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Welcome back to another edition of WVU's Where Are They Now? The weekly column that is your one-spot-stop to catch up on news that your former Mountaineers have made during the past week. I scour the internet for news, blurbs, and other tidbits about what former Mountaineers are up to in life outside of Morgantown.
It was a slow week with the NFL stuck in limbo, and Spring Practices wrapped up, but I have a Jedd Gyorko update, the former infielder that is tearing it up in the Padres farm system. Devin Ebanks reveals what role the Lakers see in him for the post-Phil Jackson era. Darius Reynaud is taking part in Camp Eli, and the weekly Marc Bulger It May Or Not Be News Update.
Devin Ebanks- The Lakers held exit interviews with the press after getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks in their second round Playoff series. Among those interviewees was Devin Ebanks. He spoke about his teammates and the condition of his injured knee (which he says is not all the way healed yet). He also talked about what instructions were given to him as far as what they want for him to work on in the off-season. I found the answer surprising and intriguing.
"They just wanted to me to obviously get better and get stronger, work on my shooting skills, become a 3/2. They'd like me at that 2 position, especially with my length and my athletic ability. So working on those key things," Ebanks said in the interview which can be viewed here. "They would like to see me there. That's one of the things we spoke about and that's one of the things they wanted me to work on, so I'm definitely going to try."
Ebanks' size, if he can make the move to shooting guard, would create matchup problems galore with opposing teams.
Darius Reynaud- During the NFL Lockout, players are not permitted to take part in offseason workouts organized by their teams. This is the time of year, in the weeks following the NFL Draft, that players would take part in OTAs. Since that is not allowed, there are leaders of some teams that are organizing workouts for any teammate that wants to pay their own dime to attend. Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints is the player that has made the most news about this. New York Giant quarterback, Eli Manning, is holding informal workouts at for the second week at Hoboken High School. The camp is being dubbed "Camp Eli." Former Mountaineer reciever, Darius Reynaud is one of those players attending. The workouts consist of stretching, conditioning drills, and passing drills. It was noted that Reynaud was one of those who jumped at the chance to take part in the drills. Last season, after coming to the Giants in a trade with the Vikings, Reynaud was used primarily as a kick-returner. For this upcoming season, Reynaud is looking to increase his skills as a pass-catcher in hopes of seeing the field more on offense and as a benefit, increase the likelihood of making the team this fall.
Jedd Gyorko- The former Mountaineer infielder is now a member of the Lake Elsinore Storm in the San Diego Padres farm system. He has made a transition to 3rd base and ranks 2nd in batting average throughout the entire Padres minor league organization. If he keeps his hot hitting up, he will likely to get promoted to the Padres AA afilitate, the San Antonio Missions in June or July.
The Marc Bulger It May Or Not Be News Tidbit of the Week: The NFL Network had a segment about the top free-agent NFL quarterbacks. They listed Marc Bulger as being at the head of the class. Bruce Raffel of the Baltimore Beat Down writes:
Analyst Jamie Dukes
says that theCardinals will try to find "lightning in a bottle" like they did when they brought in veteran QB Kurt Warner
, who then led them to the Super Bowl before retiring recently.