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

‘It’s clear we’re thin, but we’re talented.’

March 29, 2017 by Mike Casazza

Add another name to the list of (a) players injured and otherwise missing in action at spring football at West Virginia and (b) ACL injuries.

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Let’s spring forward into football

March 28, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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Football is spinning its way to the spring game on April 15, and there are but a few items of intrigue so far, namely rehabilitation and quarterbacks and how to keep one quarterback away from rehabbing anything.

“Right now I see some frustration [from Grier] because he’s a perfectionist,” Holgorsen said. “He wants everything to be easy and he wants everything to look great. And that’s not reality. There’s going to be growing pains for any quarterback.

“He’s a really bright kid though. He lives in the film room. He asks a lot of questions. It’s been great having [offensive coordinator] Jake [Spavital] here. He spends three hours on Saturdays with Will if necessary. Will is a bright kid, a coach’s kid. He works hard. He wants things to look good. The ball looks really good coming out of his hands. And he’s athletic as well.”

So much so Holgorsen will protect him with all his might.

“I’m not going take the yellow jersey off him like I did Skyler [Howard] three years ago to try and get Skyler to do some things I wanted,” said the coach. “I’m not going to take that yellow jersey off Will. It will be on. If he takes off running, they will stay very far away from him.”

Additionally, the Mountaineers are still working on a four-star quarterback and a familiar name for the 2018 class but not so diligently that they overlooked this class. Following former Syracuse starter Corey Winfield, another cornerback — a three-for-three junior college transfer — is on the way.

 

 

West Virginia University: Cradle of the Final Four

by Mike Casazza
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Surely by now you’re aware that although Bob Huggins is not coaching in the Final Four he nevertheless has his fingerprints on a part of it. South Carolina is the story of the 2017 NCAA tournament, and head coach Frank Martin is beginning to look like the star. To hear him tell it, this doesn’t happen without the West Virginia coach doing what he could to shape Martin’s career.

And while that’s true, Martin’s roots go a little further back, when he was a high school coach in Miami and a friendship with Huggins commenced. Martin’s break into college coaching came at Northeastern under … Mountaineers assistant Ron Everhart.

“He’s always understood what makes kids tick,” Everhart said. “And not just in basketball. I always knew he was going to be a great coach. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

 

March 27, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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No. (Sorry!) But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth discussing or that we can’t figure out what has to happen in the next seven months to change that to a “Yes.”

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Sweet Sixteen: (1) Gonzaga 61, WVU 58

March 24, 2017 by Mike Casazza

It would appear everyone has already said what they will about last night’s game, but I do feel the need to jump in: Say what you will about last night’s game, but if Jordan Mathews doesn’t make that 3-pointer, Gonzaga is flying home today. West Virginia did a lot wrong, familiar errors that have cost a good team games at separate times choosing to come together at once to cost the Mountaineers one more time, but the Bulldogs needed every one of them to get a chance.

They got it, they took it and it’s WVU that’s flying home today.

That’s too simple, though, so let’s review and attempt to cobble together a complex and tortured legacy of this team.

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Sweet Sixteen: (1) Gonzaga v. (4) WVU

March 23, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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You are looking live at the catbird seat at the SAP Center, site of tonight’s Sweet Sixteen games. West Virginia and Gonzaga get us started — Mountaineers go first, of course — and the winner advances to Saturday’s regional final, a.k.a Elite Eight game, against the winner of our second contest: (11) Xavier v. (2) Arizona.

That’s Sean Miller against Sean Miller’s old team, and watch out for the Musketeers.

But Chris Mack is one of our game’s bright coaches, great coaches. He’s not my former assistant. He stands on his own two feet and his record and what he’s done speaks for itself.

And I don’t know if I’ve seen a coach take a team that had lost a number in a row and lost such a terrific player, and now flip it and have them playing at such a high level. We’re playing against one of the hottest teams that’s remaining in the tournament. And if last weekend is any indication of where they’re at, it’s scary for anybody that’s going to play against them.

The road to the final four … something something.

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Better without the biggest?

by Mike Casazza
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Gonzaga is big. Like, this big. The Bulldogs go 7-foot-1 and 6-9 in the starting lineup. The reserves are a 7-footer, who’s expected to be the next, uh, big thing in Spokane, and a 6-10 Frenchman who does a little bit of everything. The guards? Not small.

West Virginia – and stop me if you’ve heard this – is not intimidated. Impressed? That’s relative. Certainly, the fact that the Bulldogs are so tall and so long and also here is to be respected, but the feeling is the Mountaineers are not stunned and therefore not scared. “Playing in the Big 12, I would say we’ve been through worse the last three years,” Elijah Macon said.

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‘Oh, crap. I guess that makes me look a little weird.’

by Mike Casazza

Gonzaga has been one of the country’s best teams from start to present, so it’s perhaps unfair to say the Bulldogs are lucky to be here. But – and that’s the critical word – there was an incident in the second-round game against Northwestern.

A lead that was 18 points large at halftime and then four points bigger in the second half was down to just five points when this happened.

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Bob Huggins’ odd history with Gonzaga

by Mike Casazza

West Virginia is 0-3 all-time against Gonzaga, and two of the games weren’t even funny. Bob Huggins is 1-4 against the Bulldogs and 0-4 against his friend Mark Few, and he’s had an overall worse time than the Mountaineers.

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With friends like this …

by Mike Casazza

 

Gonzaga’s Mark Few and West Virginia’s Bob Huggins are friends. Exactly why? We’re not sure. “He’s actually fun to be with,” Huggins said. “He doesn’t look like that, but he’s actually a lot of fun to be with.”

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