Well, it certainly has been a while since I’ve been on here to share thoughts and insight into the world of WVU’s sports programs, and I have thought when I got the chance to sit down and write again I wanted it to be something big.

Well today, that something big happened.

I was interviewed on live Internet radio on the coopersportsradio.com show that comes from California and Florida respectively. The topic was about Pacman Jones and Chris Henry and their shortcomings so to speak, after college football.

Coop asked about their days at WVU and if there were any indications that they were on a path of self destruction and making their names more infamously than famously on the field. I answered him as best I could, and though I’m not quite sure he got the answers he was looking for, I had a blast talking to him.

We will be receiving a copy of the interview tomorrow (June 6th) and when we get it all lined out, MountaineerBob is going to set it all up so that you, our loyal fans and readers, can listen in to what we had to say.

MountaineerBob was originally slated to be on the show, but due to issues beyond his control, he couldn’t make the interview and gave me the shot to represent WVMountaineerSports.com on live radio. I do want to say I was proud to represent the fans of WVU on a issue of big questions about a few of our alumni, that unfortunately, haven’t carried on the Mountaineer Pride.

To MountaineerBob, thank you for giving me that opportunity, and to the rest of the guys here at the site and to you fans, I hope I didn’t let you down. It’s great to be back among the blue and gold faithfull…..GO WEST VIRGINIA!!!!!

Recruiting Update

West Virginia received its eighth verbal commitment for the 2009 football recruiting class when offensive guard Jordan Weingart said he wanted be a Mountaineer.

Weingart is a 6-foot-3, 290-pound guard from F.W. Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla.

According to Rivals.com, he was recruited by WVU associate head coach Doc Holliday, when Holliday was a member of Florida’s coaching staff. Holliday continued pursuing Weingart once he got to WVU and convinced him to play football for WVU.

According to Scout.com, Weingart is the No.29-ranked overall offensive guard and is rated as a three-star prospect.

Scout reported Weingart received offers from West Virginia and East Carolina.

Scouts, Inc provided ESPN an analysis of Weingart. The scout’s grade they gave him was a 75, which translates as a ‘Good Prospect.’

The detailed scouting report said Weingart was talented and tenacious, technically sound, aggressive and mobile. “Pound for pound and inch for inch Weingart is as good as there is up front,” read the scouting report.

Scouts, Inc reported Weingart also considered South Florida, Miami, Florida State and Florida.

Rutgers and West Virginia are in the recruiting hunt for a highly touted running back named Desmond Scott.

Scott is listed at 5-foot-9 179 pounds on his Scout.com profile and is from Hillside High in Durham, N.C.

Mitch Vingle, of The Charleston Gazette, spoke with Javar Branson, who is Scott’s high school coach. Branson said Scott had been offered by Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Rutgers, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia.

“He’s a versatile back and a very coachable kid,” Branson told Vingle.

Scott is listed as the nation’s No. 2-rated all-purpose running back by Rivals.com

Scott said the recruiting race was even with all the schools and said to Vingle, “I’d like to get to West Virginia soon to see what they have to offer … In the next three to four weeks I’d like to get there.”

“I like [West Virginia's] spread offense,” Scott told Vingle. “I like Coach Holliday. He’s very down-to-earth. Also, I’ve talked to two of their commitments, the quarterback and wide receiver. They’ve told me all about the program. I want to see what it’s about.”

The quarterback and receiver Scott mentioned were other WVU verbal commits Tajh Boyd and Logan Heastie. It is reported the two future Mountaineers are actively trying to help WVU land other standout prep prospects.

Scott’s 40-yard dash time is 4.47 and that type of speed has become a staple of WVU football lately. He would fit into the offense and could make a major impact as WVU attempts to claim future Big East Championships and that elusive national championship.

Rivals reported Scott enjoyed his visit to Rutgers and his decision could come in the next two weeks.

Scout lists Rutgers and WVU as the only two schools that still have ‘high interest’ from Scott.

It isn’t known yet when Scott will make his official visit to Morgantown.

Vingle also reported WVU is seeking other blue-chip running backs including highly-touted south Florida back Jaamal Berry, Lamar Miller and Daquan Hargrett. Miller and Hargrett are standout backs from Miami. Berry, who runs a 4.38 forty, has offers from 25 to 30 schools in the south and is recognized as the best tailback from Florida, the country’s most fertile recruiting state for skill players and speed.

WVU is clearly building the future for a continued lethal, ground assault with sizzling speedy superstars. The foundation has been laid by Patrick White and Steve Slaton. Noel Devine is on the brink on stardom. Who will emerge as the next great Mountaineer?

