WVU Sports Summer Roundup
June 21, 2023 11:17 AM | General, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A smorgasbord of West Virginia University summer sports notes to get you through the rest of your week:
New Coliseum Club Area Taking Shape
Steel framing for the yet-to-be-named new premium area at the WVU Coliseum for Mountaineer Athletic Club members is beginning to take shape.
Although not yet officially named, Club Mountaineer or the "Apron Club" as it is sometimes being called, is a joint venture between West Virginia University Intercollegiate Athletics and Sodexo Operations to provide more premium space for MAC members at WVU Coliseum sporting events.
It will also serve as the daily training table area for all Mountaineer student athletes, except football, and can be used as a banquet and hospitality facility during the offseason.
Former Mountaineer Catcher McIntosh Promoted to Triple-A
Paul McIntosh, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 catcher for West Virginia in 2021, made his Triple-A debut yesterday with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in a 6-2 loss to the Gwinnett Stripers.
McIntosh batted eighth and was hitless in three at bats.
He was signed as a free agent by the Florida Marlins organization in 2021 after a strong performance in the MLB Draft League and spent the entire 2022 campaign catching for the Marlins' Double-A affiliate Pensacola Blue Wahoos, where he finished fourth on the team in hits with 82 and second in home runs with 13.
Prior to this season, McIntosh was considered the Marlins' No. 27-rated prospect according to MLB.com.
This is a portion of his scouting report posted on MLB.com:
"A right-handed hitter, McIntosh produces some of the best exit velocities in the system and works deep counts in search of pitches he can drive to his pull side. Though he fits the power-over-hit profile, he draws plenty of walks and doesn't strike out excessively. He's surprisingly quick for a catcher, can flash solid run times and displays good instincts on the bases."
1945 NIT Member Stakem Dies
Bob Stakem, a member of West Virginia's 1945 NIT team, died last Sunday at the Allegany Health, Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cumberland, Maryland. The Cumberland native was an all-city player at LaSalle High and a two-year letterman for the Mountaineers in 1944 and 1945.
The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 7.1 points per game during his freshman season in 1944 and tallied 72 points in 18 games in 1945 during his sophomore campaign while playing for coach John Brickels. WVU won 12 of 18 games that season and was invited to play in the NIT where it lost 76-52 to DePaul, coached by Ray Meyer and led by NCAA player of the year George Mikan, who scored a Madison Square Garden-record 33 points in the victory.
Stakem tallied a career-high 16 points in a loss to Muhlenberg during his freshman season.
Stakem's son, Eric, worked in the athletic equipment office when he was a WVU student and refereed high school and small college basketball games for years while operating the Hole 'n Run sports store in Wheeling. Eric's wife, Karen, was once a graduate assistant in the Mountaineer Athletic Club and their daughter, Katie, is currently the director of operations for Mountaineer women's soccer.
At the time of his death, Stakem, 97, was believed to be the oldest living Mountaineer basketball alum.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Former Mountaineer Kwiatkoski Signs With Pittsburgh Steelers
On Tuesday, former West Virginia University linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers after a successful tryout during mandatory minicamp. This will be Kwiatkoski's fourth team after being drafted in the fourth round by the Chicago Bears in 2016.
The seven-year pro played four seasons with the Bears, two with the Las Vegas Raiders and last season playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Bethel Park High graduate's most productive year came with the Raiders in 2020 when he was credited with 81 total tackles, a sack, and an interception. His seven-year NFL totals include 293 tackles, seven sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Kwiatkoski made 303 tackles, six interceptions and 5½ sacks in four seasons while playing in West Virginia's 3-3 stack defense.
Jeff Casteel, currently an analyst on Neal Brown's staff, originally recruited Kwiatkoski when he was a member of the Mountaineer coaching staff before moving on to Arizona.
Ex-Mountaineer long snapper Rex Sunahara, son of WVU women's volleyball coach Reed Sunahara, has also signed with the Steelers after performing in the XFL.
