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

This is ridiculous

No, not the Internet problems that had me running at atomic levels for several hours and completely stalled my productivity until about 15 minutes ago. Rather, its the no longer disputed fact WVU’s baseball team never says never.

After rallying from nine runs down for a 15-14 victory over USF back on Saturday, the Mountaineers turned the trick again, this time overcoming a 10-1 deficit in the fourth inning to outlast Ohio 13-12 in 10 innings Wednesday night at Hawley Field.

“We just didn’t quit,” West Virginia Coach Greg Van Zant said. “This team never quits. We just keep having good at bats. Our hitters really competed all night.”

This is becoming a story worth watching. The Mountaineers, now 25-7, enter not just the teeth of their schedule, but the incisors. That said, I can’t believe anyone is lacking confidence right now and even when tough spots do present themselves, who’s going to say the impossible isn’t possible? You can’t. Not now. True, it’ll be harder against, say, Seton Hall, and for sure at home against Notre Dame and on the road against St. John’s. Yet a rally is just a few pings away. You sense there’s a “Why not?” attitude floating around the dugout, and in sports that’s one question that cannot be answered.   

The asterisk (Updated, 3:03 p.m.)

It didn’t take long for premature polls to pop up for the 2008-09 men’s basketball season and, not surprisingly, West Virginia’s is held in high regard.

7. WEST VIRGINIA - If late-season sensation Alexander, a 6-foot-8 forward, sticks around for his senior year and teams up with top recruit Kevin Jones, a 6-7 forward, the Mountaineers will have a potent one-two punch in the frontcourt.

Other polls of less repute have WVU in the top 20, though they all include the same caveat about Alexander, which makes this this the time to say it’s expected he will soon announce his intention to enter the draft. (Edit: Fantastic. It’s official now. Google it. ) He’ll do all the camps and workouts, but will say from the beginning that it’s his plan to return to school for his senior season. He’s been telling people as much for a while now.

That said, when one tests the waters, sometimes it feels really good and you soon realize it’s a good idea to take a swim. Who knows what happens, but he can’t be blamed for heading in this direction. The only thing you should root for is that he doesn’t get hurt in the process. 

Tennessee’s Candace Parker will be the first underclassman — or is it underclasswoman…or underclassperson? — to be drafted today and will almost certainly go No. 1 to the Los Angeles Sparks. A while later, WVU’s Meg Bulger should earn the unique honor of being the first person drafted twice.

Meg was picked last year by the Sacramento Monarchs, who were quite proud of themselves.

Q: Thoughts on Bulger?

Boucek: “Bulger is not on the radar because of her injuries (torn ACL). We feel like she’s a sleeper, too. She’s a very high-percentage shooter and you can always use those. She probably won’t play this year, which is better for us because next year is an expansion year. We’ll see where she is physically and whenever we do get her, we’re excited to see if she would be a piece for us.”

So true. She was a sleeper and she wouldn’t play that year — because Bulger wasn’t eligible for the draft.

There seems to be a theme this year that many schools will get multiple players selected in the three rounds and WVU would have to be one of them. Bulger should hear her name called since, you know, she’s available, and the guess is it’ll be some time after teammate Olayinka Sanni.

Not sure where they’ll go, but according to different mock drafts — who knew? –neither is a first-round pick. Nevertheless, you can track the action online.

Ranked? … wait … Ranked!

Bob Huggins’ first season at West Virginia officially ended Tuesday when the Mountaineers were ranked No. 17 in the final coaches’ poll. Honestly, I’m surprised, not that they’re ranked so high, but that they’re ranked at all. Not to take anything away from what was accomplished, but this was an 11-loss team — second-most losses in the top 25. Then again, it’s a team that did play very well for the month of March. That probably matters most, but remember the Mountaineers weren’t getting any votes March 18 in the last poll of the regular season. It’s quite a leap.

I guess we’re obligated to talk about the team ranked right above WVU.

Duke (28-6) fell from ninth to 16th following a second-round loss to West Virginia, which was No. 17 after being unranked in the previous poll. Pitt (27-10) was 18th, followed by Notre Dame (25-8) and Purdue (25-9).

Isn’t it time for everyone to move on? Personally, I’d rather talk about where this team begins next season in the rankings. Fire away… 

We’ve examined the point here previously that 6-foot-8 Devin Ebanks’ visit to WVU this weekend doesn’t exactly fill the sizable void created by 7-foot center Jamie Smalligan’s graduation. What we’ve not given enough thought to is the idea of having size for the sake of having size. It’s no longer the way to go, a point illustrated rather well by your national runner-up Memphis. (Ssshhh. Don’t tell anyone you-know-who is available online!)

Having no true center obviously didn’t hurt the Tigers this season in rebounding. Memphis averaged 40.8 rebounds per game and outrebounded opponents by 6.6 boards per game — 11th best in the country.

It makes an interesting point to the state of today’s game and possibly to what exactly Huggins may be leaning toward for WVU.

You see, it’s not so much anymore about who is closer to the ball when it comes off the rim, but rather who can get to it first. It’s more about strength than size. It’s more about being long, quick and athletic than being tall.

It’s a game for guards and forwards now, where the 6-foot-8 athletic kid is the new 7-footer, as long as he has a little meat on his bones and can rebound.

