MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think while wondering if Bob Huggins might have learned a thing or two from Rick Pitino over the weekend:
Pitino, of course, made quite the fashion statement Saturday night when he joined in Louisville's "whiteout'' promotion by wearing a white suit. Or at least he wore it during a first half in which his Cardinals managed only 16 shots, scored 23 points and looked like there was no way they were going to beat Georgetown.
Even gutsier than wearing a white suit - does the term "secure in your masculinity" come to mind? - was Pitino's decision to admit his mistake and change out of it at halftime. And no, I don't buy the spilled-something-on-it excuse, either.
If that's all it took, though, there were 10,000 people at the Coliseum two weeks ago for the Cincinnati game, any of whom would have gleefully spilled anything they had on Huggins' gold suit.
One down, one more to go.
West Virginia has reportedly received, albeit a few days late, the letter of intent it expected last Wednesday from Terence Kerns. The school is apparently waiting for one more straggler before wrapping up the football recruiting class.
Well, OK, straggler probably isn't the right word to describe 6-foot-4, 325-pound Benji Kemoeatu, but the Hawaiian offensive lineman's letter still isn't in hand. There's nothing to indicate Kemoeatu isn't coming, though. His parents just haven't been around to sign the letter, as required by NCAA rules.
Those will be two pretty big additions to the class. Kerns is a 225-pound tailback who played at Thomas Johnson High School in Maryland, committed to WVU last year and then went to Hargrave Military Academy when he didn't qualify academically. He still hasn't qualified, but can do so with a solid semester, a better test score or a combination of both.
Kemoeatu, who had committed to Utah and was being heavily recruited by Oregon State, has two brothers in the NFL. Chris is a backup offensive lineman with the Steelers and Ma'ake is a starting defensive tackle with the Panthers. Both played at Utah.
Kemoeatu, by the way, hasn't qualified either, but no one seems to think he won't.
Before anyone gets the notion that Bill Stewart has instituted a zero-tolerance policy on West Virginia's football players, take a step back for a moment. There are going to be transgressions committed by Mountaineers and they will not all be dealt with so swiftly and harshly.
Nor should they be.
Granted, it was a refreshing change of pace to see Stewart deal with John Holmes, James Ingram and Ed Collington the way he did, booting them off the team within 24 hours of their arrests last week. The three have been banned from even walking into the Puskar Center. Their bios were off the school's Web site within minutes of Stewart's announcement.
But had circumstances been different, the reaction by Stewart would have been, too. First and foremost, the three were charged not simply with marijuana possession but with intent to deliver. Big difference. Huge. And apparently none of the three had much in the way of a defense.
Eventually, though - and with 125 disparate personalities and backgrounds involved, it is likely to happen sooner rather than later - someone else is going to cross the legal line, be it a DUI or a bar fight or any of a number of seemingly common collegiate transgressions not limited to athletes. Fair warning: They won't all be dealt with so ruthlessly.
That having been said, Stewart also isn't likely to put up with as much as his immediate predecessors.
He agonized over the decision to dismiss the three, and with good reason. Their lives have been altered because of this, and although it can rightly be argued that they have no one to blame but themselves, it is still difficult to be the one who puts the hammer down.
There will be instances where the facts - not to mention the transgressions - are not as clear-cut. Innocent until proven guilty still plays a part. Think Duke lacrosse. Things are not always as they appear.
Still, the notion that there's a new sheriff in town isn't totally off base. The guy just isn't going to take a whole lot of crap.
To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, call 348-1734 or send e-mail to dphickm...@ao.com.
MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think while wondering if Bob Huggins might have learned a thing or two from Rick Pitino over the weekend:
Pitino, of course, made quite the fashion statement Saturday night when he joined in Louisville's "whiteout'' promotion by wearing a white suit. Or at least he wore it during a first half in which his Cardinals managed only 16 shots, scored 23 points and looked like there was no way they were going to beat Georgetown.Even gutsier than wearing a white suit - does the term "secure in your masculinity" come to mind? - was Pitino's decision to admit his mistake and change out of it at halftime. And no, I don't buy the spilled-something-on-it excuse, either.
If that's all it took, though, there were 10,000 people at the Coliseum two weeks ago for the Cincinnati game, any of whom would have gleefully spilled anything they had on Huggins' gold suit.
One down, one more to go.West Virginia has reportedly received, albeit a few days late, the letter of intent it expected last Wednesday from Terence Kerns. The school is apparently waiting for one more straggler before wrapping up the football recruiting class.
Well, OK, straggler probably isn't the right word to describe 6-foot-4, 325-pound Benji Kemoeatu, but the Hawaiian offensive lineman's letter still isn't in hand. There's nothing to indicate Kemoeatu isn't coming, though. His parents just haven't been around to sign the letter, as required by NCAA rules.
Those will be two pretty big additions to the class. Kerns is a 225-pound tailback who played at Thomas Johnson High School in Maryland, committed to WVU last year and then went to Hargrave Military Academy when he didn't qualify academically. He still hasn't qualified, but can do so with a solid semester, a better test score or a combination of both.
Kemoeatu, who had committed to Utah and was being heavily recruited by Oregon State, has two brothers in the NFL. Chris is a backup offensive lineman with the Steelers and Ma'ake is a starting defensive tackle with the Panthers. Both played at Utah.
Kemoeatu, by the way, hasn't qualified either, but no one seems to think he won't.
Before anyone gets the notion that Bill Stewart has instituted a zero-tolerance policy on West Virginia's football players, take a step back for a moment. There are going to be transgressions committed by Mountaineers and they will not all be dealt with so swiftly and harshly.Nor should they be.
Granted, it was a refreshing change of pace to see Stewart deal with John Holmes, James Ingram and Ed Collington the way he did, booting them off the team within 24 hours of their arrests last week. The three have been banned from even walking into the Puskar Center. Their bios were off the school's Web site within minutes of Stewart's announcement.
But had circumstances been different, the reaction by Stewart would have been, too. First and foremost, the three were charged not simply with marijuana possession but with intent to deliver. Big difference. Huge. And apparently none of the three had much in the way of a defense.
Eventually, though - and with 125 disparate personalities and backgrounds involved, it is likely to happen sooner rather than later - someone else is going to cross the legal line, be it a DUI or a bar fight or any of a number of seemingly common collegiate transgressions not limited to athletes. Fair warning: They won't all be dealt with so ruthlessly.
That having been said, Stewart also isn't likely to put up with as much as his immediate predecessors.He agonized over the decision to dismiss the three, and with good reason. Their lives have been altered because of this, and although it can rightly be argued that they have no one to blame but themselves, it is still difficult to be the one who puts the hammer down.
There will be instances where the facts - not to mention the transgressions - are not as clear-cut. Innocent until proven guilty still plays a part. Think Duke lacrosse. Things are not always as they appear.
Still, the notion that there's a new sheriff in town isn't totally off base. The guy just isn't going to take a whole lot of crap.
To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, call 348-1734 or send e-mail to dphickm...@ao.com.
