YE OLDE notebook:
n I think it was Gary. Maybe it wasn't Gary.
Someone, though, told me not too long ago that Dalton Pepper had been shooting lights-out when the West Virginia basketball team played off-season pickup games. He said Pepper, not highly touted Casey Mitchell, would be the Mountaineers' starting shooting guard.
Like many tips, I deposited in the don't-forget-even-though-I-know-I-will portion of my brain. Then I saw WVU assistant coach Bill Hahn. "Well," I asked, "what's the scoop?" His answer: "I don't know." Which, of course, led to a raspberry.
So finally I called "the man," as Torrel Harris, father of top-flight recruit Tobias, once called Bob Huggins. Any truth to the rumor Pepper could start over Mitchell?
"I don't know," Huggins said.
Then, thankfully, he restarted.
"Dalton is playing good," said the coach. "He's not playing as well as Casey, but he's playing good."
So there ya go.
While Huggins was on the horn, I asked how the Mountaineer practices have gone as we approach the Nov. 8 Mountain State exhibition game.
"We have so far to go," he said. "We have four [new] guys to get in there that don't know what they're doing. We have four who do. It screws everything up. I could just go with the four we have and be fine, but we've got to get the others in there."
Huggins said of the newcomers, Mitchell and Deniz Kilicli have absorbed the most.
"Deniz has been real good rebounding the ball," said the coach. "He picks things up fast. He can score. He's playing well. He's a great example of guys the recruiting 'experts' miss."
I managed one more tidbit out of Huggins. With both Joe Mazzulla and Truck Bryant returning at the point guard slot, one would figure Mazzulla, as the elder player, would have an edge. Bryant played well at times filling in last season, averaging 9.8 points, but tended to over-penetrate. Mazzulla, though, is also coming off that shoulder separation.
So what the heck. I asked Huggins about the competition.
"Joe is shooting well, but not as well as Truck," Huggins said. "Truck has the edge on offense; Joe has the edge on defense.
"I wish I could platoon the two like [WVU football coach Bill Stewart] does."
A couple more hoops tidbits:
The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be unveiled Thursday for Friday's newspaper editions. The Mountaineers are expected to be in or near the Top 10.
Also, word around the recruiting world is the aforementioned Tobias Harris, ranked by some services as the nation's No. 1 power forward recruit, is scheduled to visit West Virginia next Friday.
OK, one more basketball note. Got a call Tuesday from Harry Kirk, the longtime, very successful coach at Harts High. It seems his team needs a scrimmage.
His Chapmanville High team. In case you were unaware, Kirk is back in the saddle after semi-retirement.
"It's a new venture," he said. "I'm looking forward to it.''
Good for him. Kirk spent 28 years coaching Harts, where he won nearly 450 games, two Class A titles and a runner-up trophy before the school was closed. It's nice to hear he'll again be roaming the sidelines.
YE OLDE notebook:
n I think it was Gary. Maybe it wasn't Gary.
Someone, though, told me not too long ago that Dalton Pepper had been shooting lights-out when the West Virginia basketball team played off-season pickup games. He said Pepper, not highly touted Casey Mitchell, would be the Mountaineers' starting shooting guard.
Like many tips, I deposited in the don't-forget-even-though-I-know-I-will portion of my brain. Then I saw WVU assistant coach Bill Hahn. "Well," I asked, "what's the scoop?" His answer: "I don't know." Which, of course, led to a raspberry.
So finally I called "the man," as Torrel Harris, father of top-flight recruit Tobias, once called Bob Huggins. Any truth to the rumor Pepper could start over Mitchell?
"I don't know," Huggins said.
Then, thankfully, he restarted.
"Dalton is playing good," said the coach. "He's not playing as well as Casey, but he's playing good."
So there ya go.
While Huggins was on the horn, I asked how the Mountaineer practices have gone as we approach the Nov. 8 Mountain State exhibition game.
"We have so far to go," he said. "We have four [new] guys to get in there that don't know what they're doing. We have four who do. It screws everything up. I could just go with the four we have and be fine, but we've got to get the others in there."
Huggins said of the newcomers, Mitchell and Deniz Kilicli have absorbed the most.
"Deniz has been real good rebounding the ball," said the coach. "He picks things up fast. He can score. He's playing well. He's a great example of guys the recruiting 'experts' miss."
I managed one more tidbit out of Huggins. With both Joe Mazzulla and Truck Bryant returning at the point guard slot, one would figure Mazzulla, as the elder player, would have an edge. Bryant played well at times filling in last season, averaging 9.8 points, but tended to over-penetrate. Mazzulla, though, is also coming off that shoulder separation.
