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

At long last, our Big East poll

July 29, 2008 by Mike Casazza

The Big East media poll will be released later this morning at Big East Media Day, which thankfully was not canceled because of Kige. I’ll come back later to share the results. Right now I’m disheveled. I played in a softball game last night in which our surging team was up 11-0 after two innings — a little guy with a penchant for the pen one-hopped the fence in left field — and lost 15-11. My best guess is that the Pittsburgh Pirates Altoona Curve switched places with the opponent in the bottom of the third. A team that could do no right suddenly could do no wrong and started smoking every ball it hit. Surreal. Yes, I know it’s softball, but the nature of the loss irks me. That bothers me more than anything else.

Anyhow, we’re here today for our Big East poll, which featured 20 votes, including mine that went to the Big East’s version, too. Here are the results. Eight points first a first-place vote, one for a last place vote. A detailed look follows the jump and should show not only how even the middle is, but why many people think a good team could be bad or a bad team could be good.

1. West Virginia, 159 points
2. South Florida, 131
T3. Pitt, 92
T3. Rutgers, 92
5. Louisville, 91
6. Cincinnati, 75
7. Connecticut, 58
8. Syracuse, 22

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USF zinged, WVU Teeng’d?

July 28, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Curious e-mails were traded among colleagues when gifted big man Teeng Akol signed with South Florida last month, especially on the heels of the Gus Gilchrist signing. Well, expect the commerce to flow again now that Akol has been run from the Bulls.

“It [academics] was a part of the decision,” Muraisi said “Am I aggravated [he wasn’t allowed to attend USF], yes? It was not Stan’s [decision], it was not Teeng’s, it’s above them.

“I’m not a happy person. I’m not a happy camper because I told Teeng USF has the academic support you need. The athletics side was trying the best they could. It’s frustrating. It’s a shocker to me.”

Muraisi said Akol initially chose USF over West Virginia, Oklahoma, Xavier and Southern Illinois.  

That West Virginia mention is your cue to care. There was mutual interest before and we know already Akol is again thinking about WVU, which would presumably make WVU start thinking about Akol … and also Roscoe Davis.

Muraisi listed several schools as options for Akol, including Missouri, Fresno State and UNLV; he also mentioned West Virginia, but Big East policy does not allow basketball players to transfer from one member school to another. It’s unclear whether Akol falls under that policy, given his set of circumstances.

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Rumor: Big East may nix media day

by Mike Casazza

…and perhaps the season. Kige has spoken. The voters in our Big East poll, which will have some interesting and predictable results, would beg to differ.

Talking points

by Mike Casazza

…from the weekend that was. For your use in elevator rides, trips to the water cooler and other awkward moments on a Monday.

> Seems like there’ll be plenty to talk about at the Big East Media Day. That’s tomorrow, by the way, and I’ll post the results of our poll in the morning. If you haven’t voted, there’s probably something wrong with you. Make it right!

> It’s difficult to completely understand how important Brad Cox was to WVU’s athletic department, though this helps.

> If you’ve got some time, check out how WVU’s players played in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s Summer Pro-Am League. 

> Terence Garvin became the 13th player to commit to WVU’s 2009 football recruiting class. Check him out here and here.

> The football staff’s goal of getting all the best prospects in the state is looking good. Rivals.com ranked the players in the state and No. 1 is thinking about the Mountaineers and No. 2 is already committed. No big deal, you say? Well, it’s not often the state produces multiple Division I players.

> Technically, this isn’t WVU related, but I burned through this feature on Randy Moss, which reveals the identity of Rand University.

Friday Feedback

July 25, 2008 by Mike Casazza

(Last call on the Big East football poll. If you haven’t voted, please do. If the person you just passed in the hallway hasn’t voted, please pass it along. If that person’s neighbor hasn’t voted … well, we shold probably draw a line somewhere, yes? Anyhow, I’ll roll out the results Monday. The poll is released that afternoon at Big East Media Day, and though I won’t be there, I think it’ll be fun to see how the minds match up. And yes, there’s an odd bit of irony contained in that post, but let’s not go there.)

A quick state of the union before we delve into the feedback. To begin, thanks for the pep talk yesterday. Some of your commentary provides a pretty good transition into today’s topic:

Josh24601 said:

There’s a chasm between the WVU sports coverage provided by the athletic department and many of the state papers and the information Mountaineer fans desire and would consume like crazy if it were just provided. Into the breach ventures the enterprising Casazza!

