It's been over a year now since Auburn's coaches woke up Mountain State sports fans by offering South Charleston's Derrek Pitts a football scholarship.
Now?
"I'm up to 20," Pitts said of his offers. "Maybe it's 22."
The man can't even keep count. Nice problem to have, right?
"Yes sir," he laughed. "The latest came from Florida."
Here's a partial list of Pitts' offers, in alphabetical order: Auburn, Charlotte, Clemson, Florida, Marshall, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Did I mention Arizona?
"Yes sir, I spoke to Coach [Rich] Rodriguez," Pitts said. "He told me he coached in West Virginia, likes the talent in West Virginia and would like to get to know me better."
Pitts said speaking to some of the nation's more well-known coaches is the neatest part of recruiting. He's enjoyed talking to WVU's Dana Holgorsen. ("He's real cool," Pitts said.) The Mountaineers are projecting Pitts as a spur linebacker. And, yes, he said, the Mountaineers are in the race for his services.
The next step in his decision-making process?
"I don't know," Pitts said. "I might commit on my birthday."
That would be Aug. 8, a Monday.
n Pitts isn't the only hot defensive recruit in the Kanawha Valley. Capital's Dorian Etheridge now has a nice list of schools from which to pick.
According to Cougars coach Jon Carpenter, Etheridge, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound linebacker, has offers on the table from Louisville, Marshall, Maryland, Pitt, Virginia Tech and WVU. He visited South Carolina last Saturday. Ohio State assistant Luke Fickell, among others, visited Charleston in the past.
n Former WVU lineman and current NFL agent John Thornton sent forth an interesting message via Twitter this week.
In reply to draft analyst's Todd McShay's latest mock draft, Thornton tweeted that his second-round "sleeper" is former Mountaineer Nick Kwiatkoski.
When reached, Thornton affirmed that, yes, Kwiatkoski, his client, has a shot to be drafted that high.
"He's a top-three middle linebacker," Thornton said. "[Draft analyst Mel] Kiper has him as the No. 5 inside linebacker."
Thornton, now with Octagon Sports, is faring well this year representing linebackers. He also has probable top-five pick Myles Jack from UCLA.
n Spoke to Herbert Hoover football coach Tim Meyer the other day and asked about Shaun Dotson. You might remember that I wrote about Dotson, aka the "Elkview Blind Side" story, back in 2014. The former football player was taken in and cared for by Dremala and Roger Nickels in Pinch.
Well, Dotson isn't playing football these days, but he's doing well.
"I'm leaving for basic training on Tuesday," Dotson said. "I enlisted in the Air Force, so I'll be gone for eight months. When I get back, I'm going to college."
Great to hear.
n And finally . . .
WVU fans might remember the panic that surfaced when Eron Harris and Terry Henderson transferred out of the Mountaineer basketball program.
Harris went to Michigan State. Henderson went to North Carolina State. Then, before the season, hoops analyst Jeff Goodman labeled Harris the nation's No. 1 transfer.
So how have they fared?
Well, while Harris was sitting out after transferring, he was arrested on alcohol-related charges. Then, this season, he was a cog in the Spartans' second-place Big Ten finish. (As I did when writing of WVU the other day, I'll skip over how MSU fared against Middle Tennessee State.)
But get this: Harris averaged more minutes played in both of his seasons at WVU (22 and 31.4 to 20.9), attempted more shots (7.3 and 12.7 to 7.1) and averaged more points (9.8 and 17.2 to 9.3).
At North Carolina State, Henderson was first arrested after a pellet gun incident, sat out his required season and then, in his first game this season, blew out an ankle. He'll be a redshirt senior next season after just seven minutes of action this season. At WVU, he averaged 9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 23.4 minutes per game. The Wolfpack suffered other injuries and finished 16-17.
Thus your Sunday buffet.