Papineau Takes Early Lead in PGA Tour Canada Fortinet Cup Standings
Former West Virginia University golfer Etienne Papineau currently sits atop the PGA Tour Canada Fortinet Cup standings following his victory last Sunday at the Royal Beach Victoria Open. The PGA Tour Canada is one of the PGA's feeder tours and the top five golfers at the end of the season earn automatic invitations to the Korn Ferry Tour, formerly known as the Web.com Tour. Five others either earn partial status or are fast-tracked to the final stage of qualifying school.
Papineau, who earned $36,000 in prize money for last weekend's victory, is competing in this weekend's Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open at Elk Ridge Resort in Waskesiu, Saskatchewan.
Joining Papineau in the tournament are former Mountaineers Mark Goetz, Max Sear and Logan Perkins, who won Monday's qualifying round to get into the event.
"It's going to be like another WVU qualifier this weekend," West Virginia coach Sean Covich joked.
This is the second of 10 tournaments PGA Tour Canada has scheduled this year.
Pitt Football Game First Prime-Time Saturday Night Home Tilt Since 2016
Neal Brown's fifth season at West Virginia University will include his first Saturday night prime-time home football game. West Virginia's Saturday, Sept. 16, matchup against archrival Pitt will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ABC.
It's the first time West Virginia will be playing a Saturday night, prime-time home night game since facing eighth-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. That contest was also televised nationally on ABC.
West Virginia has announced kickoff times for four of its first six games and all four will be played under the lights. The season opener at Penn State will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on NBC.
The home opener against Duquesne will kick off at 6 p.m. and will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, while the Oct. 12 game at Houston against former Mountaineer coach Dana Holgorsen will begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1.
Houston is one of four new teams in the Big 12 this season, joining BYU, Central Florida and Cincinnati. West Virginia and Oklahoma State are the only two current Big 12 members facing all four new schools this season.
Wetherholt Becomes One of Mountaineer Baseball's Most Decorated Players
Second baseman JJ Wetherholt recently earned his fourth first-team All-America citation late last week when he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) squad. Selected by the coaches, it is considered one the longest and most prestigious of the baseball All-America teams.
Wetherholt has also earned first-team All-America honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Those three and Baseball America, which announces its team following the completion of the College World Series, are considered the four All-America teams used to determine consensus All-America status.
A player must be named to three of the four All-America first teams to become consensus, so Wetherholt already satisfies the criteria. He was also recently named to Perfect Game's All-America squad as well.
Only centerfielder Bill Marovic in 1964 and pitcher Chris Enochs in 1997 have earned ABCA First Team All-America honors for the Mountaineers.
Wetherholt, who led the NCAA with a .449 batting average this season, rivals Brooks Wallace Award winner Jedd Gyorko as the most decorated player in WVU baseball history.
This summer, Wetherholt and Mountaineer teammate Logan Sauve are playing with the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League.
Baker to Hire New Men's Basketball Coach
In just six months, new WVU director of athletics Wren Baker has hired a new women's basketball coach (Stephen F. Austin's Mark Kellogg) and is now looking for a new men's coach following Bob Huggins' resignation on Saturday, June 17.
On two occasions when West Virginia hired a basketball coach this late in the summer it turned out pretty well for the Mountaineers. WVU director of athletics Roy "Legs" Hawley died suddenly of a heart attack in the spring of 1954 and men's basketball coach Red Brown assumed Hawley's job in the summer of 1954, necessitating a new basketball coach.
The person Brown hired?
Twenty-nine-year-old NBA player Fred Schaus, who had no prior coaching experience. Schaus was officially announced as West Virginia's basketball coach on Friday, July 16 after Brown had convinced Schaus to give up his NBA career with the New York Knicks.
Schaus led WVU to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a national runner-up finish in 1959.
Another instance of a late-summer coaching hire happened in 1960 when Schaus got the Los Angeles Lakers job and Brown opted to promote assistant coach George King.
The date of King's hiring?
Saturday, Aug. 20, 1960. King led WVU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1962, 1963 and 1965 before moving on to Purdue.
