Coach Bob Huggins, widely known as one of the best recruiters in the nation, has brought his alma mater something Gale Catlett and John Beilen failed to do. Bring in top quality recruits to the Morgantown area on the campus of WVU! Just his heartfelt pitch last night with the words “”I want to make sure they know what having West Virginia on your shirt means.” would bring any city boy a sense of pride when comparing college choices.

The class of 2008 with Truck Bryant, Kevin Jones, Roscoe Davis, and possibly Ater Majok will arguably be one of the greatest recruiting classes in recent memory. It can only get better. That’s why the class of 2009 may be the most important class in WVU basketball history. This is the class that may propel the Mountaineers into year-in year-out Final Four contenders and a force to be reckon within the Big East. So without further ado here’s a breakdown of some big-named athletes who may potentially come to Morgantown in 2009.

1.) Kevin Parrom - 6′5″ 180 St. Raymond HS Bronx N.Y

If that school looks familiar to you that is the same school as Truck Bryant goes to. From watching his 27 point 16 rebound performance Monday afternoon on ESPNU he basically stole the show and offset Truck’s rare off game. When he fills out physically his game is reminiscent of Grant Hill. He’s a very hard worker on and off the court. Can produce points anywhere on the floor just like Joe Alexander. Will dominate the boards with his excellent athletic ability.

Schools that are offering : Pitt, Rutgers, St. John’s, Xavier, and WVU

2.) Dalton Pepper - 6′5″ 215 Pennsbury HS Fairless Hills, PA

This sharpshooter is making Big East coaches take notice including Coach Huggs. 19th among shooting guards from Hoops, Pepper has single-handily led the Falcons to a current 19-1 record by averaging over 24 points a game. According to head coach Frank Scoilla “he is one of those kids that is very competitive. He has a high basketball IQ. He can play above or below the rim. He has a lot of big game qualities.” I read he may be slow on defense but with Coach Huggs that’s sure to greatly improve.”

Schools of interest: Villanova (Very High), Miami, Seton Hall, and WVU

3.) Bobby Capobianco - 6′8″ 230 Loveland HS Loveland, OH

Hails from the Cincinnati area so you can bet he worships the ground Huggs walks on. Averaging over 20 points he can provide one-on-one space in the power forward postiion and score points from inside and out. He previously visited WVU on an unofficial visit during the Mississippi State football game and seemed very impressed with the homecoming turnout. He would be a welcome addition in a conference where big men are at a premium.

Schools that offered: Marquette, St. Louis, Southern Illinois, and WVU

4.) Brian Oliver - 6′7″ 200 Oak Hill Academy Mouth of Wilson, VA

A perennial Top 25 high school that has churned Division I prospects year in and year out. Oliver is sure to be the cream of the crop with his physical game and the ability to make shots on a consistent basis. He’s difficult to defend on the court with his quick-release shot. He has the potential to be a fine college player.

Schools that offered: Virginia Tech, Pitt, Miami, Cincinnati, and WVU

5.) Durand Scott 6′4″ 175 Rice Manhattan, NY

Another New York product who is spoke of highly in that area. Another fine shooter who is quick off the ball, very competitive, is able to exploit any weaknesses in the defense. Like Truck he can drive to the hoop and take the big boys one on one. He has lead Rice to a Top 10 High School and can only get better. Heck of an accomplishment if Huggs can get him.

Schools interested in him: Connecticut, Duke, Memphis, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Rutgers

6.) Omari Lawrence 6′3″ 170 St. Raymond Bronx, NY

It’s really something to have a Division I prospect in any high school but three? Yes, there are three legitimate prospects for the Ravens and Lawrence is one of them. He’s very long-armed for his size which benefits him defensively. His high athleticism is perfect for Coach Huggs’ defensive scheme in which he is also able to take him to the hoop. He needs to work on his shooting but his skills are too good to pass up.

