YE OLDE notebook:

When the USA Today newspaper hit the stands, Huggins found his Mountaineers ranked No. 9 in the preseason Top 25 coaches' poll.

Then, in the afternoon, news leaked that WVU received an upgrade in the Associated Press poll to No. 8.

Late in the afternoon, though, the day turned sour for Huggins.

The coach came close to landing a commitment from one of the nation's top prospects in Adreian Payne, a 6-foot-10 center/power forward.

Word is, Huggins was confident, then not so much when he caught wind Payne was leaning toward Michigan State. The coach flew to Dayton, Ohio, home of Payne, to try and turn the prospect back toward the Mountain State.

Unsuccessfully.

It was a blow because Payne is a consensus five-star recruit, according to analysts. A member of the Jefferson High basketball team in Dayton, he had his choice of schools from across the nation.

The schools that reportedly made the final cut were WVU, Kentucky, Arizona and Michigan State. Others that were said to have offered included No. 1 Kansas, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Xavier and Dayton.

WVU and Huggins were right there. But not close enough.

It was tough for the Mountaineer coach because Payne is exactly what the WVU program needs. The 215-pound player has been ranked the nation's No. 9 2010 power forward and No. 23 overall player by ESPN. Scout.com ranked him the No. 5 center and No. 21 overall player. Rivals.com gives Payne the highest marks, ranking him the No. 4 center and No. 20 overall prospect.

Now, though, Huggins and his staff must turn their attention on Tobias Harris, one of the nation's top-10 overall players, according to most services. Harris is scheduled to visit Morgantown next Friday.

Those around the South Florida football team rave about defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. If you go to NFL Draft Scout's Web site, you'll see he's projected as the No. 7 DE available in the 2011 draft.

Yet I had to call USF to ask if he'd be starting in tonight's game against WVU.

"Yes," came the reply. "Why wouldn't he?''

"Well,'' I said, "because he didn't start against Pitt.''

YE OLDE notebook:

When the USA Today newspaper hit the stands, Huggins found his Mountaineers ranked No. 9 in the preseason Top 25 coaches' poll.

Then, in the afternoon, news leaked that WVU received an upgrade in the Associated Press poll to No. 8.

Late in the afternoon, though, the day turned sour for Huggins.

The coach came close to landing a commitment from one of the nation's top prospects in Adreian Payne, a 6-foot-10 center/power forward.

Word is, Huggins was confident, then not so much when he caught wind Payne was leaning toward Michigan State. The coach flew to Dayton, Ohio, home of Payne, to try and turn the prospect back toward the Mountain State.

Unsuccessfully.

It was a blow because Payne is a consensus five-star recruit, according to analysts. A member of the Jefferson High basketball team in Dayton, he had his choice of schools from across the nation.

The schools that reportedly made the final cut were WVU, Kentucky, Arizona and Michigan State. Others that were said to have offered included No. 1 Kansas, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Xavier and Dayton.

WVU and Huggins were right there. But not close enough.

It was tough for the Mountaineer coach because Payne is exactly what the WVU program needs. The 215-pound player has been ranked the nation's No. 9 2010 power forward and No. 23 overall player by ESPN. Scout.com ranked him the No. 5 center and No. 21 overall player. Rivals.com gives Payne the highest marks, ranking him the No. 4 center and No. 20 overall prospect.

Now, though, Huggins and his staff must turn their attention on Tobias Harris, one of the nation's top-10 overall players, according to most services. Harris is scheduled to visit Morgantown next Friday.

Those around the South Florida football team rave about defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. If you go to NFL Draft Scout's Web site, you'll see he's projected as the No. 7 DE available in the 2011 draft.

Yet I had to call USF to ask if he'd be starting in tonight's game against WVU.

"Yes," came the reply. "Why wouldn't he?''

"Well,'' I said, "because he didn't start against Pitt.''

It's true. "JPP," as he's called, didn't start last week, according to the school's game report. Two games before that, he didn't start.

So what's the deal? Well, it was explained to me the Bulls have eight players that rotate along the four-man defensive front. The man who started at left end against Pitt was Craig Marshall, who leads the team in sacks with four. (Pierre-Paul has two.) Pierre-Paul, according to today's game release, has started just three of seven games.

I was told it's almost a certainty that Pierre-Paul will start against the Mountaineers. And, sure enough, he's listed as a starter on the depth chart for this game, while Marshall, oddly enough, is listed as a backup at tackle. Go figure.

Which makes tonight's game at USF important. WVU must send a message.

Forget the polls. The Mountaineers need to send a message to Big East title contenders Pitt, which clubbed USF 41-14 last week, and Cincinnati, which seems to club every team every week.

While plotting our work schedule for November, a couple items jumped at me.

First, WVU Tech's men's basketball team gets an early jump on, well, everyone. The Golden Bears begin this Sunday by playing host to Maryland Bible in Montgomery.

Also, the University of Charleston earns an award for the most unfortunate scheduling. UC's home opener is Nov. 24 against Glenville. That's the same night WVU comes to town to play The Citadel.

And the Golden Eagles' second home game?

It's on Nov. 28 against Alderson-Broaddus. That's the same day and time (7:30 p.m.) Marshall visits the Civic Center to play Ohio.

Have a great weekend.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.