New Coliseum Club Area Taking Shape
Steel framing for the yet-to-be-named new premium area at the WVU Coliseum for Mountaineer Athletic Club members is beginning to take shape.
Although not yet officially named, Club Mountaineer or the "Apron Club" as it is sometimes being called, is a joint venture between West Virginia University Intercollegiate Athletics and Sodexo Operations to provide more premium space for MAC members at WVU Coliseum sporting events.
It will also serve as the daily training table area for all Mountaineer student athletes, except football, and can be used as a banquet and hospitality facility during the offseason.
Former Mountaineer Catcher McIntosh Promoted to Triple-APaul McIntosh, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 catcher for West Virginia in 2021, made his Triple-A debut yesterday with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in a 6-2 loss to the Gwinnett Stripers.
McIntosh batted eighth and was hitless in three at bats.
He was signed as a free agent by the Florida Marlins organization in 2021 after a strong performance in the MLB Draft League and spent the entire 2022 campaign catching for the Marlins' Double-A affiliate Pensacola Blue Wahoos, where he finished fourth on the team in hits with 82 and second in home runs with 13.
Prior to this season, McIntosh was considered the Marlins' No. 27-rated prospect according to MLB.com.
This is a portion of his scouting report posted on MLB.com:
"A right-handed hitter, McIntosh produces some of the best exit velocities in the system and works deep counts in search of pitches he can drive to his pull side. Though he fits the power-over-hit profile, he draws plenty of walks and doesn't strike out excessively. He's surprisingly quick for a catcher, can flash solid run times and displays good instincts on the bases."
1945 NIT Member Stakem Dies
Bob Stakem, a member of West Virginia's 1945 NIT team, died last Sunday at the Allegany Health, Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cumberland, Maryland. The Cumberland native was an all-city player at LaSalle High and a two-year letterman for the Mountaineers in 1944 and 1945.
The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 7.1 points per game during his freshman season in 1944 and tallied 72 points in 18 games in 1945 during his sophomore campaign while playing for coach John Brickels. WVU won 12 of 18 games that season and was invited to play in the NIT where it lost 76-52 to DePaul, coached by Ray Meyer and led by NCAA player of the year George Mikan, who scored a Madison Square Garden-record 33 points in the victory.
Stakem tallied a career-high 16 points in a loss to Muhlenberg during his freshman season.
Stakem's son, Eric, worked in the athletic equipment office when he was a WVU student and refereed high school and small college basketball games for years while operating the Hole 'n Run sports store in Wheeling. Eric's wife, Karen, was once a graduate assistant in the Mountaineer Athletic Club and their daughter, Katie, is currently the director of operations for Mountaineer women's soccer.
At the time of his death, Stakem, 97, was believed to be the oldest living Mountaineer basketball alum.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Former Mountaineer Kwiatkoski Signs With Pittsburgh Steelers
On Tuesday, former West Virginia University linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers after a successful tryout during mandatory minicamp. This will be Kwiatkoski's fourth team after being drafted in the fourth round by the Chicago Bears in 2016.
The seven-year pro played four seasons with the Bears, two with the Las Vegas Raiders and last season playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Bethel Park High graduate's most productive year came with the Raiders in 2020 when he was credited with 81 total tackles, a sack, and an interception. His seven-year NFL totals include 293 tackles, seven sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Kwiatkoski made 303 tackles, six interceptions and 5½ sacks in four seasons while playing in West Virginia's 3-3 stack defense.
Jeff Casteel, currently an analyst on Neal Brown's staff, originally recruited Kwiatkoski when he was a member of the Mountaineer coaching staff before moving on to Arizona.
Ex-Mountaineer long snapper Rex Sunahara, son of WVU women's volleyball coach Reed Sunahara, has also signed with the Steelers after performing in the XFL.
Papineau Takes Early Lead in PGA Tour Canada Fortinet Cup StandingsFormer West Virginia University golfer Etienne Papineau currently sits atop the PGA Tour Canada Fortinet Cup standings following his victory last Sunday at the Royal Beach Victoria Open. The PGA Tour Canada is one of the PGA's feeder tours and the top five golfers at the end of the season earn automatic invitations to the Korn Ferry Tour, formerly known as the Web.com Tour. Five others either earn partial status or are fast-tracked to the final stage of qualifying school.
