Campus Connection: Weekly Notebook
June 04, 2015 04:10 PM | General
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| West Virginia players get hyped before facing SEC champion Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl played in Atlanta that year. This year marks the 10th anniversary of that great season and tomorrow we will take a stroll down Memory Lane and recall that unforgettable team. |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
What great memories! And what a great group of guys, too!
You had tough guys, talented guys, a lot of young guys and a handful of old guys, too. Their coach used to call them the “Land of the Misfits” because they came from all walks of life – some of them even unwanted by others - but what this group was able to accomplish that season put West Virginia University on the map.
That bears repeating: Not just West Virginia University football, but West Virginia University. Period.
The Mountaineers had played in big games before, including reaching the biggest game of all back in 1989 out in Tempe, Arizona, but for one reason or another we could never quite get over the hump. That is until these guys went down into the heart of SEC country and beat the Georgia Bulldogs right in their own backyard.
There was Hurricane Katrina that affected so many lives down in New Orleans earlier that year, forcing the game to be played in Atlanta; there was the Sago mine disaster that tugged at the hearts of West Virginians everywhere, and then on a much less significant level, there was major upheaval in the Big East Conference a year before that saw some of its anchor schools leave for greener pastures.
Clearly, West Virginia was waving a lot of different flags when the Mountaineers journeyed down to Atlanta 10 years ago.
Beginning with tomorrow’s look back at that magical season, each Friday for the remainder of the summer we will get you up-to-date on what some of the guys on that team are doing these days, beginning with running back Steve Slaton, whose 204-yard, three-TD performance in the Sugar Bowl turned Mountaineer Nation upside down.
Ten years. It’s just so hard to believe it has already been that long!
It seems like yesterday these guys were walking through the door of the Puskar Center for the first time. Now, they’re all grown up with jobs and families and everyday issues just like the rest of us.
But as they say, time marches on.
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy tomorrow’s trip down Memory Lane!
More Mountaineer Notes …
* We received the very sad news that former West Virginia University offensive lineman Wayne Gatewood died on Friday, May 29, following an eight-year battle with cancer.
Recruited to WVU by Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden, Gatewood earned one varsity letter playing on Bowden’s 1975 Peach Bowl team before becoming a fixture on coach Frank Cignetti’s Mountaineer teams in 1976 and 1977.
During the 1977 season Gatewood was voted team captain.
In recent years, Gatewood was known in the Columbus area as “The Builder” for his innovative approach of combining carpentry and mathematics in engaging underprivileged Columbus area students.
Gatewood said he learned carpentry before he learned how to block, but he used his experiences as a major college football player as a tool to help him get young people to learn how to meet life’s challenges head on.
Gatewood used to tell his students, “We come, we build, we learn.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Gatewood family.
* Former women’s basketball graduate assistant coach Wesley Brooks was recently hired at Utah as an assistant women’s basketball coach. Brooks previously spent the last four years as an assistant women’s coach at North Texas.
* Each year we always look forward to the former West Virginia University greats coach Bob Huggins brings back to campus for his annual fantasy camp. This year’s roster of former Mountaineer greats include Devin Ebanks, Joe Mazzulla, Dale Blaney, Jay Jacobs and former St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger.
This is the second consecutive year Bulger has worked Huggins’ fantasy camp.
* Morgantown has yet to field a professional baseball team but the city is already on the map as one of America’s best baseball towns.
The website WalletHub.com ranks the nation’s top baseball cities from No. 1 to No. 267, and Morgantown comes in at No. 68 on this list based on the categories “Teams and Performance Ranking” and “Cost and Fan Engagement.”
Morgantown ranks ahead of such places as Fullerton, California, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Richmond, Virginia, Tallahassee, Florida, Raleigh, North Carolina, Fairfax, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, Tampa, Florida, Austin, Texas, Knoxville, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, Berkeley, California, Memphis, Tennessee and Dallas, Texas.
Way to go Morgantown!
