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

The smoothest!

June 21, 2017 by Mike Casazza

Lots of football recruiting happening on West Virginia’s campus this week, but there are some basketball guests, as well. Keldon Johnson is not one of them, but he’s been in town before and remains in touch with the Mountaineers coaches. Others WVU would like to land have been in town to have a look, including some players from Ohio, including Jeremiah Francis from Pickerington Central.

“He was there on Sunday,” said Central coach Eric Krueger. “He did really well. I just spoke with Coach Huggins and Coach Harrison this [Tuesday] morning. They really love him.”

He, too, is a four-star player and has been ranked No. 2 overall in Ohio. In addition to WVU, Ohio State, Purdue, TCU and Virginia Tech have offered, according to Krueger. North Carolina has shown interest.

“He likes West Virginia a lot,” Krueger said. “He had a great time on his unofficial visit and likes the players and staff a lot.”

As a player?

“He’s attacking,” said the coach. “He’s strong with the basketball. He’s a floor leader, but can score in bunches. Not a lot he can’t do. Tough. A winner.”

‘West Virginia Day is my new favorite holiday. This is awesome.’

by Mike Casazza

 

Will Grier’s dad took a short walk to the beach and had pizza and beer to celebrate the big day a long time coming. And now the family presses reset and gets back to that thing Grier used to be known for and, oh, by the way, good at.

Quarterback!

Will Grier had completed more than 65 percent of his passes at Florida and thrown for 1,204 yards and 10 touchdowns when he was suspended. He was named the Parade national player of the year and a high school All-American in 2013, when he accounted for 90 touchdowns, including a national-best 77 touchdown passes.

He was named the North Carolina player of the year his final two seasons and totaled 14,565 yards passing and a state-record 195 touchdown passes in his career.

“His high school coach had him learning a bunch of stuff at one time,” Chad Grier said. “I don’t know who that guy was, but he must have been a real jerk.”

Will Grier’s coach was Chad Grier, and Davidson Day School won four state championships from 2011-16. Will was the quarterback for titles in 2011-13.

“I’ll tell you this, and I’ve said this many times because I get a lot of credit and hear people say, ‘Man, Chad must be a really good coach,’” Chad Grier said. “The reality is I could call about anything and he’d make it work. I wasn’t that good of a coach. I had a pretty good player back there. Amazing how that works.”

The Will Grier explainer

June 20, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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That’s how Will Grier was declared eligible for the 2017 season today. The technical definition here is that the NCAA approved his request for reinstatement. A waiver is something separate and different, and we’ve been stating and repeating that there was no waiver here. I was educated on this along the way, because I was among the many who initially used the word “waiver” as though it held no special meaning.

Anyhow, you request and wait, and remember that the NCAA wasn’t in a rush to rule on this, and WVU wasn’t in a rush to learn, because Grier couldn’t play in 2016 anyhow. He was a transfer who had to sit. When the right time came, WVU and Grier applied for reinstatement, and when the right time came, the NCAA approved.

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White smoke!

by Mike Casazza

Three-hundred and ninety-seven days ago, I was at a bachelor party in Dewey Beach, Delaware. My phone dinged, and there was an email from West Virginia’s athletic department. It contained a quizzical statement on the status of Will Grier, a transfer quarterback from Florida who at that point in time may or may not have been made to sit out the first six games of the 2017 season because of a NCAA suspension.

There was no way you could read the statement and dismiss it as a simple status report, if only because it was unsolicited and unprompted. Something was up. I stepped outside and tapped out a few texts and made a few phone calls, and a while later we discovered this much: Grier was good to go, provided he maintain eligibility standards.

If you’ve been following along, you surely know this has been the question ever since then, and I confess I pretty much gave up dealing with it rationally long ago. I knew he was good to go, and I couldn’t articulate that any more clearly than I thought I had. Today, I no longer have to deal with that.

Will Grier is eligible for the 2017 season.

Rotation needed

June 19, 2017 by Mike Casazza

Four names. Three members of the 2017 West Virginia baseball staff. Matlock, of course, was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator who was named the Vaqueros head coach earlier this month. Atkinson was a volunteer assistant and Tuntland the director of operations this past season.

I trust WVU manager Randy Mazey wasn’t going to promote one or the other to Matlock’s spot, so now we assume Mazey will use his cache to add to his coaching staff. What’s interesting is Mazey has long been known for his prowess with pitchers. He gave a lot of his authority to Matlock this season, probably similar to what Dana Holgorsen is doing — or preparing to do — with Jake Spavital in the fall.

