Ah, the sight of social media transfer news in the morning ...
The college basketball season still has the Final Four to go, but already missives about transfers are flying. Check your local Twitter and you'll see Florida guard DeVon Walker is transferring out. Ditto Arizona guard Justin Simon and Memphis guard Avery Woodson. New Mexico's Cullen Neal will visit Ohio State. Penn's Tony Hicks is headed to Louisville.
Has WVU received any inquiries?
"A bunch," said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins.
"At least two or three calls and emails a day," said Huggins' assistant Ron Everhart.
The Mountaineers, though, have no openings, according to their head coach. He doesn't expect any of his current players to leave, either.
Of course, we've seen Huggins caught by surprise in the past. But WVU should be strong again next season after losing just Jon Holton, Jaysean Paige and popular walk-on Richard Romeo. Also, if players like Teyvon Myers and Brandon Watkins wanted to leave they'd have to sit out to play just one more season. Elijah Macon will be 23 in November.
That said, all the WVU players were told in a recent meeting to make sure their academic affairs are in order or risk losing their spots.
We shall see.
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When WVU fell to Stephen F. Austin in the NCAA tournament, it was undoubtedly a blow to the Mountaineers' collective head. Yet there's a nice piece of news to report in regard to the team.
According to Everhart and (almost) confirmed by National Association of Basketball Coaches representative Rick Leddy, Paige has been selected to play in the Reese's College All-Star Game at the Final Four. (Leddy said the "rosters haven't been finalized, but I'd say Paige is a pretty safe bet." Everhart, meanwhile, said Paige is flying out Tuesday.) The event will be played in Houston at the NRG Stadium on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The game will be staged after the Final Four teams practice Friday and consist of "22 of the top seniors in the country," according to Leddy.
NBA legends Doug Collins will coach the East team, while John Lucas will coach the West.
There was also a Division II version of the game held in Frisco, Texas, at the Dr. Pepper Center. Among the participants in that was Wheeling Jesuit's Eric Seifert, a 6-foot-4 guard.
Seifert fared well, scoring 15 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing 3 assists in his team's 120-107 victory. The former Cardinals player was his all-star team's fourth-leading scorer.
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While on the topic of basketball, let's touch on the touchy subject of officiating.
A recent CBS Sports article claims that "Rules changes have made college basketball fun to watch again." The claim is college hoops is more free-flowing offensively and more wide open.
In case you're unaware, the shot clock was shortened from 35 to 30 seconds. Officials were instructed to crack down on physical play. Defenders can no longer get a five-second call against a dribbler. And the number of timeouts allowed were reduced.
Stats back some of the claims that play improved. Division I scoring went up from the horrid 67.6 point average of last season to 73 this season. And rushed shots? Turnovers across the board went up just one percent.
I spoke to an area official and put it to him. (He spoke on the condition of anonymity because, well, the NCAA is uptight.) Has the game been better?
"Yes," he said. "The freedom of movement has been great. Plus, you've had consistency in calls from the first part of the season to the end. Some thought there would be a drop off the later we got in the season, but there really hasn't been."
I might have figured out why. Back in January the NCAA itself published a piece on the topic. The organization pointed out that when 2014-15 ended, scoring had dropped for the 14th time in 21 years and set a six-decade low point for the second time in three years.
So the goal was to reduce physical play. And within the piece was a line that said NCAA tournament officials would be selected and advance based on "their consistent application of the directive to reduce physical play."
WVU fans can chew on that. (There's also this for card-carrying-conspiracy theorists: Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione, whose Sooners are in the Final Four, has been the chair of the D-I men's basketball committee.)
Anyway, the official said, yes, he and others were told about the directive last October in clinics. And he personally liked the change, saying college hoops "became more of a finesse game" with "more efficient possessions."
"I thought there would be a push-back, but there really wasn't," he concluded. "Kids responded. I mean, you could tell they were frustrated at times, but I think they began to understand. You play defense with your feet, not your hands."
Something to consider, anyway, when you're screaming at your TV.