Making the Grade
August 12, 2006 07:01 PM | General
August 12, 2006
| |||
Download Coach Rodriguez's Saturday comments at MSN's new MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - This story is great to write and hopefully even better to read. It is a feel-good story of a young man’s determination and perseverance against long odds and countless doubters along the way. This is the story of West Virginia senior wide receiver Brandon Myles.
Myles passed one class this summer to earn a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and thus become the first member of his family to earn a college degree.
“My grandmother is really excited for me. It is a big milestone for me and my family,” Myles said.
Just earning a college degree is impressive enough. To earn one after arriving at WVU as an academic non-qualifier as Myles did makes it even more sweet and improbable.
Myles admits that after a rough high school career academically, he knew he had an uphill climb trying to secure that coveted degree.
“In high school I didn’t take my classes too seriously and I didn’t do well on the SAT so I just had to sit out my first year,” Myles said.
To make matters worse, not many people believed in Myles in his self-proclaimed one-horse hometown of Goochland, Va. He constantly heard the whispers from fans, coaches, and teachers that he would never make it in college.
“I knew there were a lot of people who didn't think I was going to be here long because of my academic performance in high school but I hung in there,” Myles said.
His high school guidance counselor even went so far as to tell Mountaineer quarterbacks coach Bill Stewart that he would flunk out of college: so much for the shoot-for-the-stars approach.
 |
||
| By earning his college degree earlier this summer, wide receiver Brandon Myles regains the year he lost when he was ruled an academic non-qualifier.
Bill Amatucci photo |
Yet through it all Myles persevered. He is now the proud possessor of a college degree and the reward for all his hard work is a fourth football season with the Mountaineers -- the one he used to attend WVU as a non-scholarship freshman.
Getting the fourth year back was always the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Myles.
“That was always the key. I knew I had to graduate in four years to get my first year back,” Myles said.
So how did he do it?
The answer is hard work. Myles took advantage of countless hours with tutors and in study hall.
“I just stuck with it. I just studied as hard as I could, worked hard, and kept my head in the books,” Myles said.
Myles’ accomplishment is not lost on WVU Coach Rich Rodriquez.
“Brandon is a great story. Not all non-qualifiers make it, but we have had great success with them throughout the years at West Virginia. Brandon is a true story about a guy that worked hard and believed in himself,” Rodriquez said.
Myles is a dying breed at WVU. The Big East Conference no longer allows its member institutions to accept non-qualifiers, student-athletes that fail to meet the academic standards set by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Rodriquez has spoken out about the ruling many times, using his program’s success with non-qualifiers as evidence that many of these students-athletes can succeed academically.
With academics now in the rear-view mirror, Myles is dedicating more time to film study and hoping to make his final season with the Mountaineers a memorable one.
“I’m putting more time into it than I did in the past. Since I don’t have many classes, I can be gaining football knowledge all the time,” Myles said.
Myles, who should be the primary target in West Virginia’s aerial attack this season, looks to improve upon last season’s totals that included a team-leading 34 receptions for 536 yards to go with three touchdowns.
“I just want to do better than I did last year,” Myles says.
Rodriquez sums up Myles’ five-year odyssey of determination and achievement rather succinctly.
“Those are the stories that make you feel good,” Rodriquez said.
Yes Coach Rod, they sure do.
Saturday Scrimmage Report
Rodriguez expects all of them with the exception of McAfee to be back on Monday.
“None of them are serious,” said the coach.
With McAfee out nursing a strained quad muscle, the team did not do any kicking during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“The defense had some nice turnovers but most of them were unforced errors: a high throw here and a high throw there,” said the coach. “They did a nice job catching it but the balls were kind of thrown right to them.
“The defense probably had a little better day – especially because of turnovers,” Rodriguez said.
“He had one of his better days,” Rodriguez said. “I thought he played pretty well at times, made some nice decisions and some nice throws.
“Nate (Sowers) did a few good things but his accuracy was off a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “I think his elbow was bothering him a little bit. He was off on a couple of his throws.
“Those two are way farther ahead than they were last spring but they are way behind what they need to do to win games with,” Rodriguez said. “They’re still not ready yet but they can get there.”
“We haven’t even really grinded them yet,” Rodriguez said. “We need a hard, hard week of practice where the weather is hot and the players have to push themselves through it. We need to sharpen the steel a little bit.”
Compiled by John Antonik
