Mitch Vingle
Charleston, WV Gazette
May 18, 2006
Recruiting in Florida; State football hire
I RECENTLY wrote about West Virginia University?s recruiting pipeline to Morgantown High.
WVU's coaches have a commitment from Charlie Russell, the school's quarterback. They've offered a scholarship to Mohigan defensive end Junius Lewis. (Word, by the way, is Lewis is very close to committing to the Mountaineers.) Also, West Virginia is welcoming four MHS players this fall as walk-ons.
Impressive, right? But here's a shot of perspective that will hit you right between the eyes.
WVU's coaches have offered full rides to eight players at Glade Central High in Belle Glade, Fla.
Eight.
The Mountaineers probably have no shot at the school's biggest star, Deonte Thompson, but they were the first to offer the 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver.
They apparently have shots at 6-foot, 190-pound wide receiver Tarus McKinley, whose stock has been soaring of late, and 6-5, 330-pound offensive tackle Ernest McCoy.
WVU has also offered 6-4, 270-pound tackle Jatavious Jackson; 5-11, 200-pound defensive back Damien Berry (who will probably attend Miami, as his father Kenny did); 6-4, 335-pound lineman Maurice Bynes; 6-3, 195-pound quarterback/athlete Bryan Mann; and 6-3, 205-pound linebacker Semori Novembre.
That written, are you ready for the left cross?
Another Florida school, Lakeland High, has eight more offers from the Mountaineers.
WVU offered 5-10, 170-pound running back Chris Rainey (who appears headed to Florida); 5-10, 210-pound back Jamar Taylor; 5-10, 160-pound DB Ahmad Black; 6-1, 172-pound wideout Paul Wilson; 6-5, 221-pound tight end/defensive end Jordan Hammond; 6-2, 294-pound defensive lineman John Brown; and 6-4, 270-pound twin linemen LaShawn and James Pouncey, who appear headed to Florida State.
Of the Lakeland players, West Virginia appears to have the best shot at Wilson, the receiver.
The point, though, is two schools have 16 offers from the Mountaineers. Lakeland was the nation's No. 1 team last season, according to USA Today. Glades Central is a Top 10 team.
The Sunshine State quadrupled the four Mountain State Division I-A prospects Russell, Lewis, Nitro's Chad Snodgrass and Woodrow Wilson's Micah Carter within two schools.
No wonder D-I coaches are always packing the sun block.
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It will be interesting to hear the details of today's West Virginia State football hire.
With little financial support from State's administration, the Yellow Jackets have been floundering on the field. That led to what sources say was a shallow pool of candidates at least in the area of quality.
So it sounds as if State officials are doing what they must if, as expected, Clifford 'Kip' Shaw is the hire. They are giving a guy with no head-coaching experience a chance.
Shaw has a Board of Regents degree from State and once was a graduate assistant at Marshall. So he has local ties.
He was an assistant at Southeast Missouri State under ex-Herd assistant Tim Billings, who bolted to coach wideouts at Wake Forest.
Ex-Clarion head coach Malen Luke, another candidate, was certainly intriguing. In the brutal Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West division, Luke showed he could deal with being under-funded against richer competition. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2000.
Oh, and while Luke didn't write the book on football, he produced a video: 'Using Counter Variations in the Wing-T.'
Then there's ex-Carl Lee assistant Earl Monroe, who, by all accounts, has done a terrific job keeping the State program afloat of late.
On Tuesday, WVU associate athletic director Mike Parsons said there's been little interest from networks on nationally televising his school's football game with Marshall on Sept. 2.
On Wednesday, after a meeting with ESPN in Charlotte, N.C., Parsons said 'nothing's changed,' but added he's trying to sell it.
In a conversation earlier in the day, Big East associate commissioner Tom Odjakjian said he's 'heard nothing' on possible national exposure for the season opener. But he said to expect more than five West Virginia games to be broadcast nationally.
According to Odjakjian, WVU's non-league games at Conference USA member East Carolina and Southeastern Conference member Mississippi State have shots under the home team's TV packages.
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