Ye olde notebook:
I had a chance to catch up with WVU athletic director Shane Lyons on Monday.
He has been flying under the radar since extending Dana Holgorsen's contract. And he's been also flying to places like Nashville, where the NCAA and Power 5 leagues met last week.
"The main thing we dealt with there was time demands on student-athletes," Lyons said. "We got that where we want. Provides a little more flexibility and a better understanding for the student-athletes."
Athletes are now assured of one day off a week during a season, 14 days off immediately after a season ends and two days off each week during the off-season.
"A day off is truly a day off," Lyons said. "In the past we could call a travel day the day off. The only exemption now is for life skills activities. In other words, if we hold a mandatory Wednesday night gambling seminar for all athletes and Wednesday is, say, the off-night for women's basketball, they'd still be required to go."
All student-athletes will also be given a clear-cut "time management plan" by the schools.
"We'll have more transparency," Lyons said.
Other items discussed were adding a 10th football coach, the early December signing date and summer camps. Marshall's Mike Hamrick, by the way, is on the NCAA's football oversight committee.
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Lyons said while Holgorsen, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital have all been signed, he'll try to have the rest of the assistants' new contracts buttoned up "later this month or right after the [letter-of-intent recruiting] signing date."
Perhaps, however, the biggest news to come from the conversation was Lyons' announcement that part of the Coliseum's renovations will be delayed.
"Phase II, the [Americans with Disabilities Act] seating, will be completed after this [basketball] season," said the AD. "Ultimately, our plans are to put in suites as well. We have to remove our weight room [in the Coliseum] and replace it [in front of the Shell Building]. But we've had overruns. That all could be delayed another season until all the dominoes fall into place."
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Lyons mentioned the football signing date. We're just a little over a week from that.
And according to the national recruiting services, WVU and Marshall have much work to do in a short time.
The site 247 Sports, for instance, says the Mountaineers' current 2017 class is No. 56 overall (as of Monday afternoon) and eighth among the Big 12 schools. Oklahoma is No. 6 overall, followed by Texas (26), Oklahoma State (33), Texas Tech (36), Baylor (43), Iowa State (46) and TCU (52). Yes, Baylor, fresh off its scandal, is ranked above West Virginia. Only Kansas (68) and Kansas State (71) were ranked lower.
(Note, too, the Big 12's recent recruiting woes appear to be continuing.)
If you follow WVU recruiting at all, you probably know the Mountaineers "parted ways" with top recruit Mike Harley Jr. That oddly came after a visit to Morgantown and after Harley posted this on Twitter: "After Having a Conversation With God & My Family I've decided to re-open my recruitment."
So WVU sat at No. 56, according to 247Sports, on Monday. It was also No. 51, according to Rivals, and No. 54, according to Scout.
Marshall was No. 124, according to 247Sports, and tied at No. 108, according to Scout.
Yikes.
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It'll be interesting to see how WVU's men's basketball team responds to its recent losses.
On Tuesday, Kansas visits Morgantown and although the Jayhawks are No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, they are No. 1 in the coaches' poll. So the Mountaineers have a chance to take down two No. 1 teams at home this season.
The problem for WVU is it looks vastly different than it did a week ago. After stunningly falling to Oklahoma at home and then to Kansas State on the road, the Mountaineers tumbled from No. 7 all the way down to No. 18 in the polls.
That's a shame because it's tough to garner enough national respect to be placed in the Top 10. Just ask Maryland, which is 17-2 yet just climbed to No. 22 in the AP poll.
And now WVU will have to corral KU's Frank Mason III, currently battling Villanova's Josh Hart and UCLA's Lonzo Ball for national player of the year honors.
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And finally...
We found the answer to a reader's question.
Yes, the Lambert Trophy, bestowed upon the best football team in the East, still lives. It was finally given to Penn State, the 30th such trophy for the Nittany Lions, on Monday.
Of course, PSU teams coached by Rip Engle and Joe Paterno won many of those.
Yet the first Lambert Trophy for the school?
That went to the 1947 team coached by Bob Higgins.
Or, as I called him, "Higgy Bear."
Have a terrific day.