Mountaineer Morning Links: Tuesday (1/20/15) Edition

Hoops & football notes, varsity reports, recruiting news, WVUPros update, Big 12 roundup & more.

By WVUIE97@WVUIE97 Jan 20, 2015, 9:00am EST

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions. We're being brought to you today by Fuller's Winter Ale.

What You May Have Missed:

Gold & Blue Now: Tuesday, Jan. 20 - WV MetroNews
Garrett and Brad give their takes on the Texas loss and preview WVU’s three-game stretch against TCU, Kansas State and Texas Tech.

Wearing the Jersey: Lanay Montgomery - WVU Athletics
This week's Wearing the Jersey profiles West Virginia University sophomore center Lanay Montgomery. Montgomery ranks eighth nationally with 3.7 blocks per game and is second all-time on WVU's single-season sophomore list with 63 blocks.

Three WVU Mountaineer gymnasts nationally ranked - Inter-Mountain
Three from the West Virginia University gymnastics team are nationally ranked in this week’s GymInfo Poll.

Lewis Named Athlete of the Week - WVU Athletics
Varsity Sports Report

Reed Pleased With American Sniper Success - WVU Athletics
Former WVU quarterback Ben Reed plays the father of Chris Kyle in the new hit movie American Sniper.

FURFARI: Senior status Judge Cookman was standout gridder at WVU in mid-1960s - Times West Virginian
The Honorable Don Cookman, who still resides in Romney, was an outstanding defensive lineman in football for West Virginia University in 1963-64-65-66.

News of Note:

WVU prepares to see more zone from Big 12 opponents - Charleston Daily Mail
In its last six halves of basketball, each played against a ranked Big 12 team, No. 18 West Virginia has shot 36.1, 28.1, 40, 50, 28 and 20.7 percent from the floor. Take a guess what three halves saw the Mountaineers staring at a 2-3 zone.

Energy won’t always be there for WVU - Charleston Gazette
"No,’’ point guard Gary Browne said. "We have enough guys to do it.’’

Big 12 proving it has depth beyond compare - Exponent Telegram
Consider it this way. There are seven teams ranked in the Top 25 yet none of them is leading the league standings at present.

Huggins says Big 12 is 'hardest league' he's been in - Register Herald
Nonconference play was fairly predictable for West Virginia this season.

Bob Huggins: Big12 The Hardest League I've Coached In - EerSports
"I think it’s because you got ten teams and you got ten really quality coaches and ten teams that are obviously very good. In most leagues, you got an upper level and a lower level…. That’s not the case in this league. This league is so good from top to bottom and so well coached from top to bottom."

Huggs: Big 12 "hardest league I've been in" - BGN
West Virginia is getting a quick taste of just how difficult the Big 12 Conference is going to be on a nightly basis pretty quickly.

Huggins Sees Toughness of Big 12 - WVSports.com
Nine of the ten teams in conference have been ranked at some point this season. Texas Tech is the only team not to be ranked at any point during the year.

NCAA College Basketball Polls - ESPN
AP#18, Coaches #17

Bracketology - ESPN
West #5

Bracket Watch - SI.com
West #5

QB Trickett focusing on coaching career - TheDPost.com
In addition to offers to become a graduate assistant at WVU and Florida State, where he played in college, at least six other programs showed interest in Trickett.

2015 NFL Mock Draft 7.0 - Scout
#15 San Francisco WR Kevin White West Virginia

Recruiting:

What does the early signing period mean for college football? - WV MetroNews
College football stands on the verge of enacting the early signing period that coaches and recruiting coordinators have long favored.

Big 12 recruiting scorecard - Big 12 Blog - ESPN
These final few weeks of this recruiting cycle should be fun to watch. Here's the latest on each Big 12 team's recruiting efforts

Pro News:

WVUPros on the Hardwood Report: De'Sean Butler and John Flowers square off in France - WVUPros
This week’s edition of the Hardwood Report is highlighted by a match up between Mountaineers John Flowers and Da’Sean Butler’s team in France Sunday night.