June 23-28 Blog
June 23, 2008 02:01 PM | General
Former WVU Star Finalist for Alcorn State Job
Posted By John Antonik: June 27, 2008 (1:35 pm)
Former West Virginia University women’s basketball standout and WVU Sports Hall of Fame member Cathy Parson is one of three finalists for the Alcorn State women’s basketball job, the The Natchez Democrat reported Friday.
Parson most recently coached at Howard University where she compiled a 96-127 record in eight seasons. Parsons also was associate head coach at the University of Richmond as well as serving as interim coach for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA.
Parson’s most success came at Christopher Newport University where she had a 183-83 record and was twice named conference coach of the year.
Parson was the first female in West Virginia University history to receive a full athletic scholarship and she was also the first female inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Luck Appointed to WVU Board of Governors
Today Gov. Joe Manchin has announced the appointment of former WVU star quarterback Oliver Luck to the West Virginia University Board of Governors. Luck was a record-setting quarterback for the Mountaineers from 1978-81 and a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
Said West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong: "Oliver is an excellent addition to the Board. He has always been an outstanding representative of West Virginia University. It is good to have a quarterback in the huddle."
Luck received a law degree from the University of Texas Law School and he also served as vice president of business and development for the National Football League and CEO of NFL Europe.
Presently, Luck is president and general manager of the Houston Dynamo, a major league soccer franchise.
Milwaukee's Finest
Posted By John Antonik: June 26, 2008 (10:19 pm)
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| Joe Alexander |
The NBA has just added 1.8 million fans. That’s because Joe Alexander has snapped a 40-year first-round drought for West Virginia University. Mountaineer fans from Weirton to Welch will now tune into Milwaukee Bucks games to keep tabs on Alexander, who will be the first WVU player to appear in an NBA game since Lowes Moore in 1983.
Alexander is not the first Mountaineer to play at Milwaukee. Guard Ron Williams, the last WVU player selected in the first round in 1968, spent one season with the Bucks in 1974-75.
Other draft notes …
Said Milwaukee GM John Hammond on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Bucks Blog: “We do think that Alexander can play the power forward position. That's basically what he's been his entire career for the most part at West Virginia. In fact, he played center some for them. So we do think that maybe his best position out of the gate may be the power forward position. You say, 'Well, maybe we're a little undersized if we do that,' but that's OK. I mean, right now in the NBA there are a lot of people that are playing small like that. So I think we can do that; that's going to be up to Scott (Skiles).”
You can read all of Hammond’s comments on Alexander at the Journal-Sentinel’s Bucks Blog.
RPI RIP
Posted By John Antonik: June 26, 2008 (11:34 am)
West Virginia University baseball coach Greg Van Zant is not a big fan of the RPI system used by the NCAA selection committee to help select the NCAA Tournament field. Van Zant believes the RPI is slanted toward certain conferences.
Fresno State, which defeated Georgia last night to win the College World Series, barely made it into the NCAA Tournament having had to win its conference tournament. The Bulldogs then went on the road to win at Long Beach State and Arizona State to make it to the College World Series.
Fresno State had an RPI of 89 heading into the NCAA Tournament. Van Zant may have a case.
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Pat White Plays Here
The launch of the web site Pat White Plays Here is slated for tomorrow. The web site will have highlight videos, photos, stats, and special information about West Virginia University’s senior quarterback.
White picked the name of the web site and was involved in the development process. The design and production was handled by BlaineTurner Advertising, Inc., of Morgantown, under the supervision of the WVU Sports Communications Office.
Carrier Qualifies For Junior World Championships
West Virginia’s Chelsea Carrier placed third in the heptathlon at this year’s USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Carrier won the 100-meter hurdles portion of the heptathlon, she placed fourth in the high jump and fifth in the long jump.
Carrier qualified for the 2008 IAAF Junior World Championships to be held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, July 8-13, but will not be able to attend because she did not previously have a passport.
Another Lottery Pick for Huggs
When Joe Alexander is taken in tonight’s NBA draft, and all indications are it could very well be eighth to the Milwaukee Bucks, it will be the 14th Huggins player to be drafted.
Huggins coached five first-round selections at Cincinnati including lottery picks Danny Fortson (10th overall to Milwaukee), Kenyon Martin (first overall to New Jersey) and DerMarr Johnson (sixth overall to Atlanta).
