June 2-7 Blog
June 04, 2008 01:34 PM | General
Two Go in Draft
Posted By John Antonik: June 6, 2008 (6:03 pm)
For the third straight year and seven out of the last eight West Virginia has had at least two players selected in baseball’s First-Year Player Draft.
All-Big East shortstop Tyler Kuhn went in the 15th round to the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Josh Whitlock was selected in the 26th round by the Chicago Cubs earlier today.
Kuhn was the 450th player taken in this year’s draft, a marked improvement over his position last year when he was picked in the 34th round by the Cleveland Indians.
West Virginia has had 19 players drafted since 2000.
Nationally Rated Class
Posted By John Antonik: June 4, 2008 (1:35 pm)
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| Mike Carey |
Women’s basketball coach Mike Carey has his biggest rebuilding task since taking over the West Virginia program in 2001. The Mountaineers return just four ladies that played on last year’s NCAA Tournament second-round team and just one returning post player on the roster in sophomore Marie Malone.
Carey does have Takisha Granberry ready to go this year after sitting out last season after transferring from Virginia and Granberry is talented enough to crack the starting lineup in ‘09.
Carey also brought in an 11-player recruiting class that includes six junior college transfers. All-Star Girls Report has Carey’s recruiting class rated 27th in the country before the recent signing of 6-foot-5-inch Australian center Natalie Burton and 6-foot guard Korinne Campbell, a Minnesota transfer who will sit out next season.
According to All-Star Girls Report, the Mountaineers’ top rated high school player is 6-foot wing forward Jessica Capers from Forest View High School in Gastonia, N.C. Capers is the nation’s No. 74-rated player.
Five-eight guard Dominique Dixon, from Detroit, Mich., is the nation’s No. 156-rated player while Amanda Keehan, a 6-foot-1-inch forward from Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, is the nation’s No. 212-rated player.
Madina Ali, a 6-foot forward from Daytona Beach Community College, is rated the 12th-best JUCO recruit in the country. Ali is originally from Williamsport, Pa.
Here is how All-Star Girls Report summed up Carey’s 2008 class: “Capers is a wonderful athlete with impressive hops. She played in the paint early in her career, but she is expanding her game. Most importantly, Capers has always played with intensity. Dixon is a shooter with good size, while Keehan is a skilled, fundamental player who works hard on the court. The prep signees will be aided by major JUCO recruits Ali and Cosby, while Granberry was a former prep star who transferred from Virginia.”
Ex-Mountaineer player and assistant coach Jerry Holmes has a couple of former West Virginia players on his Hampton University coaching staff. Milo Austin is coaching the Hampton running backs while former consensus All-American linebacker Canute Curtis is coaching the defensive line.
In addition to the possibility of losing a pair of underclassmen in the First-Year Player Draft which begins tomorrow, baseball coach greg Van Zant fears some recruits signed during the early signing period may also be selected. One, a junior college righthander from Alabama, is a possible Top 10-round choice.
Published reports out of New York have Joe Alexander working out for the Knicks this week. Alexander is one of six prospects the Knicks are interested in. New York picks sixth in the draft this year. Alexander has been impressive in workouts leading up to the draft and the WVU forward and Xavier’s Josh Duncan tested as the strongest athletes at the NBA draft combine.
Alexander appears to be a strong possibility with the Milwaukee Bucks with the eighth pick.
