"We've gone from very bleak,'' said coach Bill Stewart, "to very promising.''

Devon Lyons, the brother of current Mountaineer Wes Lyons, just graduated from Ohio State last weekend (the school is on a trimester system). He could get enrolled for the start of the second semester of summer school at the end of the month, but he still has to jump through all the enrollment hoops.

"Contrary to popular belief, the tail doesn't wag the dog,'' Stewart said, referring to the notion that student-athletes somehow just bypass all that red tape. "We're hoping he can get in here this summer, but we have to hustle just to get his [records] in here and get him approved. I'm not going to go down and pound my fist on the admission's desk. I'm going to be as nice as I can be and say, 'Can we get this guy in?' And if they say, 'Sure, in August,' well then that's what it'll be.''

And then there is the case of Damon McDaniel, who left Florida State in December and enrolled in a community college. He's trying to get an NCAA waiver that would allow him to play immediately - he wants to be closer to his home in Virginia because his mother is ill and he has a new baby - but that's not a sure thing by any means.

And if McDaniel doesn't have a waiver to play right away, Stewart doesn't have a scholarship for him, so he might not be here at all - or at least not until January.

West Virginia is involved in negotiating a game with Ohio State for next season, one that would be televised nationally. And the Mountaineers could also wind up in the Jimmy V Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden in December opposite NCAA tournament darling Davidson.

Throw in games already lined up against Mississippi and in a Las Vegas tournament that includes Kansas State, Iowa and Kentucky - along with 16 Big East games - and there's not going to be much room left for low-RPI patsies.

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.

MORGANTOWN - Cleaning out a crowded notebook and a cluttered mind after an afternoon trip to West Virginia's football offices:

Morgan Moses is a 6-foot-7, 347-pound offensive tackle at Meadowbrook High School in Richmond, Va. He was making an unofficial visit to West Virginia, which means he can tour the facilities and talk to the coaches.

Moses is certainly not the only lineman on WVU's list of potential 2009 recruits, but he's without question among the best prospects and has offers from, among others, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. I even caught a few minutes of him on tape and saw him pile-driving everything from opposing defensive linemen to his own teammates who got in the way.

While the current 10 verbal commitments to the Mountaineers' next recruiting class are predominantly skill-position players, expect more of the remaining slots to be filled by guys like Moses. West Virginia's coaches need offensive linemen and linebackers more than anything else.

Remember a few months ago when it appeared the Mountaineers were thin at the position after the loss of Keilen Dykes and Johnny Dingle and the mystery ailment suffered by Zac Cooper? Well, all of a sudden the defensive line could be a strength.

The two surprises are Pat Liebig and Uriah Grant. Liebig, who was a part-time starter before leaving school to tend to his family business, appears to have a great chance to have his final year of eligibility restored.

Grant was a 265-pound defensive lineman from Florida who signed with Wake Forest a year ago but never enrolled in school. Word is there was a dispute over the ACT scores of several players from his high school (a coach's wife was the monitor), and although Grant simply went out and took an SAT and passed, Wake Forest refused to admit him. Wake coach Jim Grobe was not happy, to say the least.

Well, Grant sat out last year and is now a 280-pounder who is fully qualified and fully prepared to compete for playing time right away.

Throw in junior college transfers Tevita Finau, Larry Ford and D.J. Shaw, along with returning starter Scooter Berry and veterans Cooper and Chris Neild, and suddenly the Mountaineers are deep on the defensive line.

"We've gone from very bleak,'' said coach Bill Stewart, "to very promising.''

Devon Lyons, the brother of current Mountaineer Wes Lyons, just graduated from Ohio State last weekend (the school is on a trimester system). He could get enrolled for the start of the second semester of summer school at the end of the month, but he still has to jump through all the enrollment hoops.

"Contrary to popular belief, the tail doesn't wag the dog,'' Stewart said, referring to the notion that student-athletes somehow just bypass all that red tape. "We're hoping he can get in here this summer, but we have to hustle just to get his [records] in here and get him approved. I'm not going to go down and pound my fist on the admission's desk. I'm going to be as nice as I can be and say, 'Can we get this guy in?' And if they say, 'Sure, in August,' well then that's what it'll be.''

And then there is the case of Damon McDaniel, who left Florida State in December and enrolled in a community college. He's trying to get an NCAA waiver that would allow him to play immediately - he wants to be closer to his home in Virginia because his mother is ill and he has a new baby - but that's not a sure thing by any means.

And if McDaniel doesn't have a waiver to play right away, Stewart doesn't have a scholarship for him, so he might not be here at all - or at least not until January.

West Virginia is involved in negotiating a game with Ohio State for next season, one that would be televised nationally. And the Mountaineers could also wind up in the Jimmy V Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden in December opposite NCAA tournament darling Davidson.

Throw in games already lined up against Mississippi and in a Las Vegas tournament that includes Kansas State, Iowa and Kentucky - along with 16 Big East games - and there's not going to be much room left for low-RPI patsies.

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.