For better or for worse, West Virginia’ s standout power forward Joe Alexander appears to be NBA bound.

“I think Joe’s gone,” was the statement WVU head coach Bob Huggins told legendary West Virginia sports writer Mickey Furfari Wednesday.

Some fans may think Alexander would be better off playing under Huggins for his senior year and potentially rise to a top five draft prospect for the 2009 NBA Draft.

Others may think he is ready to go pro.

There may be over a million other reasons waiting for Alexander once he signs a contract to join a NBA team.

The Mt. Airy, Md. native came on very strong for the Mountaineers during an impressive stretch run of games in March, including during the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Performing well under the bright lights of New York City’s Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament and leading the Mountaineers past perennial powers Arizona and Duke in Washington D.C. during the NCAA Tournament apparently got someone’s attention.

Scouts seem to be high on Alexander’s hard work ethic and determination, as well as his potential to turn into an impact player in the NBA. Much of the NBA Draft is based around teams selecting players they think have the potential to make significant contributions to their team, whether
it be short term or long term.

The amazing part about this is, Alexander transformed into an athletic, gifted basketball player with the tough, Huggins-instilled attitude to compete, in just one year. Oh, and he learned how to play to win, too.

I had the opportunity to see the young man play in person during his sophomore slump and then his remarkably improved junior season. It is truly mind boggling to think this is the same player. He was all but forgotten during WVU’s NIT Championship season. Some of that had to do with the sensational play of forward Frank Young, the schools’ all-time leading three-point shooter. Alexander maintained his starting role throughout the season, but in many games, was not a factor.

What a difference a year can make. Alexander is now a NBA prospect. Most analysts and experts project him to be drafted in the first round.

“I think Joe definitely will go in the first round,” Huggins told Furfari. “Probably in the low teens: 12, 13, 14, 15.”

He will be missed at WVU, but this process is nothing new to Huggins. Many college players have turned out to be NBA players under the tutelage of the veteran coach.

“I’m very happy for Joe. He certainly would go with our blessing,” Huggins said to Furfari.

NBADraft.net projects Alexander to be the 13th player selected by the Portland Blazers and reports him to be 5th on their 2008 Big Board of Top 100 Prospects.

ESPN’s Chad Ford was impressed with Alexander’s workout in Las Vegas and claimed he may be the “sleeper in this year’s draft.” Ford also projects Alexander to be picked up by Portland with the 13th selection.

Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen has Alexander going to the Philadelphia 76ers as the 16th overall pick in his mock draft.

My sources, which are close to Alexander, tell me he is going pro.

The 2008 NBA Draft is June 26 at Madison Square Garden.

Alexander has until June 16 to withdraw from the draft and return for his senior season at WVU

The time has finally come. I can officially say that NCAA Football has returned for the 2008 season. About friggin’ time! The leading news outlets are ramping up their preseason predictions, the newpapers college football section is slowly taking up more column inches, and a fire has been lit under the college football blogosphere and the opinions are flying.

The pre-season college football annuals are about to hit the shelves and a few have been sharing, online, what we’ll all rush out to read in the coming month. If you are in the market for one of these preseason mags I found this site http://preseason.stassen.com. This guy seriously breaks down which magazine is the best for predicting the upcoming season along with a shit load of other great stats for you stat junkies.

AthlonSports.com is releasing their Top 25, one team a day, every weekday in May to lead up to the release of their annual Top 25 Magazine Annual. They have us ranked #7! Some WVU points from the Athlon article:

• White, Devine and their supporting cast will work behind arguably the nation’s best offensive line, with All-America tackle Ryan Stanchek and All-Big East guard Greg Isdaner holding down the left side.
• There is some rebuilding to be done on defense, but last year’s top two tacklers — linebackers Reed Williams and Mortty Ivy — will steady the unit until help arrives.
• There are potential landmines all over the schedule — at East Carolina and at Colorado in September, home to Auburn in October, and the visit from South Florida in the Dec. 6 finale. But the one circled in red is the trip to Pitt on Nov. 28.

Phil Steele is also releasing his picks daily but is only at #20.. and there is no WVU listed yet so we at least know we are in his top 20. Phil Steele is an awesome analyst of college football and I’m amazed every week when he is on Rivals Radio how fast he puts out unbiased, level headed reviews of the past week and previews of the upcoming weekend of games. If you get a chance to listen to Rivals Radio in the mornings on Sirius, check him out. He’s a regular during the season and does a guest appearances during the lead up this summer. By the way, Phil has published the most accurate preseason mag in the past 9 years.. so I guess he knows what he’s talking about. [BUY IT NOW].

