The views from here:
When WVU's basketball team fell to Oklahoma State it prompted a tumble in the polls to No. 13 (Associated Press) and No. 14 (USA Today coaches).
It was yet another twist in a fine, yet perplexing Mountaineer season that's been well-chronicled.
What hasn't been as well-chronicled, however, is the plight of WVU's highest rated recruit for next season.
If you read this space, you probably know four-star big man Derek Culver of Warren G. Harding High in Ohio committed to play for Bob Huggins. You might also know that Culver's coach, Andy Vlajkovich, expressed some concerns earlier in the season and suspended the standout for a couple of games.
Publicly, anyway, all seemed better on Jan. 18 when the Tribune Chronicle in Warren reported Culver was swarmed by fans after his team's win over Canfield. Kids were taking selfies with Culver, who had just scored his 1,000th point.
The problem is, he will not be scoring any more points in high school. Three days later, Vlajkovich announced Culver "will not be with the program for the remainder of the season." The newspaper there reported he's academically ineligible.
This is a very big deal for WVU. Culver has been rated by recruiting site Rivals as Ohio's No. 1 recruit in the 2017 class.
If, however, Culver isn't even academically qualified to play high school basketball, it's doubtful he'll qualify to play in college. Huggins and staff may have to move on and find another big man in the junior colleges or take in a graduate.
It certainly bears watching.
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Rarely do you see WVU guard Jevon Carter struggling in a basketball game, but that is what happened last Saturday against Oklahoma State and guard Jawun Evans.
It was surprising because Carter has knotted up standouts like Virginia's London Perrantes and Iowa State's Monte Morris, the latter of which dropped 25 on Kansas this past Saturday.
Still, I'll, well, defend Carter and label him the best defensive guard in the Big 12. He certainly is the hardest worker.
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OK, so let's address this Huggins-falling-on-his-backside situation.
If you saw the coach take a tumble - and have a brain - you understand what happened. He went to his haunches to express disbelief in an official's call and fell backward. It was not, as CBS Sports put it, throwing himself on the floor in protest.
Look, folks, the man is 63. He has bad hips. He lost his balance. Period.
Call it embarrassing for Huggins if you wish. But what was more embarrassing is how official Kipp Kissinger and, subsequently, television networks, especially ESPN, acted.
Kissinger - who has been in many, shall we say, controversial calls regarding WVU - didn't need to call a technical on the coach. The NCAA rulebook covers many things a coach can't do - down to using a laser pointer - but it doesn't cover falling on your keister. The closest it comes is Rule 10, Article 2, which says a coach can't object to an official's decision "by rising from the bench and using gestures." Of course, were that enforced every single coach would be ejected from every single game. I suggest a better, more humane move on Kissinger's part would have been, heck, help the guy up. (Maybe it's just the way I was raised.)
And while on the subject, what kind of class did ESPN and others express by showing the fall over and over on their networks? Would they have done so if it were Mike Krzyzewski or Tom Izzo post-hip surgery?
Sometimes I really, really miss common decency.
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I checked on Arnett native and former Liberty High and Huntington Prep player Levi Cook on Monday.
In case you've forgotten, the 6-foot-10 Raleigh County native gave Huggins a commitment very early but ended up going to DePaul of the Big East.
As a freshman, Cook has played in 16 games, averaging 10.9 minutes, and is scoring an average of 3 points and grabbing 2.3 rebounds a game. The Blue Demons are 8-15.
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And finally...
I received a neat email from a distant cousin, Barry Vingle, who lives in Fairmont. Those in the area know Barry was a talented band director at Fairmont Senior.
Anyway, the email said he and his wife were at the Oklahoma State-WVU game.
"We were in line at the concession stand when [a choral group] started to sing the Star Spangled Banner on the Coliseum floor," he wrote. "Everyone in the concession lines stopped what they were doing and stood in silence. One gentleman holding a hot dog and drink placed the drink on the floor in order to take his hat off.
"Only in West Virginia."
Indeed, it's the best.