If Alexander winds up eighth it would be the third-highest player Huggins has sent into the draft.
Huggins’ other first-round picks were Corie Blount (25th to Chicago) in 1993 and Jason Maxiell (26th to Detroit) in 2005.
Big Bucks For Alexander
CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell believes Joe Alexander may be able to cash in big-time on shoe endorsements should he wind up at Milwaukee tonight. The reason is because Alexander could be teaming up with Yi Jianlian and historically, players that are teammates of Chinese players have fared well with endorsement deals in China. The fact that Alexander has lived in Taiwan and China and speaks Mandarin makes him even more appealing.
If Alexander does go eighth he is guaranteed $4.15 million for the next two years. After that he could earn considerably more.
Preseason Predictions
Posted By John Antonik: June 23, 2008 (2:04 pm)
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 Starks |
I hate giving predictions because I am usually wrong but I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Bradley Starks and Will Johnson are going to have outstanding seasons for West Virginia on offense this year.
With apologies to Darius Reynaud, Starks has the body type and athletic ability to be a big-time playmaker at wide receiver the likes of which West Virginia hasn’t seen since Chris Henry. What makes Starks so appealing as a pass catching target is his size and leaping ability, meaning West Virginia quarterbacks Pat White and Jarrett Brown don’t have to be perfect with their passes in order to complete them.
And Johnson has such an intriguing background having played linebacker and running back for Ohio powerhouse Centerville High School that his move to H-back seems a natural fit for him. Although not nearly as big as former Maryland standout Vernon Davis, Johnson has the ability like Davis to turn a 10-yard catch into a 50-yard touchdown.
Getting the football in the hands of Starks and Johnson will take some of the pressure off of a running game that has had to contend with as many as nine defenders in the box at times.
On defense, I look for Ellis Lankster and Pat Lazear to have impact years for the Mountaineers. Both were touted recruits who came in with great fanfare. Lazear said last spring that it has been a night-and-day difference for him in understanding what he’s supposed to do in Jeff Casteel’s 3-3-5 stack scheme. As a freshman Lazear said he was basically just running around out there trying to find the football. Now he knows his responsibilities and can play instinctively.
Lankster has the tools to be a solid cover corner. Having already had a spring under his belt with Dave Lockwood has helped Lankster become better prepared when fall camp begins in August.
Football Prospects Interested in Big East Schools
I have always been suspicious of early recruiting reports and any information I get that doesn’t come from the coaches I usually take with a grain of salt. However, based solely on the number of verbal commitments being made to Big East schools it appears the football conference is on its way to having a banner recruiting year next February.
It is not yet July and already Rutgers is reported to have 17 players committed to sign next February. Many of those prospects are coming from the home state of New Jersey.
South Florida is said to have eight prospects committed as of today with all but one coming from the Sunshine State.
Cincinnati has traditionally had to wait on prospects to make commitments and already the Bearcats are said to have 12 players committed. Connecticut, another school that has had to wait on prospects, is said to have four players already in the fold.
And West Virginia, having gone to five straight New Year’s Day bowl games, is said to have 10 players committed.
Having this many players committed to Big East schools this early in the recruiting process certainly bodes well for a conference that has performed well on the football field the last three years since being reconfigured.
Alexander's Ascension
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| Alexander |
I came across a column by a Frederick, Md., sports writer who admitted that he blew it when it came to detecting Alexander’s high school abilities.
Alexander had a non-descript playing career at Linganore High School and he had to go to Hargrave Military Academy and sit on the bench for a year before schools like West Virginia and Tulane took an interest in him.
Three years later Alexander is on the cusp of being an NBA lottery pick. Some experts believe he could go as high as No. 6 to New York, one of the teams Alexander has worked out for already.
That is what makes sports so interesting and appealing to me. Unlike buying a car, you can’t open up the hood and take a look inside. Oftentimes what lies inside is more important that what can be seen on the outside - and they certainly don’t hand out stars for that.
Huggins to Attend NBA Draft
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins plans on flying to New York to support forward Joe Alexander during Thursday’s NBA draft at Madison Square Garden. Alexander is one of 15 players invited to the green room at the Garden for the draft, scheduled to begin at 7 pm and to be televised nationally on ESPN.
Having Joe Alexander walk out to the podium and slip on an NBA hat in front of the TV cameras is going to do wonders for a West Virginia basketball program that last had a first-round pick 40 years ago.
