MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think:
When basketball recruit Kyle Cain left Morgantown, West Virginia's coaches thought they had a decent shot at landing the 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago, one of only a handful of uncommitted prospects remaining across the country.
But that was more than two weeks ago, so one has to figure that if Cain were really sold on WVU he would have pulled the trigger. Instead, he scheduled a visit to Arizona State and was supposed to be there Wednesday.
So who knows? Cain seems to enjoy the attention he is getting after being released from his letter of intent at Rhode Island. As one of the few unsigned players out there, he's getting a lot of it, much more than he likely would have gotten had he done this two months ago when he would have blended in more.
Speaking of WVU basketball, Bob Huggins was talking early last season about the high basketball IQ that he he's been blessed to find in some of the players he's recruited and some he inherited when he arrived at West Virginia just over three years ago.
He said he was particularly impressed with some of the holdovers from former coach John Beilein, who recruited very different players for a very different style of play. Recent graduates Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff came to mind, as did Da'Sean Butler and Joe Mazzulla.
"We've been very fortunate,'' Huggins said. "Darris would be a great coach. Alex certainly would be a great coach. Joe would be a great coach. Da'Sean would be a great coach. They've got a great understanding. Those guys could sit down and write down everything that John did and everything that we do. And it's not close to being the same.''
Nichols will be the first of those to get a chance. The former point guard, who spent much of the past two years trying to forge a playing career overseas, has been back in Morgantown all winter and recently rejoined the Mountaineers as a graduate assistant coach.
And finally, roughly half of West Virginia's incoming freshman football players should be on campus by this weekend. A few are already working out, including highly touted quarterback Barry Brunetti.
The rest are either still in the process of finishing their high school academics or are staying home to play in summer all-star games. They should all arrive by the start of the second six-week summer school semester on June 28.
Former coach Rich Rodriguez never told kids they couldn't play in all-star games, but he never exactly encouraged it, either. Bill Stewart probably would rather they were already in Morgantown, but he's more than willing to wait a couple of weeks.
"I've said it before, I'm not going to tell a kid he can't play in an all-star game,'' Stewart said. "People say they're taking a chance of getting hurt, but you can get hurt coming down the stairs. Get out there and play and have fun. You only get one chance.''
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Basketball recruiting, hoops IQ, all-star OK
MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think:
When basketball recruit Kyle Cain left Morgantown, West Virginia's coaches thought they had a decent shot at landing the 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago, one of only a handful of uncommitted prospects remaining across the country.
But that was more than two weeks ago, so one has to figure that if Cain were really sold on WVU he would have pulled the trigger. Instead, he scheduled a visit to Arizona State and was supposed to be there Wednesday.
So who knows? Cain seems to enjoy the attention he is getting after being released from his letter of intent at Rhode Island. As one of the few unsigned players out there, he's getting a lot of it, much more than he likely would have gotten had he done this two months ago when he would have blended in more.
Speaking of WVU basketball, Bob Huggins was talking early last season about the high basketball IQ that he he's been blessed to find in some of the players he's recruited and some he inherited when he arrived at West Virginia just over three years ago.
He said he was particularly impressed with some of the holdovers from former coach John Beilein, who recruited very different players for a very different style of play. Recent graduates Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff came to mind, as did Da'Sean Butler and Joe Mazzulla.
"We've been very fortunate,'' Huggins said. "Darris would be a great coach. Alex certainly would be a great coach. Joe would be a great coach. Da'Sean would be a great coach. They've got a great understanding. Those guys could sit down and write down everything that John did and everything that we do. And it's not close to being the same.''
Nichols will be the first of those to get a chance. The former point guard, who spent much of the past two years trying to forge a playing career overseas, has been back in Morgantown all winter and recently rejoined the Mountaineers as a graduate assistant coach.
And finally, roughly half of West Virginia's incoming freshman football players should be on campus by this weekend. A few are already working out, including highly touted quarterback Barry Brunetti.
The rest are either still in the process of finishing their high school academics or are staying home to play in summer all-star games. They should all arrive by the start of the second six-week summer school semester on June 28.
Former coach Rich Rodriguez never told kids they couldn't play in all-star games, but he never exactly encouraged it, either. Bill Stewart probably would rather they were already in Morgantown, but he's more than willing to wait a couple of weeks.
"I've said it before, I'm not going to tell a kid he can't play in an all-star game,'' Stewart said. "People say they're taking a chance of getting hurt, but you can get hurt coming down the stairs. Get out there and play and have fun. You only get one chance.''
