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Pastilong news

March 3, 2010 by Mike Casazza

(Update, 3:15 p.m.: Here’s the WVU release.) 

Longtime Director of Athletics will announce today he’ll transition, as planned, into his emeritus position June 30/July 1. News broke during the football media luncheon, when many of us were unable to get facts gathered. Mr. Kercheval had the scoop. I’m told a university release will come this afternoon and a conference call will follow.

That’d be big news on just about any day … and it covers up two pretty newsy stories that emanated from the football luncheon. Those, however, will wait until later.

Meantime, let’s have some fun.

1) You surely have some strong opinions about the guy and his performance, but fact is he was in the lead position during a monumental era of athletics and at the head of a lot of landmark occasions. He’s been and done a nuber of great things for the school in various capacities. And, of course, there’s another side to all of that. So what is Pastilong’s legacy?

2) Who replaces Pastilong?

The frat house would be House of Payne

by Mike Casazza

Catching many by surprise Monday was the Senior Night send off of basketball sophomore Cam Payne. The academic senior from Charleston decided to call it a career after whatever game it is that ends WVU’s season and move on in life after grinding the past three years (redshirt, freshman, sophomore) on the scout team.

The scout team, by the way, is not spared any of the the treatment the top team receives. Not once the recipient of meaningful minutes in a meaningful game throughout an uneventful career, Payne was asked why he’d stuck with it so long and enjoyed it as much as he professed when discussing the entire experience Monday night. 

“Because,” Cam Payne said, “it’s a great experience, just being around the guys. It’s almost like a fraternity. Being part of a team is something most people never experience. I could not have lived with myself if I hadn’t tried.”

Football news

by Mike Casazza

From the noon media luncheon, Chris Beatty is your new director of recruiting and also adds fullbacks to his coaching stable, where running backs and slot receivers still reside. New hire Dave McMichael is in charge of tight ends. The two cover the players once coached jointly by Doc Holliday.

McMichael, who coached 18 years previously at WVU, will also run field goal, extra point and kickoff return on special teams. Steve Dunlap remains the safety coach and is now in charge of kickoff coverage, punt return, and field goal and extra point block/defense.

Additionally, under offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, offensive line coach Dave Johnson will coordinate the running game while wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway will head up the passing game. Defensively under coordinator Jeff Casteel, defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich handles the run defense game plan while cornerbacks coach David Lockwood oversees the pass defense game plan.

Some help in reserve?

by Mike Casazza

This must be prefaced with a disclaimer: The expectations for WVU’s bench are not what they are for many benches.

That is, while Bob Huggins would welcome a few 3-pointers and a couple of transition baskets or knocked-down jumpers from the group and certainly a random 15-point contribution from a backup, that’s generally not what’s expected.

Continue reading…

Your Big Ten expansion update

March 2, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Believe it or not, it’s about the money.

A source inside the league told the Tribune that the report, prepared by the Chicago-based investment firm William Blair & Company, analyzed whether five different schools would add enough revenue to justify expanding the league beyond 11 teams.

“The point was: We can all get richer if we bring in the right team or teams,” the source said.

Bob Huggins speaks between the lines

by Mike Casazza

Bob Huggins was asked about the evolution of his bench — sneaky subplot there … it’s actually been pretty good the past eight or nine games — and how he was adding to the rotation and the dispersion of minutes while conventional wisdom this time of the year stresses shortening the bench and giving your best players the largest allotment of playing time.

Only this premise was introduced not as the idea of the person asking the question, but from behind the guard of an opinion offered by “college basketball analysts.”

Want to see Bob Huggins tilt his head and wisecrack? Mention “college basketball analysts.”

Continue reading…

Latwan Anderson would like to pick a college soon

by Mike Casazza

I was at a function over the weekend when Jimmy Laise of WVSports.com entered the room and entered the conversation. Upon learning of Laise and what he does, a friend perked up and said, “Maybe he knows about Latwan Anderson.”

Only he pronounced Latwan as LAT-juan … not LA-twan. This made me feel good. Mr. Anderson has not taken over the world of WVU recruiting. But he’s getting there.

Continue reading…

A Frank review of last night’s win

by Mike Casazza

WVU avoided another Senior Night nightmare and not only beat Georgetown Monday to grasp a two-round bye in the Big East Tournament, but did so in style.

Granted, it was the Mountaineers’ ever unsteady style that sees big leads and big rallies from one team or the other, but why shouldn’t the last home game have been like seemingly every other game this season?

An 81-68 Senior Night triumph was more about goodies than oldies for the Mountaineers (23-6, 12-5), whose season that continues Saturday against No. 9 Villanova at Philly’s Wachovia Center could have been performed to a Frank Sinatra playlist.

How about “Night and Day,” or “I Get a Kick Out of You” reflecting this at-times confounding team? There’s the “The Way You Look Tonight” or – very apropos for Monday’s home finale – “The Last Dance.”

There’s also “New York, New York” as an ode to a conference tournament that features five of the top 13 teams in the RPI and could send seven or eight teams to the NCAA bracket.

Of course, WVU Coach Bob Huggins would likely go with “My Way,” and whatever happens from here, the capper could be “It Was a Very Good Year.”

No love for Homer J, but what of the home team?

Continue reading…

Senior night

March 1, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Barring a stunning revelation Cam Payne is ineligible and WVU must forfeit the eight wins in which he’s played and the Mountaineers are thus only able to play in the NIT, where they’d probably get a home game, tonight is the final night Da’Sean Butler and Wellington Smith play in the Coliseum.

Now we may have to be open to the possibility this is the last we see of Devin Ebanks at home and that Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West and/or Joe Mazzulla may take their diplomas and walk away from basketball, but let’s not include them in what we’re about to do here.

Before you get to the open post, feel free to throw in an opinion about Smith and Butler and what they’ve meant to you and to WVU.

Continue reading…

WVU rallies for Haiti

by Mike Casazza

Sunday’s event raised about $9,000.