Photo by: AP
Transfer Portal Era Making Many Career Records Unobtainable
June 29, 2022 04:27 PM | Football, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – I was thumbing through my Twitter timeline this morning when I came across Bob Hertzel's post about Avon Cobourne, whom he wrote about in today's Clarksburg Exponent.
Bob is still as thought-provoking as he was during the mid-1970s covering the Big Red Machine (a phrase he coined) when he wrote for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Among the things Hertz touched on in his story today were the amazing 5,164 yards rushing Avon generated in 44 career games from 1998-2002.
I was around to see it and believe me, Avon earned them!
But what really stirred my mind this morning wasn't Bob's fabulous writing, Avon's terrific running nor the cup of coffee that is sitting on my desk. No, what got me thinking was how many more rushing yards Avon got than the next closest guy in the school record books – Pat White, whose 4,480 yards rushing from the quarterback position is a staggering figure in and of itself.
It took Pat 49 games to get those 4,480 yards, which are two fewer than it took Noel Devine to get the 4,315 yards he gained from 2007-10.
"Famous" Amos Zereoue is the only other Mountaineer ball carrier to eclipse 4,000 yards, the Hempstead, New Yorker's 4,086 coming in just 33 games over three seasons. Had Amos stuck around for another season, instead of leaving a year early for professional football, he would have easily surpassed 5,000 career yards and we would be talking about Amos' unbreakable rushing record instead of Avon's.
Nevertheless, to give you an idea of just how unapproachable Avon's mark is, it took Leddie Brown 45 games to gain 2,888 yards during his outstanding four-year career, or 2,276 fewer than what Avon achieved.
And with the transfer portal now filling up at a record pace, Leddie could be the last running back in a long while to log that many career games in a Mountaineer uniform.
Actually, it's going to be this way in all sports.
Jerry West's three-year West Virginia University records have now moved from Mount Everest to Pluto.
Mr. Clutch scored an incredible 2,309 points in 93 career games from 1958-60 and did so without the benefit of a 3-point shot! The only player since then to come close to Jerry's scoring mark was Da'Sean Butler, who fell 214 points short despite playing 53 more games than West!
The only other player to reach the 2,000-point plateau was guard Rod Hundley, who finished with 2,180 points in 89 career games from 1955-57.
Another unbeatable West record is his total of 1,240 career rebounds, which are 192 more than Kevin Jones grabbed in 139 career games from 2009-12. There have been only five players in school history to haul down 1,000 career rebounds and one of them wasn't Derek Culver, who recently finished his Mountaineer career with 799 career boards in 86 games.
Here are some more school career records that will probably never be broken during the transfer portal era:
Men's Basketball
* Steve Berger's 574 assists in 122 career games, 15 more than Jevon Carter achieved in 22 more games.
* Jevon Carter's 330 steals in 144 career games, 79 more than Greg Jones got in four outstanding seasons at WVU from 1980-83.
* Da'Sean Butler's 146 career games played in four seasons, one more than Joe Mazzulla got in five seasons.
Football
* Geno Smith's 11,662 yards passing in 44 career games - 3,509 more than Marc Bulger accomplished in 38 career games when his career ended in 1999 (Will Grier passed for 7,354 yards in just two seasons at WVU and finished his NCAA career with 8,556 yards when also adding his Florida passing totals).
* Steve Newberry's 20 interceptions produced during 46 career games from 1980-83, one more than consensus All-American Aaron Beasley got in 43 career games from 1992-95.
* Willie Drewrey's 1,196 punt return yards in 45 career games, which are 127 more than the 1,069 John Mallory got in only 30 games from 1965-67. Since 2012, only one WVU punt returner (Alec Sinkfield in 2020) has had more than 100 yards in returns for a season.
* Steve Slaton's 55 total touchdowns scored in just 36 career games from 2005-07.
* Darryl Talley's 484 total tackles generated in 47 career games from 1978-82, three more than Grant Wiley got in the same number of games from 2000-03. Both were consensus All-Americans, by the way.
* Canute Curtis' 35 sacks in 38 career games from 1993-96, although Dante Stills is going to try and take a run at it with 19 sacks in 47 career games entering the 2022 season.
