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Perhaps Michael Carter’s defection to Minnesota shouldn’t be a surprise. If you can’t get the name right, are you really married to the idea of going to school there for four years? Plus, these things happen on National Signing Day. Isn’t that right, Taige Redman?
Bad: Keyser High School standout linebacker Taige Redman spurned an offer from Marshall and committed to Ohio University.
Well, Redman ended up signing with WVU today. As did junior college receiver Terrance Moore, who appears to be a quality player.
No word yet on anything related to Tevita Finau, which is perfectly appropriate.
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(Update: Finau has signed. See the end.)Â
… but a Happy Anniversary to Kevin Hart!
Oh, that precocious little lineman! The more I think about that story, the more I hate that that happened. I’m not a fan of the recruiting beat — honestly it’s not them, it’s me — but I do believe these kids deserve their moment in the spotlight. They’ve given too much not to be rewarded, but what Mr. Hart did empowered the skeptics.
“To be honest with you, West Virginia wasn’t really on my radar for the longest time,” said Smith, the Class 6A Player of the Year and runner-up for Mr. Football. “Then some things happened up there with their quarterback de-committing and that just so happened to be going on when I was about to take my visit up there.
“There was a lot to love about that place. To me, it felt like the perfect situation.”Â
I’m sorry to report this, but Geno Smith prefers Eugene Smith, which makes him a lot like my dad, who, to be fair, is probably still a pretty good athlete at age 58.
So pull up a seat and immense yourself today in National Signing Day — all caps! — as we begin to learn a little about a lot of kids (Watch that Michael Carter today!). Updates will come throughout the day, beginning with the already-enrolled Logan Heastie.
Wednesday’s National Signing Day will offer none of pomp and circumstance three years on the recruiting circuit generates. No assembly at his high school. No media swarm waiting to ask questions he’s been asked a bunch before. No putting on a cap and smiling for the cameras.
It seems a little unfair for a 6-foot-3, 185-pound receiver with 4.34 speed, a little anticlimactic after catching 116 passes for 1,954 yards and 26 touchdowns the past two seasons.
“It’s fine, believe me,” he said. “I used to get hounded by that stuff, which happens when you’re a certain caliber of player, but I’m glad to get it over with.”
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Once ranked No. 8 in the country at 16-1 and 4-0 in the Big East, Syracuse is now 17-5, 5-4 and No. 20 after what is now a routine trip through the Big East — at Georgetown, vs. Notre Dame, at Pitt, vs. Louisville. Of course, the Orange did manage to score 94 and lose by six at Providence last week, too.
I’m going to cross my fingers now and board a plane to Syracuse, but let’s consider this game for a moment.
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Official, as revealed by the sports information department.
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No need to ask “What was he thinking?” Turns out Greg Isdaner was thinking what everyone else thought he was thinking: Why not?
“I’m doing this with house money,†he said. “What’s the worst scenario? I’m not good enough to play in the NFL? If I don’t make it, I’ll go back to graduate school,†he said.
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I’m a little surprised by the lack of Ryan Stanchek, who also didn’t get a Senior Bowl invitation, and maybe even Ellis Lankster, who did go to the Senior Bowl and played pretty well.
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Let’s just pretend Talking Points didn’t happen this morning … because that’s exactly what my jerry-rigged computer-Internet combo did. So after relocating, I now sit in the corner at Panera Bread, fuming over the mishap and flicking my receipt while wondering if I should submit it as a work expense. Meanwhile, I believe I hear Fantasia music in the background and I idly hope the boxes at my house magically unpack and sort themselves.
Moving on … I found a pretty good way to look at Saturday’s loss against Louisville. Cue the comments!
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Pretty important game at Louisville Saturday. Not only will I miss it (previously planned absence, not related to the house … honest, I was supposed to close last weekend) but I won’t get to watch it live. Might catch a replay later.
Meantime, flow freely with your thoughts on what I miss and anything else that goes down this weekend.
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… will not be seen at this time.
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Today is moving day and I only wish it was as easy as these two oddly disturbing guys make it look. I’m a little upset I couldn’t knock out this week’s edition because there was some good commentary worth exploring and explaining. I’d like to say I’ll get to it Monday, but the new place doesn’t get wired for the Internet until Thursday. That shouldn’t stop me from continuing the normal schedule next week. Until then, enjoy the weekend. I’ll open up a notebook for your weekend thoughts later today.
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Far be it from me to say St. John’s Coach Norm Roberts is full of mularkey, but I couldn’t believe his response last night to a question about WVU’s pressing defense.
“We knew they were going to do that to us.”Â
Really? Because I’ve seen every second of 16 games in person this season as well as a 17th on television and I can think of one other instance in which WVU has pressed. It’s so vivid a memory I can’t even remember who it was against. Yet the Red Storm was ready for it … which explains the quick turnover the first time WVU jumped into its press, which was really more like an extended defense that turned into a half-court trap.
What Roberts was probably getting at, I think, was because his team is so young he just expected WVU to do what other opponents have done and press to bother the Red Storm. He couldn’t have seen it on film and said, “Crap, we have to be ready for that!” If that’s the case, then why wasn’t he ready for Dee Proby’s hook shot?
Now, as for future opponents, they’ve got something to think about.Â
“I’m trying to find something else we can do, to this point unsuccessfully,” Coach Bob Huggins said. “I’m trying to find something else to give us another look and another change.”
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