* I am told Rick Gilliam’s family has continued the benefit golf tournament that originated in Morgantown to celebrate Rick’s life. It is now held each year in his hometown of Newville, Pennsylvania.
Rick died unexpectedly eight years ago of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, leaving behind wife, Kendra, and their then-infant daughter, Mya. Funds from the golf tournament each year will be used to benefit Mya’s college education.
Rick was the starting center on West Virginia’s 2000 team that defeated Mississippi in the 2000 Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee.
* West Virginia’s offensive line depth received a big boost earlier this week when the NCAA granted offensive guard Kyle Bosch immediate eligibility for this season after Bosch transferred from Michigan. The St. Charles, Illinois, resident practiced with the Mountaineers this spring and has three years of eligibility remaining.
The post-spring depth chart has junior Tyler Orlosky at center, juniors Adam Pankey and Tony Matteo at guard, with senior Marquis Lucas and freshman Yodny Cajuste at the two tackle spots heading into the fall.
By the way, offseason workouts are underway over at the Puskar Center. I am told Ka’raun White looks just like his big brother Kevin White and if he becomes anywhere close to being as productive as Kevin was in college then you can sign me up as a charter member of the Ka’raun White Fan Club.
* Former Mountaineer David Carpenter’s career as a New York Yankee is likely coming to a close. Earlier this week, Carpenter was designated for assignment when Masahiro Tanaka came off the disabled list.
The Yankees have 10 days to trade, waive or release Carpenter, who was 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA in 22 appearances this year with the Yankees. Carpenter went to New York as part of a two-player trade that sent Manny Banuelos to Atlanta last January.
Carpenter has pitched parts of five major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Braves and Yankees after being drafted in the 12th round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.
Carpenter was a catcher at WVU.
Speaking of former Mountaineers in professional baseball, Jedd Gyorko is still trying to rediscover his hitting stroke with the San Diego Padres. In 44 games so far this season, Gyorko is batting .216 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Of late, Gyorko has been platooning at second base with Cory Spangenberg, Gyorko playing against lefthanded pitchers while Spangenberg is in the lineup against right-handers.
* An email from Duquesne sports information director Dave Saba made its way to my inbox earlier today. Dave was curious to know if B.B. Flenory’s 48 points scored against Ohio University in the 1978 WVU Classic constitutes a Coliseum record for points.
Our record book indicates that Notre Dame’s Austin Carr has the Coliseum record for points with the 47 he scored against the Mountaineers on February 20, 1971.
Therefore, Flenory’s 48-point night against OU in ’78 would actually constitute the facility’s record for points, right?
Well, not so fast.
The Coliseum record for points is actually held by Rhode Island’s Tom Garrick, who scored 50 against Rutgers during an Atlantic 10 Tournament game played here on March 7, 1988. Garrick scored 32 in the first half in URI’s 104-73 win over the Scarlet Knights.
By the way, Duquesne is celebrating its 100th year of men’s basketball this season.
* And finally, the college football preseason magazines are beginning to trickle out and I am curious to see where others believe the Mountaineers will end up this fall. This is by far Dana Holgorsen’s most experienced football team since his arrival in 2011, with close to 60 players on this year’s roster with some degree of playing experience.
If Skyler Howard can continue to develop at quarterback, and the Mountaineers can locate a couple of down-the-field threats at outside receiver, I think West Virginia could be sneaky good in the Big 12 this fall.
The defense has most of its key parts returning, the running game and kicking games should be solid, and the offensive-line play has been improving each year under Ron Crook.
Will they be good enough to challenge TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State this fall?
Time will tell.
Have a great week!
NCAA Baseball Selection Show | Morgantown Regional
Monday, May 25
Steve Sabins, Ian Korn | Kansas Postgame
Sunday, May 24
NCAA Regionals Recap
Saturday, May 23
TV Highlights | Big 12 Baseball Tournament Semifinal
Saturday, May 23
