YE OLDE (stuffed) notebook:
On Tuesday, WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins received his second commitment for the class of 2010: Storm Stanley, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center from Toledo, Ohio.
Stanley, a standout for St. Francis DeSales High, has been ranked Ohio's No. 32 sophomore prospect by Hoopsfan.com.
To get a better scoop, though, a call was placed to WVU's first 2010 commitment: Poca's Noah Cottrill. Both play for the AAU Ohio Basketball Club.
"[Stanley is] a great kid," Cottrill said. "He's big and young. He's got a lot to learn, but Coach Huggins can turn him into a great player.''
Word is, Stanley has a 4.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. He's said to be a pup by insiders, but one with strength, big shoulders and good hands.
There's been a rumor floating around that new Board of Governors vice chairman Drew Payne of Charleston pledged $20 million for the proposed WVU basketball practice facility.
When reached Tuesday, however, Payne said that is not true.
"I've not done that,'' he said. "I am trying to help raise the money, though. It's definitely needed. The Coliseum is overused.''
Another source, who asked not to be identified, said WVU has $4 million of the necessary $25 million in hand to build the facility. Much more, however, is expected to roll in soon.
It's that time of year. For basketball Jams. And Fests. And Classics.
Time for WVU's Huggins to fly.
The NCAA calls it the "summer evaluation'' period, which extends through the end of July. In reality, well, it's a cattle call - for the nation's better high school hoopers to show their wares.
And where there's a ware, there's a Huggins.
When reached Tuesday, the coach was in Akron, Ohio, for the LeBron Skills Academy, a Nike event. He and assistant Larry Harrison had already visited the adidas Take 5ive Classic in Cincinnati. Assistant Erik Martin just got off the road after a trip to Tulsa, Okla., for the 120 JUCO Elite event. Assistant Bill Hahn and Harrison were at the Reebok U Camp in Philly, where Huggins will visit today.
"I'll then go to the Eastern Invitational [in New Jersey], the [Nike] Peach Jam in Augusta [Ga.] and the Jam Fest in Morgantown,'' Huggins said.
All, by the way, by Monday, when the Morgantown event begins.
In case you forgot, Morgantown's Jam Fest is quite the boon for the state. The event, run by the Hoop Group, extends from July 14-16 for 15-to-17-year-old players.
It will also extend south of Touchdown City because of its popularity. The thing is sold out.
"We'll have about 200 teams,'' said Hoop Group spokesman Pete Kirschner. "It's the biggest it's been in recent years. We've expanded from playing just in Morgantown to Fairmont. Some of the games will be at Fairmont State, which is great.''
Kirschner said among the high-profile AAU teams in town will be D.C. Assault.
While many hoopers will be heading to Morgantown, two have bolted - to Taiwan.
Mountaineer forwards Da'Sean Butler and Wellington Smith have departed to tour there as part of an Athletes in Action all-star team. As Alex Ruoff and ex-Mountaineer Darris Nichols did last season, Butler and Smith will begin competing for the Jones Cup later this week.
Huggins said NCAA tournament hero Cam Thoroughman is struggling since knee surgery.
"He's rehabbing it," said the coach, "but he can't play on it until school [resumes].''
Hmm. So might Thoroughman's basketball career be finished?
"It depends on how [the knee] responds when he can play again,'' Huggins said.
According to WVU representative Bryan Messerly, the Coliseum floor is now shut down while the new scoreboard is being installed. Messerly said the project is expected to take a month.
While the theme seems to be WVU athletics, I figured we might as well touch on football.
So I checked with the Doc, who was on the move from his hometown of Hurricane back to Morgantown.
Associate head coach Doc Holliday spent a couple days visiting relatives in the Kanawha Valley, but promised the Mountaineer staff hasn't slowed in regard to recruiting.
"I think we have 10 commitments,'' Holliday said. "Now we're waiting for the right ones. We could take more commitments as we speak, but we can be more selective now.
"We've not slowed down. We're working just as hard as ever. There are just a lot of good kids out there who won't commit until January.''
And finally . . .
A few column curves. Or, rather, fastballs. Baseball rather than WVU.
Most sports fans probably know about Milwaukee's bold trade with Cleveland to obtain pitcher CC (he's asked that no periods be between the letters) Sabathia.
Well, USA Today broke down the trade. The big fish landed by Cleveland was ex-West Virginia Power hitter Matt LaPorta. But there were two other pitchers dished to the Indians: Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson.
"As for the pitchers,'' said the newspaper article, "left-handed Jackson is closer to contributing, but the better pitching prospect is Bryson. Bryson, 20, is a right-handed strikeout pitcher who projects as a late-inning reliever and has struck out 73 in 55 innings at Class A [Charleston] West Virginia.''
According to Power announcer Andy "Bull'' Barch, Bryson found out about the trade after Sunday's game and did not make the current road trip.
Barch said Bryson tried his hand at starting this season, but didn't like it and went back to the bullpen.
"He has a nice fastball,'' Barch said. "I just hope they want to keep him coming out of the 'pen. He has the stuff to be a big-league reliever.''
Milwaukee already has one pitcher with a West Virginia connection: Lewisburg native Seth McClung, 5-4 with a 4.15 earned run average. McClung was in danger of losing his spot in the rotation because of Sabathia, but Jeff Suppan went on the disabled list.
Oh yes, and you may remember a recent, short baseball note on ex-Nitro High athlete J.R. House. To update, House, now with the Houston Astros' Round Rock affiliate, did not make the Pacific Coast League squad for the Triple-A all-star event.
It was tough luck for the ex-Wildcat and WVU quarterback because he led Round Rock in hitting heading into Tuesday's action with a .317 average. No other Express player was hitting .300.
Reach sports editor Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.