The Sporting News just released some pre-season rankings. Here Matt Hayes ranks the Best in the Big East position by position. Pat White is the easy pick for #1 QB. Noel Devine lands at #2 in the Running Back category under Pitt’s LeSean McCoy. In the Offensive Line category we get the top 2 spots with #1 Greg Isdaner and #2 Ryan Stanchek. I can hear it now…”you could drive a truck through that hole”. Pat McAfee grabs two spots as #3 Kicker and #2 Punter. Finally, Reed Williams is the #2 Linebacker in the conference. Hell Yeah!!! I’m liking the sound of this! The Sporting News will release their PreSeason mag on June 24. [PREORDER IT NOW]

Lindys Preseason Eastern Magazine was just release today. [BUY IT NOW] I don’t understand why all of these mags don’t put out a conference by conference mag but they have one with Pat White on the cover. Also, here is an article on Lindy’s website about the upcoming season for the Big East. If you want a good laugh hop over and read it, if you don’t want to waste your time, here is their prediction for the Big East:

1. Rutgers (Coach Schiano shows his approach to team-building has staying power);
2. Pittsburgh (So long as Bill Stull provides balance to LeSean McCoy’s running threat);
3. Connecticut (too many starters (19) from last year’s team to place Huskies any lower);
4. South Florida (Leavitt’s crew rides Matt Grothe to plenty of victories but defense is less stingy);
5. WVU (defense breaks in new starters while the team moves away from capitalizing on Pat White’s open field lethality);
6. Louisville (defense improves but offense hiccups through a rebuilding year);
7. Cincinnati (loss of defensive pressure and deep coverage woes keep the Bearcats away from a higher standing);
8. Syracuse (there’s always basketball season…)

WTF???? I’ll leave you guys to ponder this one.

EXTRA:

CBS Sportsline.com has a poll on their College FB home page about who is the most exciting player to watch and Noel Devine is winning at 55%! The next on the list is Florida’s Percy Harvin at 15%! Damn. So if you get a chance hop over to CBS and vote!

I just came across this and it’s awesome. If it doesn’t make you smile then you must be Satan’s and Oprah’s love child.

Make sure you head over to the artists site www.findharri.com and www.jeffmoores.com. There is just something about his prints that take me back right in the middle of High Street and really represent what it’s like to live and go to school in Morgan-hole.

Here is a shot of his WV prints. Hook a fellow Alum up and buy some tshirts!

There is a lot of news out there right now about Joe Alexander’s NBA mock draft rankings.

The latest reports and mock drafts have him going to the Bucks at #8! Damn!$!

One mock draft have him going #13 to the Trailblazers and another has him going #12 to Kings.

I have a hard time believing these high pre-draft rankings (Steve Slaton was a #9 first round pick at one time and we all know how that turned out). To Joes credit though there is a ton of buzz out there. Now don’t get me wrong I like Joe Alexander and I do believe he’s a great player and one of the better players to wear the Gold and Blue, but these rankings always seem kind of inflated.

Biggest question is I guess, Will he go?

Keep in mind he does not have an agent, which means he continues to keep open his option to return to WVU for a senior year of eligibility.

The advantage of coming back for another year of collegiate competition?

He replied, “I get to play under Coach Huggins and the rest of the staff.

“I can’t say enough about what they did for me this year, and also I get to play with my teammates at WVU, my best friends.”

Who knows what he’ll decide. Personally I would like to see him stay and kick some ass with Huggs top 5 recruting class coming in, but if he leaves we’ll wish him the best of luck and hope he can make the big bucks in the ever so boring NBA….Time to get an agent Joe.

Here is a great interview with Joe via DraftExpress.com

Go over to ESPN’s article about the BCS and it’s first 10 years. Kind of a love fest between ESPN and the BCS if you ask me but they do give Pat White some kudos so I’ll forgive them for trying to shoot down any talk of a playoff system.

So give it a read and make sure you vote for Pat at the #1 BCS Icon. We do a great job with these ESPN votes so why stop now.

Actually in the main article they have him ranked #6. Here is what Tim Griffin (ESPN) has to say about him.

Our bball team just got a lot better! Huggins continues to impress.

read here.

I hate Bill O.

Only 39 want him to stay. Read more here.

I don’t think he’ll be able to ignore a vote like that. WOW. I wonder how will this effect the Athletic Dept? It shouldn’t at all but he’s been so invovled. That is.. if he actually steps down.