Schools that offered: Arizona, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, and Xavier

7.) Lance Stephenson 6′5″ 205 Lincoln Brooklyn, NY

Saving the best for last this hot prospect is arguably one of the best rated players in the nation. From the same high school that brought fans Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair this man has NBA-potential written all over it. A likely one-and-done candidate Stephenson is very strong. He can out-muscled any defense inside and out. His jumpshot is steadily improving. He is in the same mold as O.J. Mayo and wouldn’t be something if he came to Morgantown.

Schools of interest: Indiana, Louisville, Memphis, and North Carolina

After looking at these potential recruits how many scholarships will be available for them? With The Rainmaker, Joe Alexander, and popular walk-on Ted Talkington all graduating there’s at least three there to offer. Now if Coach Huggs is unable to grab another one for the 2008 that can be carried over to next season. There’s also a chance Davis may not graduate on time so he could be a part of the 2009 class. There’s so many other possibilities that a scholarship can be made available such as Jerry West paying the tab for his son Johnnie or a couple of other Mountaineers who, like Jacob Green, may not fit into their plans. The other recruits who I didn’t mention may have a strong AAU season in the summertime that would catapult them to the Top 100. All in all the class of 2009 may shape up to be Coach Huggs finest recruiting masterpiece.

Today is a pivotal day that may determine the fate of the WVU men’s and women’s basketball team. A win for the men’s team will place them atop the Big East Mountain while the women need their fan support to cement them as a must-see team with more Top 25 programs coming to Motown this February. Both teams will face Georgetown with the women tipping off at 2pm and the men tipping off at 7pm. The women’s game will be televised on West Virginia public television while the men’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Victory for the Mountaineer men would put them in a share for the lead with a 5-2 Big East conference record, catapult them into the Top 25 for the first time in a month, and increase their RPI rating well into the teens. Their key concern will be how to defend 7′2″ Roy Hibbert. He has been WVU’s worst nightmare as they’ve struggled to control him all season long. I don’t have access to Coach Huggs game plan, but I assume they will be playing zone all game whether it’s 2-3 or 1-3-1 or even a triangle and two to throw off Georgetown’s athletic perimeter offense. If they try to play man-to-man, Hibbert could have a career night. The Hoyas may offset their various zone sets by throwing some backdoor passes reminiscent of a Princeton offense.

Even with the loss of Top 5 pick Jeff Green, there is still some real talent on this Georgetown squad. Read the rest »

Some crazy, speculative shit is coming out of the 2nd best town in WV, Beckley, today. The Register Herald’s Sports Editor, Dave Morrison reported that Coach Huggins has been on the hunt to land Terrelle Pryor as a basketball recruit for the 2009 season. Oh and I guess he would play that other sport he’s pretty good at too.

I’ve been saying this for a while. I think WVU is still one of Terrell’s best choices out there. He would be able to redshirt on the football team and learn the system from one of the most dynamic leaders the sport and the future 2008 Heisman Winner, Pat White. Then turn around and play for the one of the leagues best basketball coaches (and THE best recruiter) Bob Huggins. Sounds like a pretty attractive offer if you ask me.

Terrelle has to know that Michigan is going to be in a major transition stage for at least 3 years on the football side, and Beilein isn’t getting it done this year on the bball side so next year is going to be tough too, and really, the Big 10 is in a huge slump. Who wants to be responsible for pulling a whole conference out of a tailspin? will Ohio State bench their star QB to get Pryor?

The Mountaineers would welcome him with open arms. Coach Stewart would let him run and pass the ball and Huggins would let him play his kind of ball. A Win-Win Situation if you ask me.

I’m not going to beg that this guy come to WVU but when you lay it all out, WVU is still a very very sensible pick, and we would love to have him! Sound crazy? Maybe not! You never know what will happen when you have the HuggyBear weighing in. Stay Tuned!