YE OLDE (stuffed) notebook:
On Tuesday, WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins received his second commitment for the class of 2010: Storm Stanley, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center from Toledo, Ohio.
Stanley, a standout for St. Francis DeSales High, has been ranked Ohio's No. 32 sophomore prospect by Hoopsfan.com.
To get a better scoop, though, a call was placed to WVU's first 2010 commitment: Poca's Noah Cottrill. Both play for the AAU Ohio Basketball Club.
"[Stanley is] a great kid," Cottrill said. "He's big and young. He's got a lot to learn, but Coach Huggins can turn him into a great player.''
Word is, Stanley has a 4.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. He's said to be a pup by insiders, but one with strength, big shoulders and good hands.
There's been a rumor floating around that new Board of Governors vice chairman Drew Payne of Charleston pledged $20 million for the proposed WVU basketball practice facility.
When reached Tuesday, however, Payne said that is not true.
"I've not done that,'' he said. "I am trying to help raise the money, though. It's definitely needed. The Coliseum is overused.''
Another source, who asked not to be identified, said WVU has $4 million of the necessary $25 million in hand to build the facility. Much more, however, is expected to roll in soon.
It's that time of year. For basketball Jams. And Fests. And Classics.
Time for WVU's Huggins to fly.
The NCAA calls it the "summer evaluation'' period, which extends through the end of July. In reality, well, it's a cattle call - for the nation's better high school hoopers to show their wares.
And where there's a ware, there's a Huggins.
When reached Tuesday, the coach was in Akron, Ohio, for the LeBron Skills Academy, a Nike event. He and assistant Larry Harrison had already visited the adidas Take 5ive Classic in Cincinnati. Assistant Erik Martin just got off the road after a trip to Tulsa, Okla., for the 120 JUCO Elite event. Assistant Bill Hahn and Harrison were at the Reebok U Camp in Philly, where Huggins will visit today.
"I'll then go to the Eastern Invitational [in New Jersey], the [Nike] Peach Jam in Augusta [Ga.] and the Jam Fest in Morgantown,'' Huggins said.
All, by the way, by Monday, when the Morgantown event begins.
In case you forgot, Morgantown's Jam Fest is quite the boon for the state. The event, run by the Hoop Group, extends from July 14-16 for 15-to-17-year-old players.
It will also extend south of Touchdown City because of its popularity. The thing is sold out.
"We'll have about 200 teams,'' said Hoop Group spokesman Pete Kirschner. "It's the biggest it's been in recent years. We've expanded from playing just in Morgantown to Fairmont. Some of the games will be at Fairmont State, which is great.''
Kirschner said among the high-profile AAU teams in town will be D.C. Assault.
While many hoopers will be heading to Morgantown, two have bolted - to Taiwan.
Mountaineer forwards Da'Sean Butler and Wellington Smith have departed to tour there as part of an Athletes in Action all-star team. As Alex Ruoff and ex-Mountaineer Darris Nichols did last season, Butler and Smith will begin competing for the Jones Cup later this week.
Huggins said NCAA tournament hero Cam Thoroughman is struggling since knee surgery.
"He's rehabbing it," said the coach, "but he can't play on it until school [resumes].''
Hmm. So might Thoroughman's basketball career be finished?
"It depends on how [the knee] responds when he can play again,'' Huggins said.
According to WVU representative Bryan Messerly, the Coliseum floor is now shut down while the new scoreboard is being installed. Messerly said the project is expected to take a month.
While the theme seems to be WVU athletics, I figured we might as well touch on football.
So I checked with the Doc, who was on the move from his hometown of Hurricane back to Morgantown.
Associate head coach Doc Holliday spent a couple days visiting relatives in the Kanawha Valley, but promised the Mountaineer staff hasn't slowed in regard to recruiting.
"I think we have 10 commitments,'' Holliday said. "Now we're waiting for the right ones. We could take more commitments as we speak, but we can be more selective now.
"We've not slowed down. We're working just as hard as ever. There are just a lot of good kids out there who won't commit until January.''
And finally . . .
A few column curves. Or, rather, fastballs. Baseball rather than WVU.
Most sports fans probably know about Milwaukee's bold trade with Cleveland to obtain pitcher CC (he's asked that no periods be between the letters) Sabathia.
Well, USA Today broke down the trade. The big fish landed by Cleveland was ex-West Virginia Power hitter Matt LaPorta. But there were two other pitchers dished to the Indians: Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson.
"As for the pitchers,'' said the newspaper article, "left-handed Jackson is closer to contributing, but the better pitching prospect is Bryson. Bryson, 20, is a right-handed strikeout pitcher who projects as a late-inning reliever and has struck out 73 in 55 innings at Class A [Charleston] West Virginia.''
According to Power announcer Andy "Bull'' Barch, Bryson found out about the trade after Sunday's game and did not make the current road trip.
Barch said Bryson tried his hand at starting this season, but didn't like it and went back to the bullpen.
"He has a nice fastball,'' Barch said. "I just hope they want to keep him coming out of the 'pen. He has the stuff to be a big-league reliever.''
Milwaukee already has one pitcher with a West Virginia connection: Lewisburg native Seth McClung, 5-4 with a 4.15 earned run average. McClung was in danger of losing his spot in the rotation because of Sabathia, but Jeff Suppan went on the disabled list.
Oh yes, and you may remember a recent, short baseball note on ex-Nitro High athlete J.R. House. To update, House, now with the Houston Astros' Round Rock affiliate, did not make the Pacific Coast League squad for the Triple-A all-star event.
It was tough luck for the ex-Wildcat and WVU quarterback because he led Round Rock in hitting heading into Tuesday's action with a .317 average. No other Express player was hitting .300.
Reach sports editor Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.
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And always...Remember the Sugar Bowl!!