Weekend Notes
February 05, 2010 12:37 PM | General
(12:37 p.m.)
Some signing day leftovers …
This is the second consecutive year West Virginia has signed a quarterback from the Parade All-America football team. Last year it was Geno Smith from Miramar, Fla., and this year it’s Barry Brunetti from Memphis, Tenn.
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart pointed out that Brunetti has not lost a football game he’s started since the seventh grade. That is worth repeating: Barry Brunetti has not lost a football game he’s started since the seventh grade.
Here’s to hoping that streak continues at WVU.
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| Bill Stewart |
He was in a restaurant eating dinner with the Johnson family when a waiter came up to their table and noticed the West Virginia sweater vest Stewart was wearing.
“West Virginia, huh?” the waiter said. “I watched that Gator Bowl and that was a heck of a story. You know, that coach played for Bobby Bowden.”
Stewart laughed, “Yes he did.”
“And I know football,” the waiter added.
By the way, it is my understanding that Johnson is one heck of a prospect. I am told that Bob Stoops was in Johnson’s home trying hard to persuade him to go to Oklahoma.
“If you watch tape of Qudral Forte, we kind of kept him under wraps, and we’re very excited about him,” Stewart said. “He’s 6-2 and he can run a 10.7 (100-meter dash). That’s smoking.”
Another sleeper could be defensive end Trevor Demko, who has Bill Kirelawich written all over him. It was Kirlav who once fibbed to the staff and told them Delaware was recruiting wide receiver Anthony Becht so Kirelawich could get him approved for a scholarship.
Becht just completed his 10th year in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009.
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| Dave McMichael |
If you recall, McMichael had a lot of success recruiting Long Island for West Virginia in his previous stint with the Mountaineers, landing players such as Amos Zereoue, Canute Curtis and Rahsaan Vanterpool.
Stewart told Galloway to go home and tend to his family affairs. “I’ve been doing this since 1978,” Stewart said. “I’ll be fine.”
“It will take four years to get this all worked out, it just doesn’t work itself out overnight,” Stewart said. “We needed linebackers - we lose three next year - so we signed three. We needed receivers so we signed four. We needed a safety and we signed three so there you have it. We did what we set out to do.”
Last year, West Virginia graduated one offensive lineman and only played five.
“We graduated one senior and we only have one senior so that’s a void,” Stewart said. “In 35 years I’ve never heard of that. We had to sign five offensive linemen last year, so we had to catch up. This year we signed two because we only needed two.”
The Sporting News had Pitt’s class second in the Big East, followed by Louisville, Rutgers, USF, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Connecticut.
Interestingly enough, Pitt failed to sign any of Pennsylvania’s top 10 prospects according to Rivals, but the Panthers did have a stellar year in New Jersey by inking the state’s top two defensive players. Years ago, Pitt used to have a very strong presence in the Garden State.
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| Noel Devine |
Am I missing anybody?
Offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen is in the unique situation of being in Year One for his starting quarterback for the third straight year. It was Pat White in 2008, Jarrett Brown in 2009 and now it could be Geno Smith in 2010.
Now the women are a different story.
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma praised No. 8 West Virginia’s physical style after UConn’s victory over the Mountaineers last Tuesday. The Mountaineers only trailed No. 1 Connecticut by eight at halftime.
The 6-4 guard is averaging 22.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and is going to give Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody a run for his money for Big East player of the year honors.
What Jones is doing for South Florida is exactly what Wil Robinson did for West Virginia in 1972 after an automobile accident, injuries and academic suspensions completely gutted the Mountaineer basketball program.
Robinson that year broke Jerry West’s single-season scoring record by averaging 29.4 points per game.
Construction is expected to take 18 months with a completion date tentatively schedule for mid-April 2011.
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| Mike Gansey |
Since being acquired in a trade from Idaho, Gansey has been Erie’s leading scorer averaging 19.7 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Erie is affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Joe Alexander (Ft. Wayne) and Kevin Pittsnogle (Albuquerque) are also playing in the D-League this year.