Women's Basketball
* Cathy Parson's 2,113 points scored in 121 career games from 1980-83, which are 52 more than Rosemary Kosiorek scored in five fewer games during her All-America career that ended in 1992. Since then, only Bria Holmes has broken the 2,000-point plateau with 2,001 in her 138-game career ending in 2016.
* Olivia Bradley's 1,484 rebounds hauled down in 117 career games, 409 more than Georgeann Wells grabbed in 106 games and 464 more than Donna Abbott got in 108 games 30 years ago when her career ended in 1992.
* Yolanda Paige's 902 assists in 122 career games from 2002-05, which are 184 more than Kosiorek produced in six fewer games.
* Talisha Hargis' 355 steals in 112 career games from 1995-98, five more than Jenny Hillen got in five fewer games when her career ended in 1989.
* Georgann Wells' 436 blocks in 106 career games, which are 106 more than Lanay Montgomery achieved in 26 more games when her career was finished in 2017.
And, here are a couple more difficult-to-match career records from the varsity sports realm:
* Tyler Kuhn's 324 hits and 188 career RBIs accomplished in 220 career games from 2005-08. Darius Hill came within 20 hits of Kuhn's record, but needed 15 more games, while Jedd Gyorko had 10 fewer runs batted in during his three-year career before professional baseball came calling in 2010.
* Wes Shaw's 28 career victories during his four-year career ending in 1990. The two closest to Shaw - Fulton Woods and Ryan Williams with 26 wins each - also needed four years to get their win totals. The only other Mountaineer pitchers to achieve more than 25 career triumphs, Frank Barron and John Radosevich, got theirs in just three seasons.
* Chrissie Abbott's 53 goals and 125 points tallied during her 87-game career ending in 2003. Alina Stahl has the most goals among current WVU players with 16 in 51 career games. Jack Cardosa's 53 career goals scored from 1972-75 on the men's side will be difficult to eclipse as well.
* Greg Jones' three national wrestling titles accomplished in 2002, 2004 and 2005, becoming only the 39th wrestler in NCAA history at the time to do so. His 126 career victories in just 130 matches are also a school record.
For the fans, this new era in college sports is going to take some getting used to. On average, guys and gals are just not going to be sticking around for as long as they once did.
And those career records?
Get used to them, too!
Bob is still as thought-provoking as he was during the mid-1970s covering the Big Red Machine (a phrase he coined) when he wrote for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Among the things Hertz touched on in his story today were the amazing 5,164 yards rushing Avon generated in 44 career games from 1998-2002.
I was around to see it and believe me, Avon earned them!
But what really stirred my mind this morning wasn't Bob's fabulous writing, Avon's terrific running nor the cup of coffee that is sitting on my desk. No, what got me thinking was how many more rushing yards Avon got than the next closest guy in the school record books – Pat White, whose 4,480 yards rushing from the quarterback position is a staggering figure in and of itself.
It took Pat 49 games to get those 4,480 yards, which are two fewer than it took Noel Devine to get the 4,315 yards he gained from 2007-10.
"Famous" Amos Zereoue is the only other Mountaineer ball carrier to eclipse 4,000 yards, the Hempstead, New Yorker's 4,086 coming in just 33 games over three seasons. Had Amos stuck around for another season, instead of leaving a year early for professional football, he would have easily surpassed 5,000 career yards and we would be talking about Amos' unbreakable rushing record instead of Avon's.
Nevertheless, to give you an idea of just how unapproachable Avon's mark is, it took Leddie Brown 45 games to gain 2,888 yards during his outstanding four-year career, or 2,276 fewer than what Avon achieved.
And with the transfer portal now filling up at a record pace, Leddie could be the last running back in a long while to log that many career games in a Mountaineer uniform.
Actually, it's going to be this way in all sports.
Jerry West's three-year West Virginia University records have now moved from Mount Everest to Pluto.
Mr. Clutch scored an incredible 2,309 points in 93 career games from 1958-60 and did so without the benefit of a 3-point shot! The only player since then to come close to Jerry's scoring mark was Da'Sean Butler, who fell 214 points short despite playing 53 more games than West!
The only other player to reach the 2,000-point plateau was guard Rod Hundley, who finished with 2,180 points in 89 career games from 1955-57.