So what the heck. I asked Huggins about the competition.
"Joe is shooting well, but not as well as Truck," Huggins said. "Truck has the edge on offense; Joe has the edge on defense.
"I wish I could platoon the two like [WVU football coach Bill Stewart] does."
A couple more hoops tidbits:
The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be unveiled Thursday for Friday's newspaper editions. The Mountaineers are expected to be in or near the Top 10.
Also, word around the recruiting world is the aforementioned Tobias Harris, ranked by some services as the nation's No. 1 power forward recruit, is scheduled to visit West Virginia next Friday.
OK, one more basketball note. Got a call Tuesday from Harry Kirk, the longtime, very successful coach at Harts High. It seems his team needs a scrimmage.
His Chapmanville High team. In case you were unaware, Kirk is back in the saddle after semi-retirement.
"It's a new venture," he said. "I'm looking forward to it.''
Good for him. Kirk spent 28 years coaching Harts, where he won nearly 450 games, two Class A titles and a runner-up trophy before the school was closed. It's nice to hear he'll again be roaming the sidelines.
Those wishing to scrimmage Chapmanville may call athletic director Danny Godby at 855-4522 or Kirk at 855-0123.
Football?
OK, a few thoughts.
First, the Big East is cashing in on what has to be considered a down year for college football. After being shut out of the preseason polls, league teams have risen to the occasion to fill three Top 20 slots in the Associated Press, USA Today coaches' and Harris polls. Also, the league has depth with Connecticut and South Florida. That's something the Mountain West, which has been screaming for BCS play, can't offer.
In addition, the Big East is developing stars. WVU's Noel Devine is one of the nation's top backs along with Pitt freshman Dion Lewis. On the league conference call, Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt was asked if Lewis should be a Heisman Trophy contender. ("The numbers speak for themselves," he said.)
The national limelight at quarterback not only hits Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike, but Pitt's Bill Stull. (WVU's Jarrett Brown, we're waiting ...)
South Florida defensive end George Selvie has long been the star in Tampa, but his bookend, Jason Pierre-Paul, has overshadowed him at times. (Great quote from USF offensive coordinator Mike Canales on Pierre-Paul's 81-inch wingspan: "He has the longest arms in the world.")
Even Syracuse has a name that sticks via quarterback Greg Paulus.
Overall, a solid year - so far - for the league.
As an Associated Press Top 25 voter, I'm faced weekly with trying to pick a No. 1. So far, I've voted for all of the candidates: Florida, Texas and Alabama.
This past week, I cast my No. 1 vote for Texas. The reason: The Longhorns looked the best last Saturday, crushing Missouri (in Columbia), while Alabama struggled at home against Tennessee and Florida barely got past 3-5 Mississippi State - after barely getting past 3-4 Arkansas.
The deal, though, is one could justify a vote for any of the three. Florida may have the highest quality win with its decision at LSU. Also, while Alabama needed a blocked kick to down Tennessee, the Gators defeated the Vols by 10 at home. Also, while the Tide's defense has been much ballyhooed, the most points allowed by the Gators have been 20 to Arkansas.
While Florida, though, squeaked by the Razorbacks, Alabama put it to them by 35-7. The Tide also won at Mississippi and beat Virginia Tech at a neutral site. May have the best body of work.
Texas, however, has drubbed every opponent with two exceptions: Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
So take your pick. This past week, I went with the hottest team. And felt good about it.
And finally . . .
A sad note I tripped upon while working on my weekly GameDay contribution.
Of all the Big East punt returners, the one ranked highest among the NCAA leaders is Jasper Howard.
That's correct. The fallen Connecticut Husky who was buried Monday. He was averaging 9.13 yards per return. That still ranks No. 34 nationally.
Kiss your loved ones. Today.
Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.
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The experts missed him for a reason. He's soft. I saw him play several times on the Mountain State Academy team that featured Noah Cottrill and Jabs Newby and while Cottrill did the same things at MSA he did at Poca (draw freak defenses and still score at will) and Newby showed to be a star for a mid major some day, Kilicli would flat out disappear at times. Against Oak Hill Academy, he had 1 rebound despite being the tallest player on the floor. He did show some promise towards the end of the year but if he's going to beat and bang in the Big East, Hugs is going to have to bring him far.
And even though the experts did miss him, he was sill offered by schools such as UCLA, Michigan, Florida and a host of other big time D-1 schools. He chose WVU because he knew what Hugs could do.