Ye olde notebook:
What went around apparently is coming around again.
Former West Virginia University football captain John Thornton once made his way from Philadelphia to Morgantown, excelled and was taken in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans. He spent 10 years in the NFL with the Titans and Cincinnati Bengals before becoming an agent.
Well, don't look now, but there's a player named Jalen Thronton that's emerging as a very nice prospect. And, yes, it's John's 16-year old son.
Marshall's Doc Holliday, who coached Thornton at WVU, has already offered Jalen, an offensive and defensive lineman for Indian Hills High School in Cincinnati. As a freshman, Jalen Thornton was a running back and middle linebacker before blossoming into one of the team's biggest varsity players last season. He was an all-league selection on defense.
Oh, and if you're wondering if WVU is involved, John said his son is attending a one-day camp in Morgantown this coming Thursday.
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While on the subject of blasts from the past, WVU football fans might remember Dan Kendra, who played quarterback for Bobby Bowden in Morgantown and was an All-East selection. They also might remember his son of the same name was one of the nation's most highly recruited QBs, landing with Bowden at Florida State.
Well, Kendra Sr. was recently inducted into the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) All-Star Classic Hall of Fame. He's been a longtime Bethlehem Catholic assistant coach.
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Associated Press college football writer Ralph Russo asked a neat question on Twitter the other day: In the poll-era (1936-present) has any school had a trio of coaches better than Oklahoma with Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and recently retired Bob Stoops?
I chimed in with Notre Dame's Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz or Alabama's Bear Bryant, Frank Thomas and Nick Saban.
Some countered that Thomas should be replaced on the list with Gene Stallings. And it made me smile.
See, once upon a time, a young sports writer was on late-night deadline in the Morgantown Dominion Post office when a call came in. WVU was finishing off a 5-6 1995 season and there was speculation Don Nehlen might be on his way out. (He wasn't and rebounded the next year with an 8-4 season and coached through 2000.)
Anyway, a stringer in the office answered and told that young sports writer (me) someone wanted to talk about Nehlen's situation. I said I didn't have time at the moment, but tell the caller he could try back the next day.
Later, I asked who called.
"I don't know," said the part-time worker. "Some guy named Gene Stallings."
He never called back.
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Here's a piece of trivia you might not know: Wisconsin head football coach Paul Chryst is considered part of Nehlen's coaching tree.
It's true. Back in 1989-90, Chryst began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Nehlen at WVU before moving to the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football. (In 2016, by the way, he was honored as the Big Ten Coach of the Year.)
Others on Nehlen's coaching tree include Marshall's Holliday, ex-Purdue coach Darrell Hazell, ex-Oklahoma State coach Bob Simmons and, yes, Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez.
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I saw the Pittsburgh Steelers released ex-WVU running back Rushel Shell the other day, replacing him with Brandon Brown-Dukes.
It's an unfortunate twist for a player that had many in his playing career. Of course, Shell was the most prolific rusher in Pennsylvania high school history and a hot national recruit before choosing Pitt and, subsequently, West Virginia. With the Mountaineers he never managed to reach 800 rushing yards.
Now, he hasn't managed to even make training camp with the Steelers. He was replaced on the roster by a back from Mercyhurst.
Let's hope there's at least one more football life yet for Shell.
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And finally...
WVU's basketball team will again meet Purdue for a closed preseason practice. It will be held in Columbus, Ohio, and will be closed to fans and the media. Last season they met at Ohio Dominican University.
In announcing the meeting, Purdue coach Matt Painter had some very nice things to say about the Mountaineers.
"If they're going to keep playing us, we'll keep playing them," Painter told the Journal & Courier. "There's no way to walk out of there, no matter what happens, and not be a better basketball team. They just force you to play in a helter-skelter environment. You've got to be able to keep your composure but you've also got to be able to compete.
"We weren't ready for that last year - we just weren't. But it also got us pretty close to being able to beat Villanova."
Higher praise for a team would be hard to find.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.