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Doug Smock: Fears of Justice interfering with Marshall athletics seemingly come to fruition

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By Doug Smock

The first thing you need to know about Jim Justice is this: He puts his big handprints on everything.

When he came out of nowhere, it seemed, to fish The Greenbrier resort out of bankruptcy, it was a head-turning event. Then he seized an opportunity to bring in a PGA Tour event, something nobody else in state ever, ever dreamed would happen.

Then came the Greenbrier Medical Institute, the sports performance center that served as the Saints' early training camp (the Texans are coming this fall), the under-construction private mountaintop golf course and several other projects.

And he coaches both basketball teams at a large school.

And now he's governor, serving up the finest … oh, never mind.

And he's still a basketball coach.

It's all good — until he tries to force change upon his alma mater.

The denials have been issued about Justice's purported desire to sack Marshall's football coach Doc Holliday, his boss and his boss' boss, and install the Thundering Herd's all-time winningest coach, Bob Pruett. Whatever you wish to believe, here are a few things to know:

n This was feared and/or half-expected in MU circles — even before Justice's election.

n This has a practical effect on the future: If Holliday has another losing season and his seat gets hotter, one eye will be focused on the governor even if he stays out of the fray.

n As part of his gubernatorial duties, Justice appoints members of MU's 16-person Board of Governors. Those terms run on a staggered basis, so Justice will make appointments yearly.

Would board members influence a football coach's hiring? I'll just say this: I heard a story or two about the selection of Mark Snyder in 2005.

n Justice isn't afraid to fire a loyal employee. I know of at least two mysterious terminations in White Sulphur Springs.

One was the departure of Monte Ortel as director of the Greenbrier Classic last year. He had been assistant tournament director from the inaugural year of 2010, and took over as director in 2013 when Tim McNeely was named athletic director at Fairmont State.

The move came right before the 2016 Memorial, where it was a hot topic among Tour officials. The golfers may not have noticed nearly as much, but many of them had met Ortel when he went to Columbus and other venues to pitch the Classic. He worked hard on that front.

Ortel now serves as director of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, a Champions Tour event that wrapped up over the weekend in Duluth, Georgia.

n The 73-year-old Pruett declared to MetroNews and The Herald-Dispatch that he has no interest in the Marshall football job. Ahmad Bradshaw couldn't run that one past me, but that's what Pruett said.

After Snyder's resignation in 2009, there were noises about a financially backed movement to restore Pruett. I have high confidence that happened and higher confidence that the president, the late Dr. Stephen J. Kopp, spiked the idea.

n Not that it matters, but I join those who request that Justice, for once, narrow his focus.

After all, neither of his basketball teams made the state tournament.

nnn

It's official: The recruiting circus has moved to December, with an early signing date to be determined. That first Wednesday in February still stands.

And now, I'll want to jab my eyeballs out twice in an eight-week span.

I guess I should accentuate the positive about the recruiting “reform” that has just passed the NCAA Division I Council and heads to the president-dominated Board of Directors. The positive of which I speak?

The apparent death of oversigning. Schools can sign 25 prospects to first-time financial aid agreements or letters of intent a year, and that's it. If somebody becomes a nonqualifier or heads to junior college, tough stuff.

Back to the negative, April 1 of a player's junior year is way too early for an official visit, especially for schools that like to bring in a prospect to their home games in the fall. Evaluation and checking academic backgrounds won't get any easier.

The worst part? That early signing day will necessarily take place in the middle of bowl preparations. The date has not been set, but conference championships will be played Dec. 1-2 and bowl games will start on Saturday the 16th, so you figure it out.

I'm predicting Wednesday the 13th, which would be about the worst day for most Group of 5 bowl participants. (Of course.)

ESPNU gets another day for 21 hours of recruiting programming, so there's that.

Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.


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