As for other changes…

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Not just a playmaker…

by Mike Casazza

… an elite playmaker! We’ve probably spent too much time lately with who’s on campus for 2017-18 and who may not make it. Jordan McCabe still has his senior season of high school basketball in front of him in Wisconsin, and he’ll bring some hefty momentum to it.

West Virginia’s 2019 recruit was a standout at the NBPA Top 100 camp last week at the University of Virginia. Only one other player had more assists per game, and McCabe’s team went undefeated and won the tournament title. He did quite all right along the way.

mccabe

Gather ’round

by Mike Casazza
Mountaineer

 

It’s rainy in Morgantown this morning, and there’s a joke to be made here about the parade of recruits on campus this week. West Virginia is playing host to hundreds of prospective student-athletes through Saturday. These first four days are what you’d call one-day camps for elite prospects. Players do positional tests and drills, not unlike combine activities, while the Mountaineers coaches get a look. Toward the end, there’s time for individual coaching and more of the getting-to-know-you stuff. On Saturday and Sunday, it’s the mutually lucrative two-day 7-on-7 tournament.

Anticipate news out of this week, and if there is news, it’s likely going to be good news for WVU, because it’s lined up some notable visitors.

Friday Feedback

June 16, 2017 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, guilty of a failure to monitor the comments for nearly 10 years now. Fortunately, we have no banners hanging around here.

By the way, join me in congratulating John Beilein, the first chairperson of the NCAA’s Division I men’s basketball ethics coalition, on the 2013 national championship.

I don’t want to waste time here today in case the blog vanishes out of thin air for a second straight Friday. Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be humble.

philip said:

as a dude who pretty much reads this blog only on my phone, i can’t say enough what an improvement has been made in how the site now functions. it seems like it’s back to its old wordpressy self. hiccups aside, kudos to the i.t. guys.

Agreed.

Mack said:

Speaking of the NCAA . . . I can’t help but wonder if Oliver Luck, with his current job, was the one who said, “Hiring hookers for 16 and 17-year-olds. . . I’d say that’s a five-game suspension.”

I wonder if there’s a flow chart or something that serves as a guide. And I wonder if it was upside down.

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Gary Jennings is a man of, by and for the people

June 15, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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We’re in the summer months now, and that means adults take a look at the games student-athletes play and decide how to change the rules one way or another. Have faith, though. Those adults on the Division I Football Oversight Committee have three non-voting player representatives, and one is West Virginia receiver Gary Jennings.

Jennings, who was nominated by WVU’s athletic department administration, forwarded along to the Big 12 and then selected by the NCAA, is learning how broad the NCAA is. There are more layers than he imagined, and any decision involves detail and procedures. It’s new to him, and it’s “great I’m surrounded by so many smart people,” but Jennings has a purpose and feels the need to serve it.

He does not act on his own. When he’s asked about an issue, he gets to work. He reads about the topics that come to him and spends lengthy periods of time researching on the Internet. Jennings talks to his parents, to his peers, to his teammates — “They all say, ‘More money,’” Jennings said. — and to anyone else he believes can add to what he knows and what he’s trying to share.

“I feel that all voices are heard on this committee, so I want to make sure I’m saying what I believe needs to be said,” Jennings said. “That’s what the cool part is. I was able to experience that in Nashville. I was in a room with Bob Bowlsby and a bunch of other commissioners and athletic directors, and they were asking me questions about what I thought.”

Many honors for many-uses Zarbnisky

by Mike Casazza

 

First-team all-Big 12. District player of the year. All-American. Next year is going to be very interesting for Zarbnisky, a sophomore from Georgia who might yet be named the two-way player of the year, but for now, revel in his many and his latest accomplishments.

Earning his first career All-America honor, Zarbnisky is the 17th All-American in program history. He is recognized as one of two utility players on the NCBWA Third Team.

The honor is the 11th NCBWA All-America honor in team history and 15th total All-America accolade in coach Randy Mazey’s four seasons. The Mountaineers have earned at least one All-America accolade in each of the last three years, as Kyle Davis and BJ Myers were recognized in 2015, while Ivan Gonzalez and Darius Hill were honored in 2016, all on numerous Freshman All-America teams.

Busy baseball Wednesday, that one …

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