Ye olde notebook:
A meeting many have awaited begins Thursday in Irving, Texas.
“It's the annual gathering of the Big 12 presidents, athletic directors and others involved,” said WVU president E. Gordon Gee. “In addition to the normal conference business, we'll be reviewing data developed by our consultants regarding potential future expansion of the conference.”
Of course, many schools hopeful of elevating to Power 5 conference status will be awaiting word. As I've written, at the very least, expect the Big 12 to make a decision on whether to make a decision.
Yet there are some interesting dynamics. You might recall a column I wrote last July pointing out there are only three members of the Big 12's “Composition Committee.” One is Gee. One is Oklahoma president David Boren. And, yes, the other is or was Baylor's Kenneth Starr, who has been moved from his post as school president in light of the recent football sexual assault investigation.
“I hope Ken will be present,” Gee said Tuesday.
It'll be interesting. Starr is still employed by BU, but is now chancellor and a professor of the law school there. According to the school, his “operational responsibilities have been removed.”
Whatever the case, as Gee said, Big 12 leaders will be “reviewing data” in regard to possible expansion. And here's one more nugget of information:
You know how Gee has long been a proponent of expansion? Well, here's what he said on Tuesday.
“I am going to listen carefully [to the data presented],” he said, “to finally make up my mind.”
Draw from that what you will.
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Back in April, Mountain East commissioner Reid Amos said a decision on whether to keep the league's basketball tournament in Charleston could be determined and announced in May.
As you might know, today is June 1.
“City of Charleston officials requested more time to develop a revised proposal for the final year [2016] of the existing contract,” Amos said. “We expect to review a revised proposal soon.”
In the league's last tournament visit to the Capital City, complaints were made about support, effort and contractual promises that were not kept. The city and league were finishing the second year of a three-year agreement, but a clause within allows for an early exit now.
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Last Friday, I wrote of standout WVU baseball recruit Alek Manoah, a right-handed pitcher and fine hitting first baseman from South Dade High in Miami, Florida.
Understandably, cynics wrote to me claiming Manoah would get taken in the Major League baseball draft and never step foot in Morgantown. Which, as I wrote last week, certainly could happen.
Then Manoah's mother emailed me, asking for a hard copy of the column. In my response, I put the question to her, a legal assistant in a Coral Gables, Florida, law firm.
“Hopefully, to answer your question, there is a high probability he will be attending WVU starting this fall,” wrote Susana Manoah.
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It's always fun to follow along with a highly regarded local athlete. And we've been doing so here with South Charleston High football player Derrek Pitts for a while.
It all started with a scholarship offer from Auburn. Others piled up from schools like Clemson, Florida, Marshall, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
The latest?
“South Carolina has offered,” Pitts said Tuesday.
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I keep hearing whispers linking WVU's basketball program and Cleveland, Ohio, East Technical point guard Markell Johnson, a four-star recruit who has been trying to reclassify from 2017 to 2016.
Johnson has been offered by schools like Ohio State, Florida and Louisville, but, according to recruiting site 24/7, is “warm” on WVU and Xavier. That would be a lift for the Mountaineers, but, again, someone would have to leave the current roster. Perhaps WVU hopes he reclassifies back to 2017.
Also, names are starting to populate the 2018 wish list for coach Bob Huggins. Among them are 6-foot-10 center Dave McCormick of Norfolk [Virginia] Academy; 6-6 Kyle Young of Jackson High in Massillon, Ohio; 6-8 Khavon Moore of Westside High in Macon, Georgia; and 6-8 Jairus Hamilton of Concord, North Carolina.
All have plenty of offers. Hamilton, a four-star recruit, recently landed one from North Carolina. He's on Andrew Wiggins' Team Loaded traveling team. Moore, meanwhile, is rated one of the nation's Top 15 2018 players by almost every rating service.
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It was nice to see Greenbrier tennis professional Terry Deremer honored by his alma mater, Fairmont State — as a baseball player.
Yep. In case you didn't know, Deremer, who once coached tennis at WVU, was a two-time all-West Virginia Conference player for the Falcons and played three seasons of minor league ball in the New York Mets organization.
FSU had Deremer throw out the first pitch on senior day.
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And finally...
Four-star WVU football signee Brendan Ferns already has memorabilia on eBay — courtesy of the U.S. Army All-America game.
You read correctly. Representatives of the game make selected participants each sign 500 cards or pieces of memorabilia before taking part in the January game, according to Ferns' father Mike. Those items are then sold “to offset the cost of the game” on Ebay. One Ferns item goes for $79.99.
Check it out. You'll see the Leaf “gridiron sets... this time with a chromium finish. Each box promises eight autographs from some of the top names in high school football.”
Oh, and no, the players aren't compensated, Ferns said, except in cards.
Hmm. Anyone have Ed O'Bannon's cell number?