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MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think:
When basketball recruit Kyle Cain left Morgantown, West Virginia's coaches thought they had a decent shot at landing the 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago, one of only a handful of uncommitted prospects remaining across the country.
But that was more than two weeks ago, so one has to figure that if Cain were really sold on WVU he would have pulled the trigger. Instead, he scheduled a visit to Arizona State and was supposed to be there Wednesday.
So who knows? Cain seems to enjoy the attention he is getting after being released from his letter of intent at Rhode Island. As one of the few unsigned players out there, he's getting a lot of it, much more than he likely would have gotten had he done this two months ago when he would have blended in more.
Speaking of WVU basketball, Bob Huggins was talking early last season about the high basketball IQ that he he's been blessed to find in some of the players he's recruited and some he inherited when he arrived at West Virginia just over three years ago.
He said he was particularly impressed with some of the holdovers from former coach John Beilein, who recruited very different players for a very different style of play. Recent graduates Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff came to mind, as did Da'Sean Butler and Joe Mazzulla.
"We've been very fortunate,'' Huggins said. "Darris would be a great coach. Alex certainly would be a great coach. Joe would be a great coach. Da'Sean would be a great coach. They've got a great understanding. Those guys could sit down and write down everything that John did and everything that we do. And it's not close to being the same.''
Nichols will be the first of those to get a chance. The former point guard, who spent much of the past two years trying to forge a playing career overseas, has been back in Morgantown all winter and recently rejoined the Mountaineers as a graduate assistant coach.
And finally, roughly half of West Virginia's incoming freshman football players should be on campus by this weekend. A few are already working out, including highly touted quarterback Barry Brunetti.
The rest are either still in the process of finishing their high school academics or are staying home to play in summer all-star games. They should all arrive by the start of the second six-week summer school semester on June 28.
Former coach Rich Rodriguez never told kids they couldn't play in all-star games, but he never exactly encouraged it, either. Bill Stewart probably would rather they were already in Morgantown, but he's more than willing to wait a couple of weeks.
"I've said it before, I'm not going to tell a kid he can't play in an all-star game,'' Stewart said. "People say they're taking a chance of getting hurt, but you can get hurt coming down the stairs. Get out there and play and have fun. You only get one chance.''
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Basketball recruiting, hoops IQ, all-star OK
MORGANTOWN - Odds and ends and a few things I think I think:
When basketball recruit Kyle Cain left Morgantown, West Virginia's coaches thought they had a decent shot at landing the 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago, one of only a handful of uncommitted prospects remaining across the country.
But that was more than two weeks ago, so one has to figure that if Cain were really sold on WVU he would have pulled the trigger. Instead, he scheduled a visit to Arizona State and was supposed to be there Wednesday.
So who knows? Cain seems to enjoy the attention he is getting after being released from his letter of intent at Rhode Island. As one of the few unsigned players out there, he's getting a lot of it, much more than he likely would have gotten had he done this two months ago when he would have blended in more.
Speaking of WVU basketball, Bob Huggins was talking early last season about the high basketball IQ that he he's been blessed to find in some of the players he's recruited and some he inherited when he arrived at West Virginia just over three years ago.
He said he was particularly impressed with some of the holdovers from former coach John Beilein, who recruited very different players for a very different style of play. Recent graduates Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff came to mind, as did Da'Sean Butler and Joe Mazzulla.
"We've been very fortunate,'' Huggins said. "Darris would be a great coach. Alex certainly would be a great coach. Joe would be a great coach. Da'Sean would be a great coach. They've got a great understanding. Those guys could sit down and write down everything that John did and everything that we do. And it's not close to being the same.''
Nichols will be the first of those to get a chance. The former point guard, who spent much of the past two years trying to forge a playing career overseas, has been back in Morgantown all winter and recently rejoined the Mountaineers as a graduate assistant coach.
And finally, roughly half of West Virginia's incoming freshman football players should be on campus by this weekend. A few are already working out, including highly touted quarterback Barry Brunetti.
The rest are either still in the process of finishing their high school academics or are staying home to play in summer all-star games. They should all arrive by the start of the second six-week summer school semester on June 28.
Former coach Rich Rodriguez never told kids they couldn't play in all-star games, but he never exactly encouraged it, either. Bill Stewart probably would rather they were already in Morgantown, but he's more than willing to wait a couple of weeks.
"I've said it before, I'm not going to tell a kid he can't play in an all-star game,'' Stewart said. "People say they're taking a chance of getting hurt, but you can get hurt coming down the stairs. Get out there and play and have fun. You only get one chance.''
