Preseason Accolades

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
June 1, 2004


	Another preseason magazine has Coach Rich Rodriguez' Mountaineers ranked. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University football team keeps collecting preseason accolades. The latest to sing the praises of the Mountaineers is Lindy’s, which has WVU rated 15th in its preseason Top 25 poll released Tuesday.

West Virginia is the only member of the current Big East to make Lindy’s Preseason Top 25.

USC was rated No. 1, followed by Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida State, Michigan, LSU, Texas, Miami, Ohio State and Tennessee in the first 10.

Wisconsin is picked 11th, followed by Auburn, Clemson, Kansas State, WVU, Missouri, Cal, Iowa, Florida and Utah. Rounding out the Top 25 are Virginia, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue and TCU.

News and Notes

Isn’t it ironic that West Virginia University, a basketball program seemingly forever known for its inability to attract big-time centers, possibly having had two NBA draft picks sitting on its bench at the same time?

If some NBA draft experts are to be believed, both 7-foot-1 Ales Chan and 6-foot-11 Chris Garnett could be taken in this year’s draft. Garnett averaged 20.3 points per game at Indiana Southeast College (NAIA) after transferring from WVU. Garnett originally signed with Eastern Kentucky before transferring to WVU after his freshman season.

Meanwhile, Chan revived his career at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pa., playing for one-time WVU assistant coach Tony Morroco. Chan averaged 17.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game to earn all-conference honors in 2004. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Chan has already worked out for five NBA teams.

Incidentally next year, another big man with WVU connections could figure prominently in the draft in rising 6-foot-11 senior D’or Fischer.

As for both Garnett and Chan, I can’t speak to their improvement, but based on what I observed while they were here just proves how speculative the NBA draft has become if they are indeed among the best 60 players available.

For those of you disappointed in the Big East for getting blindsided by the ACC last year and believe West Virginia would be better served elsewhere consider this: Mountaineer football has made 61 regular-season network television appearances (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, NBC) since it joined the league as a full-time member in 1991.

During a 27-year period from 1959-76 the Mountaineers were on the tube just seven times. More recently, just 21 regular season games from 1980-90 were televised by the networks.

This year, West Virginia is expected to have another strong lineup of TV games.

Of the three Big East schools departing for the ACC, Boston College, not Miami, probably has the strongest all-around athletic department. The Eagles have won Big East conference championships in men’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s field hockey, men’s soccer, softball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, though the latter two occurred in the 1980s before the league added Miami, Notre Dame, Rutgers and West Virginia. The Eagles also boast one of the nation’s top hockey programs.

Although a football juggernaut winning seven conference titles, Miami has found the Big East much tougher for its other varsity sports. Just women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s swimming, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s indoor track have brought home Big East crowns for the Hurricanes. Easily Miami’s two strongest sports within Big East play were men’s and women’s tennis, claiming 16 league titles between them. The nationally ranked Miami baseball program didn’t compete in the Big East instead existing as an independent.

And as for Virginia Tech, well, the Hokies never quite got themselves established in the Big East before once again renting the U-Haul. Virginia Tech won three Big East football titles in 1995, 1996 and 1999 and the men’s golf team took Big East crowns in 2001, 2002 and 2003. That’s it. No other Tech team has managed to win a Big East championship.

I would guess years from now someone ought to build a statue in Blacksburg in honor of football coach Frank Beamer because he literally moved mountains getting the Hokies in a position to even be considered for ACC membership. I guess the Virginia politicians will probably have to take care of that one, too.

According to Tuesday’s online edition of the Boston Globe, Northeastern may follow Boston College’s lead by switching to a southern all-sports conference. The decision could be made as early as next week. Northeastern is considering leaving the America East Conference in favor of the Colonial Athletic Association and the likes of James Madison, William & Mary, Delaware and Towson. Northeastern would make up a northern tier that includes Hofstra, Drexel and George Mason.

Then again, unlike Conference USA, the WAC, and even the new Big East, at least all of the CAA’s members will be in the same time zone.


	Former West Virginia kicker Jay Taylor was named to the Arena League all-rookie team. (Orlando Predators photo)

Former Mountaineer kicker Jay Taylor was named to the Arena Football League all-rookie team, picked Tuesday. Taylor set an Arena League record by hitting 72 percent of his field goal attempts this year (18 of 25) and was the league leader in extra-point accuracy, hitting 79 of 85 attempts for 92.9 percent. Taylor, who lettered at WVU from 1996-99, is also a candidate for all-arena and league kicker of the year honors.

Don’t forget that the priority seating deadline for football season tickets is Tuesday, June 1. Tickets can still be purchased after that date by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging onto the ticket office web site WVUGAME.com.

ESPN The Magazine's Bruce Feldman recently gave his Hot 100 for the spring. Among those picked were West Virginia players Chris Henry (42), Kay-Jay Harris (91) and Rasheed Marshall (100). Also making the list from the new Big East were Syracuse running back Walter Reyes (57), Connecticut quarterback Dan Orlovsky (64), Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuke (76), Temple linebacker Rian Wallace (86) and Rutgers running back Brian Leonard (89).

One player omitted from Feldman's list was Temple quarterback Walter Washington, who proved to be a load against West Virginia last season. If Temple coach Bobby Wallace can resist overusing Washington, he could be a major headache for opposing teams this season.

I was doing some football attendance research and was astonished to discover that West Virginia’s last back-to-back sellouts (crowds exceeding 63,500) came in 1989 against Pitt and South Carolina. That’s a span of 92 straight home games without consecutive sellouts.

If WVU turns out to be as good as some are predicting this year, that streak could very well end. WVU expanded Mountaineer Field’s capacity to 63,500 prior to the 1985 campaign. This year the stadium’s capacity will be 60,000 once the end zone stadium suites are completed.

I have always loved former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy’s simple defensive philosophy. He told his players if they can count to three then they can play in his defense: it was all about attacking the offense.

Senior linebacker Scott Gyorko says the premise of Jeff Casteel’s defense at WVU is similar, “It’s not as simple as 1-2-3 … you have to know where to go,” he says. “But it’s simple enough that you can go downhill and hit somebody going full speed (without being confused).”

When asked what it’s like playing defense for a well-known offensive guru like Rich Rodriguez Gyorko replied, “All that means is if there is a close call in practice (the offense) gets the first down. If the overall total points are right next to each other to determine who is doing the push ups it's pretty much the defense doing the push ups,” he laughed.

As it turns out there is a reason for West Virginia’s disappointing 23-29 baseball record. Nine Mountaineer opponents this season made the 64-team NCAA tournament field picked on Sunday. WVU diamond foes making the tournament include UNC Wilmington, Stony Brook, The Citadel, Florida State, St. Bonaventure, Kent State, Notre Dame, Minnesota and St. John’s. West Virginia was 5-11 against those teams this year.

Long-time WVU athletic business caretaker Eleanor Lamb passed along the sad news that Ray Watson, Gene Corum’s defensive coordinator from 1960-63, died May 18, 2004, in Charleston. He was 80.

Former All-Americans Katie Barnes, Chrissie Abbott and Lisa Stoia and former WUSA midfielder Rachel Kruze are among ex-WVU standouts playing for the Steel City Sparks of the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL). The Steel City Sparks are based in Pittsburgh and play at both Pine-Richlands Stadium and Plum Area High School.

Have a great week!

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