up the game early all the way to a well-traveled coach who’s called two of the nation’s best academic schools his home across the past decade.

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Spring football on spring break

March 27, 2013 by Mike Casazza


No vacation for me. One take, mon frère.

You could wash your face in Dana’s sink!

by Mike Casazza

Remember when I went sleuth in Mount Pleasant and tried my hardest to find Dana Holgorsen’s childhood home, basically because I was bored and borderline obsessed on account of current events?

Well, a confidential source informed me today history is on the market. Sad violins, please, as you enjoy never-before-granted access to where it all began.

Here comes the Duke

by Mike Casazza

“It’s a phenomenal asset, not only for Morgantown, but the surrounding communities,” said Pat O’Connor, president of Minor League Baseball. “It’s a win-win that includes the university to the highest level. It’s a facility to be proud of, but also a facility to help recruit better players, host regional tournaments and help elevate the game literally and figuratively.

“You will not regret what you’re about to do from an economic standpoint, a quality-of-life standpoint and an affordable family fun standpoint.”

That’s called a Rally Cap and that’s how minor league baseball started its late-inning push Tuesday for baseball in Morgantown, perhaps as soon as June 2014.

Spring break for spring football!

March 26, 2013 by Mike Casazza

No procedural pause for me, but I was delayed getting this out today. My apologies — had to clear the rights fees.