The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

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

I thought practice was fiery today

April 14, 2009 by Mike Casazza

… and the head coach set and maintained the tone with some with some precision shouting and assertive coaching. I just have no idea how Oll Stew got so fired up.

Driving at 4:15 a.m., I was listening to “Little Deuce Coupe” by the Beach Boys. Talk about getting getting pumped up early in the morning.

But seriously, these 6 a.m. practices have been pretty productive. You learn who’s got a competition clutch with the four on the floor, who purrs like a kitten till the lake pipes roar. You see who’s coming off the line when the light turns green, who blows them out of the water like you never seen.

Prepare to be wooooo’d

by Mike Casazza

Be there!

What, if anything, does this mean?

by Mike Casazza

I was in the food store yesterday when my phone rang and delivered the news Devin Ebanks was going to stay in school. My first reaction was a brief heart palpitation.

Ebanks is going pro? What?

Let’s just say my history with WVU players who tell me they won’t enter the draft and then enter the draft isn’t great and lends me to those tense and confusing moments. My second reaction was a chuckle.

Sign of the times, huh?

Really, this is WVU, which isn’t exactly an NBA factory, and yet is now telling the world who isn’t entering the draft. The third reaction?

Why?

No, really. Why? Ebanks had already said a few times he was coming back, and he seemed not only convincing, but adamant. No one I spoke to thought he was going anywhere. There had to be a reason to announce he truly wasn’t going anywhere, especially with the April 26 declaration deadline still a while away.

Some fun and interesting theories came to mind.

Hey, Stew: It ain’t like 5.72 is fast

April 13, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Safe to say USF Coach Jim Leavitt has come to grips with the reality favorite foil P-Rod is no longer at WVU. He just can’t quit the school’s head coach, though.

As part of a spring game promotion, Leavitt ran the 40-yard dash and gave students a chance to beat it and win a prize. The trick was the build-up, and Leavitt played the part, going so far as to say he’d beat 6.0 seconds … and to toss a soft jab at Oll Stewart, who, by the way, has his spring game Saturday. Might a rebuttal be in play?

“My goal is to break a six-flat,” Leavitt said after Wednesday’s practice. “I’ll probably hit a 5.99. If anyone can’t beat me, that will be really sad. If there’s a student that can’t beat me … it ain’t like 5.9 is fast.”

Leavitt, 52, joked that there probably wasn’t any other Big East coach that he could beat in the 40. Not even West Virginia’s 56-year old Bill Stewart. “It would probably be neck to neck,” he said.

Leavitt clocked a 5.72, which was much better than Mr. McMurphy’s mock prediction for what might happen if coaches were to race.

Gets off to a great start midway through the race running mostly against weak non-conference coaches. In the second half of the race Leavitt notices he’s running against Big East Conference coaches and stumbles down the stretch. To top it off, Leavitt jumped offside and was penalized five seconds. Afterward in the postgame news conference, Leavitt storms out after four questions, but shakes a reporter’s hand for asking a “positive” question.

Real footage of Kilicli!

by Mike Casazza

If you’ve been here a while, you’ll remember news of Deniz Kilici’s promise to play for WVU and how I and we couldn’t find any footage of the kid. That’s changed, in some regard, because a lot of people have seen him in person or even on television playing for Mountain State Academy.

And now we can feature him playing — and dunking! — at the Scott Brown Memorial Classic. Kilicli was the dunk contest winner and MVP in the game, when he was at times unstoppable as he finished with 31 points and 18 rebounds. It was the kind of boost he may very well have needed after a so-so debut season in the States.

And give the kid credit. He’s incredibly open and honest about his experience … and what he’s about to experience.

And as he learns, you can bet that he will end up on Huggins’ infamous treadmill.

“They all end up on it,” he said.

“I already know about it and I have one at my house and I practice on it all the time,” Kilicli said. “I know I have to be ready for that for sure.”

Believe! or Believe?

by Mike Casazza

A weird thing happened to the baseball team this weekend. WVU entered the series against St. John’s with first place on the line. The Mountaineers won two of three — and outscored the Red Storm 30-15 — but today find themselves in a tie for first.

That’ll happen. We continue to marvel about the way these guys rake it, but consider 10 of the 15 weekend runs allowed came on one dayand Saturday’s 16-2 blowout turned on the mound.

Gross came out in the first inning and had little command of his breaking ball. St. John’s loaded the bases with one out and was looking at breaking the game open with a big inning.

The series had been marked by the winning team rushing off to an early lead, WVU doing it with three runs in the first inning of the opener that it won and St. John’s scoring four in the first inning of its second-game victory.

Baseball is a game of big innings,” Van Zant noted. “Winning teams score more runs in one inning than their opponent gets in the whole game in more games than not.”

“Coach stresses minimizing the damage,” Gross said.

And that is just what he did, allowing only one run out of that mess on a sacrifice fly.

Friday Feedback

April 10, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Welcome once again to the Friday Feedback, which is generally mediocre to above average. Today, it cannot be argued. This is a Good Friday Feedback.

… and since it goes downhill from there — and there just isn’t a lot to talk about we haven’t spent too much time talking about already — onto the Feedback. As always comments appear as posted. In other words, practice!

mountiefan3 said:

Game one to the Mountaineers! It looks like this team is for real. They can score with anyone, but I don’t know if they have the pitching. If they keep this up it’ll be a fun summer in Morgantown.

Big night at the yard and big night for John Antonik’s headline writing. These guys mash — and maybe the Big East is down a little this year? — but the huge number was 828 in the stands.

And so it begins

April 9, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Hey, first place is on the line at Hawley Field this weekend. Big East-best West Virginia plays host to St. John’s and the Mountaineers’ marketing department would like for you to swing on by tonight and enjoy a hot dog.

“St. John’s is a good ballcub,” Coach Greg Van Zant said. “They’ve been in the NCAA Tournament a number of years and have swept the last two series against us. It will be a challenge for us this weekend but we are looking forward to it.”

Thursday’s contest is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and is deemed as “Dollar Night,” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for $1 each. Friday’s game is set to begin at 5 p.m., and Saturday contest starts at 1 p.m.

The Mountaineers (23-6, 8-1) are off to their best start in conference play since beginning with an identical 8-1 record in 1997. WVU took all three games from Georgetown in its most recent BIG EAST series, outscoring the Hoyas, 28-14, through all three games.

WVU went 13-13 the rest of the way in 1997, but won a conference divisional title for the second straight year. It hasn’t happened since, which means we’ll know a lot more about these guys Sunday morning. If you can’t wait — who can? — follow it for free.

Their prediction? Pain.

by Mike Casazza

They provide few contributions in the form of individual statistics, but good luck finding more valuable players for WVU than Chris Neild and Scooter Berry. The defense is this team’s identity and the two otherwise anonymous players make it go.

The lack of fanfare could certainly change, especially if the defense is as good as expected and people understand why, or if Julian Miller or Larry Ford — or some guy named Finau — can be productive at the end position.

Everyone will know where they should point fingers.

“Look at this,” said Berry.

He held up a finger that looked like it was the product of an arts and craft project in the third grade, going off in a couple of directions.

“I jammed it, twisted it, had surgery on my thumb. I can’t play without gloves,” Berry said.

The only thing he didn’t say was what you expected to come next … “You shoulda seen the other guy.”

“We like hurting people,” Neild said. “It’s our job.”

Step 2

by Mike Casazza

Step 1 would have been the previous four seasons, but Alex Ruoff made the next move in his quest to play professional basketball during Wednesday’s opening round of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.