Why MSNSportsNet doesn’t run daily–at least weekly–photo galleries of progress on these projects is beyond me. Last year, UNC resurfaced the DeanDome floor and repainted it exactly the same; the UNC official site posted an extensive start-to-finish photo gallery. WVU’s website does not have a single picture of Mountaineer Field as presently configured. Exactly what the hell does John Antonik do?

(For the record, I think Antonik has run out of places to hang the many hats he wears. He’s also on top of the scoreboard renderings today, which, to be fair, prompted a mea culpa comment from Josh. Hugs and hand-pounds, everyone.) You see, sometimes I just don’t know what people are craving. Don’t get me wrong: I understand the beat and what needs to be conveyed to best illustrate what’s happening with the teams. I do recognize there’s more our there and, admittedly, I sometimes struggle securing those ideas. I don’t lurk on the message boards and, though this might surprise you, my fan friends and I rarely discuss WVU sports.

Sometimes I need help.

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Problem solved

July 24, 2008 by Mike Casazza

I think I figured a way around the photo issues here. It’s something I should have done a long time ago, and it’s rather simple, but I just started a photobucket.com page. I would have preferred to keep it simple, like, you know, being able to use the blog to better serve the blog, but I’ve had enough of it. This has some options I’ll explore in the future, but it could be made available at all times for the public’s consumption. With some summer camp and some neat road trips on the horizon, it’s worth giving it a whirl. For now, here’s the first foray with the second attempt at the construction pictures, which in no way will live up to the trouble they caused.

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Naturally, WVU freshman wins

by Mike Casazza

Of course, it was Kevin Jones who was named the rookie of the year in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s Summer Pro-Am League.

WVU’S JONES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to West Virginia’s Kevin Jones, 2008 Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro Am Summer League Rookie of the Year. The entire All Rookie team will be posted shortly.

Truck Bryant joined Jones on the all-rookie team … and that was that. Joe Mazzulla was on the first team, but did not repeat as MVP. The honor went to Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson. I’m working on getting the full playoff results, all-league list and statistics. Not as easy as one might imagine.

This should be done by Aug. 30

by Mike Casazza

After a lot of chatter since the beginning of the summer — and, of course, when people were seen disassembling scoreboards … always a giveaway — WVU finally made its official announcement Wednesday that Panasonic will be installing video scoreboards at Mountaineer Field and the Coliseum.

I sent my photographer out yesterday afternoon to snap some shots of the construction — let’s hope Morgantown doesn’t very much rain between and the football opener. One would assume the basketball project has more time to be completed, but individual workouts begin when the players return to school and not only is the floor unfinished — ie., no markings, which matters this year because the 3-point line has been moved back — but there are no baskets, either.

Not saying it won’t get done. I’ve been assured everything will be finished in time, but it’s something to follow. Good thing we’re paying this photographer so much. Pictures after the jump.

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Ladies, be patient with Alex Ruoff

July 23, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Time to reshape the way you think about college athletes and the sacrifices they make. This is equal parts sad and hysterical.

So what did at least one of the 130 kids in attendance at the 3rd annual Eric Bovaird Hilltopper Basketball Camp at the Hilltoppers’ ASRC want to know about Ruoff on Tuesday night?

”Do you have a girlfriend?”

No, Ruoff said. ”I had one, but then Coach (Bob) Huggins showed up, and I was going home and went straight to bed.”

Later, Ruoff said that was no fib.

”The girlfriend story is legit,” he said. ”I had no energy for a relationship and she blew me off.”

On the freshmen…

by Mike Casazza

We’ve spent a some time and energy lately observing the three basketball freshmen and discussing what type of impact they might have in the coming season. It’s funny now how much people invest in freshmen and how easily it’s forgotten that it just might not work. Everyone, for example, trusts that Devin Ebanks is the next big thing, but there’s more to it than simply showing up.

“We have a great recruiting class coming in and I think their biggest weakness is they know it,” Mazzulla said. “When we talk about how bad those three hours a day with Huggs are they kind of throw it aside because every high school player thinks it’s easy because of their success. We’ll let them get a taste of it. I can’t wait.

“The most talented guys just don’t grasp it sometimes,” Mazzulla said. “I think the biggest key for these three is to just shut up and listen.”