Last year (2006) was the inaugural year for the College Football Blogger Awards. The good folks over at Rocky Top Talk, Every Day Should Be Saturday, and MGOBoard put this thing together to: (from RockyTopTalk)

• The primary goal of the CFBAs is to just have a blast.
• The second goal is to leverage the breadth and depth of the blogosphere in the nomination phase, to commission bloggers and their readers to identify the best blogs and posts of the 2007 season so that they may be rescued from obscurity in the archives.
• The final goal is to rally the entire college football blogosphere into a concerted, intentional effort to promote itself to the uninitiated.

I think this is a great way to award our efforts and just have some fun recognizing the passion and time it takes to do this “hobby”.

Go HERE for the voting/nominating gizmo. Go HERE to learn more about the categories. Go HERE to learn more about what it’s all about.

So if you enjoy reading this blog, if you like the features and design of our site, or you just like to vote on stuff, please nominate WVMountaineerSports.com today. The voting ends Sunday, January 27th.. so hurry! To vote, just copy and paste this link into the nomination box for the categories you think we have a shot at. We here at WVMS would really appreciate your votes!!!

http://www.wvmountaineersports.com

Here are the categories I think we should win:

• The Brady Quinn Award (cause it’s purdy.. way purdier than some of the other blogs out there…)
• Best New Blog (obviously.. duh)
• Best Community (because of the message board and blog makes our blog more of a community which is the whole mission of this site)
• The Tyrone Prothro Award (the joe pa song post that had 100 comments but you can put your favorite post of 2007, and remember it has to be the post page link not the general site link)
• The People’s Champ (overall)
• Best Big East Blog (because it is)

But of course I am bias. Have fun with it and LETS GOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!!

I know West Virginia and Marshall are bitter rivals but 52 fouls combined?!?!?!?!? I’d say about 80 percent of them were in the second half. Those fouls committed by WVU as well as their terrible foul shooting nearly gave Marshall the game. Thankfully Da’Sean Butler’s 14 footer with 5.6 seconds left overcame his horrible foul-shooting as WVU wins 66-64 and sweeps the Capital Classic doubleheader. West Virginia improves their record to 15-4 while The Herd falls to 10-7. Butler, who led the Eers with 18 points under 5 of 13 foul shooting, saved the day while the WVU D was good enough to not let Marshall throw up a potential game-winner. West Virginia as a team, was 11 of 28 foul shooting. WOW! The Rainmaker Alex Ruoff made his mark as he scored 11 points with a career-high 11 rebounds.

The game began with Da’Sean Butler scoring 7 points in the first four minutes. Then foul trouble became a problem for the Mountaineers as starters John Flowers and Butler each claimed two fouls and a spot on the bench. Senior Jaime Smalligan delivered his ineffective three minutes and claimed a spot on the bench as well not playing another minute the rest of the night.

As Marshall was shooting some foul shots who do I see coming to the scorers table? Is it? No way am I sure? Wait it is! It really is Read the rest »

Let that be a lesson to you WVU women! Just because you’re the 12th ranked team in the nation, that you play in the tough Big East, that you’re a bunch of seniors that think you know better doesn’t mean you can sleepwalk through the Herd and expect to win. For Marshall this is their Super Bowl and they sure played like a there was a championship was on the line. Fortunately, the Eers played just enough to barely get by the Lady Herd 58-51. The victory may be bittersweet however as senior Meg Bulger aggravated her left knee injury yet again and her status is unknown whether she’ll be able to put on her WVU uniform ever again. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Meg and we hope the best for you.

In the first half, I never seen a more listless, lackadaisical effort coming from a Coach Carey team then what I saw here. Despite shooting 24 percent from the field the Lady Herd scrapped and crawled for every loose ball, for every rebounds, for every squeak of the sneaker. Yet the Eers lead by just one at the half at 23-22. Read the rest »

It’s that time again…time for the only two Division I programs in the great state of West Virginia to square off. The West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Marshall Thundering Herd at the Charleston Civic Center tonight with the women tipping off at 5:30pm and the men will battle at approximately 8:00pm. The women’s matchup will be televised on West Virginia Public Television and nationwide on CSTV. The men’s showcase will be televised statewide by the West Virginia Media Network (WBOY, WOWK, WTRF, WVNS). Read the rest »

Breaking News: Jeff Mullen from Wake Forest has just been announced WVU’s new Offensive Coordinator.

