February 23 Notebook

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
February 23, 2005

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Football draft junkies will get their fill of the NFL Scouting Combine starting this weekend in Indianapolis. The NFL Network will provide live exclusive coverage beginning on Saturday, Feb. 26, and continuing through Thursday, March 1.

West Virginia is going to be well represented this year with no less than six players invited. Quarterback Rasheed Marshall will be in attendance as a wide receiver along with junior Chris Henry. Cornerback Pac-Man Jones, offensive linemen Tim Brown and Mike Watson, and running back Kay-Jay Harris are also going to be in Indianapolis.

Marshall is leaving Thursday for the workout after having spent most of this month training in Atlanta. The Pittsburgh native says he’s gotten good feedback about his chances as a wide receiver.

Marshall was the Big East player of the year quarterbacking the Mountaineers to a share of the conference title. The Pittsburgh native spent time during an all-star game in January playing both quarterback and wide receiver.

The one player who could make the biggest splash in the draft is Jones, who is being projected by many as a probable first-round pick. If Jones runs anywhere close to his goal of 4.25 in the forty, he could go as high as third to Cleveland. Jones is also appealing to teams for his skills as a punt and kickoff returner.

USA Today’s list of the top 50 NFL draft prospects has Jones ranked 11th and Henry rated 50th.

Briefly:


	Quarterback Rasheed Marshall is one of six West Virginia players invited to this year's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

Marshall, who was in town Tuesday, says the most perplexing thing about the NFL draft evaluation process is the long psychological profile questionnaires players must fill out.

“One question asked if I was more like a cat or a dog,” Marshall said. “I put dog.”

Another question Marshall found odd: “If your driving down a highway and a car speeds past you, do you speed up to stay with it, do you drive slower or do you stay with the pack?” he said.

Marshall said he would stay with the pack.

As WVU players go, Rasheed is right up near the top of the pack in my eyes.

While six former WVU gridders are trying to get into the league another, Jerry Porter, has just gotten a lot richer. Porter signed a multi-year deal yesterday with the Oakland Raiders, though terms of the agreement were not released. Porter has spent all five seasons with the Raiders and is coming off his most productive season in 2004, catching 64 passes for 998 yards and nine touchdowns.

According to today’s Dominion Post, ex-WVU running back John Holifield has been appointed vice president of the Council for World Class Communities in Benton Harbor, Mich. After playing briefly in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and later earning a law degree, Holifield became executive director of CincyTechUSA, a knowledge-based community and economic development organization, and president of the New Economy Enterprise for the Great Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

The CWCC was formed in 2001 with five members and has since grown into a full-time staff of eight with a 43-person board of directors.

Even though the football schedule is not ready for release, the school has announced that this year’s spring game will be held on Saturday, April 16, at 12:30 pm.

According to WVU Sports Information Director Shelly Poe, last week’s blood drive at the stadium in conjunction with the American Red Cross campaign was a great success. More than 100 units of useable blood were collected; this will benefit more than 300 patients throughout the region. Collection officials claim it was one of the largest amounts accumulated anywhere in recent months.

There were 135 donors who registered as well as a large number of dedicated volunteers.

I got a note last week from Charles Ikner, WVU class of 1998, who informed me that his uncle Chuck Lewis (a WVU alumnus and Wheels Club member) drove Jeff Gordon during the race introductions at this year’s Daytona 500. Ikner is a Chevrolet dealer in Lewisburg.

Congratulations Chuck!

A couple of former WVU players have landed prominent jobs in recent weeks. First, former Mountaineer defensive back Dave Lockwood was promoted by Minnesota coach Glen Mason to defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.

Lockwood served as Minnesota’s secondary coach since his arrival in 2002 and was the team’s defensive coordinator in the Gophers’ 20-16 win over Alabama in last year’s Music City Bowl.

And earlier this week, former WVU defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap was named new defensive coordinator at North Carolina State under coach Chuck Amato. Dunlap was out of a job after Syracuse fired its long-time coach Paul Pasqualoni.

Dunlap had spent four seasons at Syracuse after Don Nehlen retired at WVU following the 2000 season.

TheMat.com made mention of our web site promoting Greg Jones for the Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top wrestler. Credit goes to WVU graduate assistant Tim Goodenow for his hard work on the project, and getting a leg up on the competition.

I’m not going to belabor the point, but 10-loss Virginia Tech receiving NCAA tournament consideration is about the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since Trev Alberts, Mark May and Lee Corso were last seen on TV working out their windpipes.

I also got a kick out of Lute Olsen calling out some of Digger Phelps’ more ridiculous statements last night on ESPN’s College basketball wrap-up show. It’s good to see old coaches like Olsen get irritated at old coaches like Phelps.

Remember, there is a reason why old coaches like Phelps are in the TV studio while old coaches like Olsen are still coaching.

Wasn't it just last year that Rutgers coach Gary Waters had the Scarlet Knights back on the right track by advancing them all the way to the NIT finals where they lost to Michigan? Well, this year Waters has had a tough go of it and was hammered recently by New Jersey newspapers after stating following his team's 14-point loss at Connecticut on Jan. 15 that "things will be totally different" at the RAC on Feb. 19.

Well things were different. Connecticut beat Rutgers 85-63 and UConn coach Jim Calhoun used Waters' post-game remarks as motivation for his team.

"It's in the third chapter, fifth paragraph, of the coaching manuel that if someone says, 'You've got us but we'll get you at our place,' you've got to (remind your) kids," Calhoun was quoted in the Newark Star-Ledger. "It's probably an oath you take."

Rutgers (8-15) looks to get back in the win column tonight against Arkansas-Monticello. The Boll Weevils, if you recall, were one of West Virginia's eight victims during the Mountaineers' disappointing 8-20 season in 2002. Like West Virginia, Monticello has recovered nicely, taking an 18-7 record and No. 23 rating in the most recent Division II poll into the RAC.

Speaking of Rutgers, folks thinking in 2003 that Greg Schiano's football program had finally turned the corner may now be thinking they are back on the same street. The Scarlet Knights regressed last year to 4-7 and Schiano must now find replacements for defensive coordinator Paul Ferraro and defensive line coach Randy Melvin. Recently, Schiano hired Kyle Flood to take Mike Miello's place on the staff to coach the offensive linemen, a post currently occupied by Rod Holder.

"I'm in the process of evaluating coach Holder's status," Schiano told the Home New Tribune.

Miello, Rutgers' recruiting coordinator and running backs coach, left to take a head coaching position at William Patterson University.

Don’t forget to stick around for the first timeout of West Virginia’s game against Rutgers this Saturday to honor West Virginia’s basketball pioneers Jim Lewis, Norman Holmes and Ed Harvard for integrating Southern Conference basketball in 1965. A number of their teammates, along with Coach Bucky Waters, will be on hand this weekend to pay homage to that group as well as the late Ron “Fritz” Williams, who died of a heart attack last April.

Congratulations are in order for the men’s and women’s swimming teams, which both made dramatic improvement at this year’s Big East championships. The men’s team equaled a school-best fourth-place finish when the women improved four spots to seventh this year. First-year coach Sergio Lopez has the Mountaineers headed in the right direction.

Have a great week!

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