Papineau, who earned $36,000 in prize money for last weekend's victory, is competing in this weekend's Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open at Elk Ridge Resort in Waskesiu, Saskatchewan.
Joining Papineau in the tournament are former Mountaineers Mark Goetz, Max Sear and Logan Perkins, who won Monday's qualifying round to get into the event.
"It's going to be like another WVU qualifier this weekend," West Virginia coach Sean Covich joked.
This is the second of 10 tournaments PGA Tour Canada has scheduled this year.
Pitt Football Game First Prime-Time Saturday Night Home Tilt Since 2016
Neal Brown's fifth season at West Virginia University will include his first Saturday night prime-time home football game. West Virginia's Saturday, Sept. 16, matchup against archrival Pitt will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ABC.
It's the first time West Virginia will be playing a Saturday night, prime-time home night game since facing eighth-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. That contest was also televised nationally on ABC.
West Virginia has announced kickoff times for four of its first six games and all four will be played under the lights. The season opener at Penn State will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on NBC.
The home opener against Duquesne will kick off at 6 p.m. and will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, while the Oct. 12 game at Houston against former Mountaineer coach Dana Holgorsen will begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1.
Houston is one of four new teams in the Big 12 this season, joining BYU, Central Florida and Cincinnati. West Virginia and Oklahoma State are the only two current Big 12 members facing all four new schools this season.
Wetherholt Becomes One of Mountaineer Baseball's Most Decorated PlayersSecond baseman JJ Wetherholt recently earned his fourth first-team All-America citation late last week when he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) squad. Selected by the coaches, it is considered one the longest and most prestigious of the baseball All-America teams.
Wetherholt has also earned first-team All-America honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Those three and Baseball America, which announces its team following the completion of the College World Series, are considered the four All-America teams used to determine consensus All-America status.
A player must be named to three of the four All-America first teams to become consensus, so Wetherholt already satisfies the criteria. He was also recently named to Perfect Game's All-America squad as well.
Only centerfielder Bill Marovic in 1964 and pitcher Chris Enochs in 1997 have earned ABCA First Team All-America honors for the Mountaineers.
Wetherholt, who led the NCAA with a .449 batting average this season, rivals Brooks Wallace Award winner Jedd Gyorko as the most decorated player in WVU baseball history.
This summer, Wetherholt and Mountaineer teammate Logan Sauve are playing with the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League.
Baker to Hire New Men's Basketball Coach
In just six months, new WVU director of athletics Wren Baker has hired a new women's basketball coach (Stephen F. Austin's Mark Kellogg) and is now looking for a new men's coach following Bob Huggins' resignation on Saturday, June 17.
On two occasions when West Virginia hired a basketball coach this late in the summer it turned out pretty well for the Mountaineers. WVU director of athletics Roy "Legs" Hawley died suddenly of a heart attack in the spring of 1954 and men's basketball coach Red Brown assumed Hawley's job in the summer of 1954, necessitating a new basketball coach.
The person Brown hired?
Twenty-nine-year-old NBA player Fred Schaus, who had no prior coaching experience. Schaus was officially announced as West Virginia's basketball coach on Friday, July 16 after Brown had convinced Schaus to give up his NBA career with the New York Knicks.
Schaus led WVU to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a national runner-up finish in 1959.
Another instance of a late-summer coaching hire happened in 1960 when Schaus got the Los Angeles Lakers job and Brown opted to promote assistant coach George King.
The date of King's hiring?
Saturday, Aug. 20, 1960. King led WVU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1962, 1963 and 1965 before moving on to Purdue.
Mark Kellogg | Feb. 4
Thursday, February 05
United Bank Playbook: Cincinnati Preview
Wednesday, February 04
Ross Hodge | Cincinnati Preview
Tuesday, February 03
Jasper Floyd | Cincinnati Preview
Tuesday, February 03