Another unbeatable West record is his total of 1,240 career rebounds, which are 192 more than Kevin Jones grabbed in 139 career games from 2009-12. There have been only five players in school history to haul down 1,000 career rebounds and one of them wasn't Derek Culver, who recently finished his Mountaineer career with 799 career boards in 86 games.
Here are some more school career records that will probably never be broken during the transfer portal era:
Men's Basketball
* Steve Berger's 574 assists in 122 career games, 15 more than Jevon Carter achieved in 22 more games.
* Jevon Carter's 330 steals in 144 career games, 79 more than Greg Jones got in four outstanding seasons at WVU from 1980-83.
* Da'Sean Butler's 146 career games played in four seasons, one more than Joe Mazzulla got in five seasons.
Football
* Geno Smith's 11,662 yards passing in 44 career games - 3,509 more than Marc Bulger accomplished in 38 career games when his career ended in 1999 (Will Grier passed for 7,354 yards in just two seasons at WVU and finished his NCAA career with 8,556 yards when also adding his Florida passing totals).
* Steve Newberry's 20 interceptions produced during 46 career games from 1980-83, one more than consensus All-American Aaron Beasley got in 43 career games from 1992-95.
* Willie Drewrey's 1,196 punt return yards in 45 career games, which are 127 more than the 1,069 John Mallory got in only 30 games from 1965-67. Since 2012, only one WVU punt returner (Alec Sinkfield in 2020) has had more than 100 yards in returns for a season.
* Steve Slaton's 55 total touchdowns scored in just 36 career games from 2005-07.
* Darryl Talley's 484 total tackles generated in 47 career games from 1978-82, three more than Grant Wiley got in the same number of games from 2000-03. Both were consensus All-Americans, by the way.
* Canute Curtis' 35 sacks in 38 career games from 1993-96, although Dante Stills is going to try and take a run at it with 19 sacks in 47 career games entering the 2022 season.
Women's Basketball
* Cathy Parson's 2,113 points scored in 121 career games from 1980-83, which are 52 more than Rosemary Kosiorek scored in five fewer games during her All-America career that ended in 1992. Since then, only Bria Holmes has broken the 2,000-point plateau with 2,001 in her 138-game career ending in 2016.
* Olivia Bradley's 1,484 rebounds hauled down in 117 career games, 409 more than Georgeann Wells grabbed in 106 games and 464 more than Donna Abbott got in 108 games 30 years ago when her career ended in 1992.
* Yolanda Paige's 902 assists in 122 career games from 2002-05, which are 184 more than Kosiorek produced in six fewer games.
* Talisha Hargis' 355 steals in 112 career games from 1995-98, five more than Jenny Hillen got in five fewer games when her career ended in 1989.
* Georgann Wells' 436 blocks in 106 career games, which are 106 more than Lanay Montgomery achieved in 26 more games when her career was finished in 2017.
And, here are a couple more difficult-to-match career records from the varsity sports realm:
* Tyler Kuhn's 324 hits and 188 career RBIs accomplished in 220 career games from 2005-08. Darius Hill came within 20 hits of Kuhn's record, but needed 15 more games, while Jedd Gyorko had 10 fewer runs batted in during his three-year career before professional baseball came calling in 2010.
* Wes Shaw's 28 career victories during his four-year career ending in 1990. The two closest to Shaw - Fulton Woods and Ryan Williams with 26 wins each - also needed four years to get their win totals. The only other Mountaineer pitchers to achieve more than 25 career triumphs, Frank Barron and John Radosevich, got theirs in just three seasons.
* Chrissie Abbott's 53 goals and 125 points tallied during her 87-game career ending in 2003. Alina Stahl has the most goals among current WVU players with 16 in 51 career games. Jack Cardosa's 53 career goals scored from 1972-75 on the men's side will be difficult to eclipse as well.
* Greg Jones' three national wrestling titles accomplished in 2002, 2004 and 2005, becoming only the 39th wrestler in NCAA history at the time to do so. His 126 career victories in just 130 matches are also a school record.
For the fans, this new era in college sports is going to take some getting used to. On average, guys and gals are just not going to be sticking around for as long as they once did.
And those career records?
Get used to them, too!
Players Mentioned
NCAA Selection Show
Wednesday, May 13
WVU Baseball Defensive Highlights
Tuesday, May 12
Kansas Recap
Tuesday, May 12
Kansas State Recap
Tuesday, May 12