Here is the report from yesterday speculating the move.

Of course this news is no where on the web because “you know what” is dominating the headlines. Personally I think this is bigger news than any of that crap.

We welcome Jeff to the great lineup of assistant coaches that my man Bill Stewart has put together. I think Jeff and Bill’s version of the spread offense is going to blow away anything ** ever put together. Now we will have a leathal backfield as well as a sweet passing game.

It’s been known for sometime that a new truck stop will open in Morgantown, West Virginia. No it will not be at the University Town Center but it will be located at the WVU Coliseum by way of the Bronx. There won’t be a convoy of semis heading up Jerry West Boulevard but one of Darryl “Truck” Bryant. This point guard will be a fixture in the Mountaineer line-up for years to come alleviating any fears of losing Darris Nichols to graduation. Truck will no doubt be the best thing coming out of the Bronx since Chris Brooks almost 20 years ago.

Bryant is very strong by point guard standards at 6-1 190 pounds. He is a team captain at St. Raymond’s High School in the Bronx averaging almost 21 points and 5 assists per game. He is coached by Oliver Antigua, whose brother Orlando was a former Pitt star and the first Latino to be a Harlem Globetrotter. An ESPN top 100 prospect (11th among point guards) he uses his speed, strength, and agility to drive to the hoop for a lay-up, to draw fouls, and even throw down an occasional jam. When he isn’t driving to the hoop on a consistent basis he has a solid three-point stroke to keep the defense honest. Small in stature he can definitely rebound with the best of them even in the always physical Big East. Once Coach Huggs takes control of what he has planned for Bryant there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll one of the best defenders in the conference as well.

He is a part of a stellar recruiting class heading to Motown this fall that will feature fellow New Yorker Kevin Jones, Roscoe Davis, and potentially Ater Majok. Truck has led the Ravens to a national Top 25 rating led also by hot prospect juniors Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom. They have played some tough competition so far playing such Top 25 powerhouses as Christ the King (located in Queens), Rice (located in Manhattan), St. Patrick(NJ), and Taft (CA). His team has set a goal to win their high school’s first state championship in 17 years.

How he’ll fit in to Coach Huggs’ system will be Read the rest »

Today it must stop. I want to also call out all of my fellow bloggers, reporters, forum admins, and site owners to do the same. We have the power as fan driven media to put a stop to this… TODAY!

I started this site to celebrate and share the great traditions, values, fun, and excitement that I as a WVU fan experience year in and year out. Recently though, because of the actions of Rich Rodriguez and subsequent reactions of the WVU Athletic Department I am starting to feel beat down as a fan. I’m getting the feeling that some of the magic and pride of wearing the Flying WV on my chest is dying. I am suffering, as I believe a lot of WVU fans are, because I can’t believe it has even gotten to this point. It sucks and I will have no part of it, and this site will no longer report on any of the bullshit that is going on… on either side. PERIOD.

I came to this decision this weekend after reading countless articles from both sides and it came to a head today with the ESPN front page article reporting that WVU is being racist. Yes, they have played that card. I will not go there and no one that is a fan of WVU should even give “them” the time of day (and let me be clear, when I say “they” or “them”, I mean the PR machine behind Rich Rod and the Michigan biased media that loves to hate on WV). They want to take this fight to the lowest level and we shouldn’t be part of it. I know I don’t want to be. This is dirty PR at it’s worst and at the end it’s the athletes, students and fans that lose.

WVU isn’t racist. The Program isn’t racist. The fans aren’t racist. This has nothing to do with race and we all know it.

I think one of the things that brought me to this is Read the rest »