If you can take a 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9 kid and beef him up in the weight room, you get a Dorsey or a Joe Alexander, for that matter.

And that just may be where Huggins is heading for future recruiting classes.

Continue reading…

Your shining moments

It’s safe to say you have an unusual obsession when you and your friends try to guess what images from the NCAA Tournament will be included in the “One Shining Moment” montage. What, then, can be said when you pick a lot of the right ones? Or what if you watch the game just so you can TiVo catch the video? What if you’ve got the lyrics memorized? What if that was the song that played as you and your wife were introduced at your wedding reception? And what if it was your wife’s idea?

Wait…don’t say anything. Instead, immerse yourself in The Moment. I count five WVU spots, including two we picked — Joe Mazzulla crumpling the courtside table against Xavier and Jamie Smalligan sadly tucking his head inside his jersey at the end of the same game.

Warning: Do not leave Hawley Field early

My dad couldn’t make it as a WVU baseball fan. He was always the one suggesting the game was over after seven innings and that we might want to head back to the car in order to beat the traffic. The walk to parking lot was inevitably interrupted by a roar from the home crowd and we’d turn on the radio and discover the Orioles or the local minor league club had pulled off the comeback. To be fair, this is also my mom’s fault. The home team never wins when she’s in attendance. Ours is an odd family.

Anyhow, we’d probably have to take dad’s keys if he decided to take us to Hawley Field for dogs and sodas on sunny Saturdays this spring. The Mountaineers save the best for last. Win or lose.

Continue reading…

Wow

Preface this by saying Jeff Goodman is usually right … and he says the NBA and the NCAA have agreed to make college a two-year home before the NBA. It’s a good start, though considerable work must be done beyond this point.

According to sources, the proposal would still need to be passed through the NBA Players Association.

“It’s a big step for the owners and the commissioner to say they’re ready to bargain in good faith to get the rule passed,” said one college coach who wished to remain anonymous. “The NBA is willing to give up something to get this rule passed; we just don’t know what it is yet.”

Taking care of business

And you thought Bob Huggins was taking a break at the Final Four’s coaching convention. Erroneous! He’s working on serious stuff.

Things I’m told
Scene of the night Thursday in San Antonio for the Final Four: Bob Huggins egging on Michigan St coach Tom Izzo…challenging him to schedule West Virginia. Huggs was asking Izzo to sign an agreement on a napkin. Izzo, Huggs and a group of coaches that included Bo Ryan, Cliff Ellis and others were nearly in tears laughing.

Friday Feedback

(Update: You have to check out the post and, more importantly, the comments at deadspin.com. Scroll down and read the feedback and I dare you not to laugh.)

Sorry for the delay. I was on the phone with Kunta Kinta. He will not be asked to testify in WVU v. Rodriguez. A few basketball notes before we jump into the Feedback with both feet.

> Point guard Joe Mazzulla won’t be playing football for WVU. “I’ve got a new role on the team coming up next year and I don’t want any distractions as I prepare for it. It’s a great compliment, though,” he said. Mazzulla has never put on shoulder pads before, let alone play the sport, but that didn’t keep Bill Stewart from dreaming. 

> Cam Thoroughman had his oft-dislocated left kneecap surgically repaired earlier this week and he was told there’s a 90-percent chance it’ll never pop out again. If you’re not high on Cam, remember you never really saw him at his best. He couldn’t string together the amount of practices he needed to really get in a groove and gain confidence in his abilities, to say nothing of his knee. He’ll rehab most of the summer and should be good to go well before the start of preseason practice.

> Recruit Kevin Jones is on PARADE magazine’s All-America team. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native made the fourth team.

>  Devin Ebanks, a touted small forward prospect who is in recruiting limbo after all that’s happened at Indiana, will visit WVU next weekend. Let’s talk hypothetically, shall we? WVU has one scholarship left and wants and maybe even needs a post presence. Quite clearly, the scholarship is to be used to fill a void. If you’ve watched him play, you’ll agree Ebanks is less Jamie Smalligan and more — uh oh — Joe Alexander. Then again, the one-remaining-scholarship fact exists under the assumption the nine underclassmen on scholarship all come back next year. Stay tuned…

Onto the show. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, some of you could be rock stars.

Bill said:

If RR wins this case, then over 2 centuries of tested contract law are moot and void.

Where else can we begin? I’m telling you, the motions hearing was damned entertaining yesterday, though through all the laughs and gasps and at times difficult attempts to see and consider both sides, I just cannot shake the feeling Rodriguez has no chance and that he’s in it to earn a discount. His argument is just very thin when stacked next to thick legal books. Just for the heck of it, I wonder if he might throw out an offer — $3 million … on a Beilein-like payment plan? — to see what WVU says. Might WVU accept? You never know. Then again, I also don’t believe WVU is trembling in the face of Team Rodriguez’s threatening tone about the truth being known once President Mike Garrison tells his side of the story. I thought what was most telling was WVU’s “who cares?” attitude when it “lost” the motion to dismiss Rodriguez’s counterclaim. In fact, WVU lawyer Tom Flaherty mentioned the interest continues to grow the longer this  continues.

Continue reading…