Mountaineer Morning Links: Wednesday (4/8/14) Edition

Football & basketball reports, baseball drops one to Maryland, recruiting notes, Big 12 roundup & more.

By WVUIE97@WVUIE97 Apr 8, 2015, 9:09am EDT

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What You May Have Missed:

Baseball Falls in Slugfest at Maryland - WVU Athletics
After holding a 3-1 lead, the West Virginia University baseball team allowed seven runs in the fourth inning and ultimately fell 12-7 to Maryland at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Terps Shell WVU Pitching In 12-7 Defeat - BGN
When the electricity came back on, Maryland’s power show started.

Mazey after 12-7 loss to Terps: ‘They just hammered our pitchers’ - WV MetroNews
West Virginia lost 12-7 at No. 16 Maryland on Tuesday afternoon.

WATCH: WVU Baseball Drops Contest at No. 16 Maryland - WVillustrated
The WVU Baseball team came up short in a road test at nationally ranked Maryland on Tuesday night, allowing 12 runs at the hands of the Terps.

Golf Continues Prep for 2015-16 Season - WVU Athletics
The WVU golf team is prepping for the 2015-16 season on & off the course.

WVU has big holes to fill for next year - Daily Athenaeum
After two thrilling last-ditch comebacks in the WNIT for the West Virginia University women’s basketball team, the Mountaineers ran out of magic in the tournament final, fumbling away a second-half lead and losing to UCLA by two.

WVU brings wrestling clinic to Beckley - Beckley Register-Herald
It didn’t take long for the West Virginia University wrestling team to have an impact in head coach Sammie Henson’s first season in Morgantown.

Big 12 Honors Mountaineers for Academics - WVU Athletics
Sixteen WVU student-athletes earned a Big 12 academic honor.

News of Note:

WVU football player Rose arrested after bar incident - Dominion Post
WVU redshirt-senior defensive lineman Kyle Rose was subdued with a stun gun and arrested early Sunday, April 5, after striking an officer in the forehead at Bent Willey’s bar, on Chestnut Street.

Howard Getting Comfortable at QB - WVU Athletics
Howard more comfortable operating WVU's offense.

Mix and Match Backfield Proposition for WVU - BGN
Second only to quarterback, the depth chart at running back in any college football program is the subject of much scrutiny. Some programs have a back that gets the majority of the work, while others split the load according to skill sets and with an eye toward being able to withstand injury. West Virginia, under assistant coach JaJuan Seider, is in the process of developing its group this spring.

Holgorsen thinking small on punt returns - Charleston Gazette
"We call them the small squad,’’ the West Virginia coach said. "We’ve got four of the smallest human beings that play college football back there. It makes me look like a giant.’’

Leaning on the Inside Guys - WVSports.com
Through six practices, West Virginia is not any closer to finding a solution to one of their biggest problems they entered the spring with.

Depth at running back a concern for Mountaineers - Beckley Register-Herald
When the 2014 West Virginia University football season came to an end with a loss to Texas A&M in the Liberty Bowl, the running back position looked to be the least of head coach Dana Holgorsen’s worries moving forward. He had bodies, he had talent and he had experience.

Gold & Blue Now: Wednesday, April 8 - WV MetroNews
senior linebacker Jared Barber, talks about his journey back to the field after his injury last year.

More drills from Shepherdstown practice - BGN
West Virginia had its first open practice of the spring last week in Shepherdstown.

WVU’s Lyons set to make first mark on program - Charleston Gazette
"Also, we’ll replace the turf after next season. I want to take the crown out and we won’t be able to do that until after next season. We’ll start some things this season, but a lot of the work will be done then."

Big 12's weak nonconference slate harms all - FOX Sports
4. West Virginia - Georgia Southern, Liberty, Maryland

Kevin White, Amari Cooper sit atop class of wide receivers in 2015 NFL draft - College to Pro Sports
Kevin White sat in his father's van on what should've been an ordinary spring afternoon in 2011, fidgeting and praying it wouldn't be the worst day of his life.

Jeremiah: Top three wide receivers are safest picks in draft - NFL.com
If a general manager with an early pick is hoping to avoid a bust with his first-round selection, NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah says they should look closely at taking one of the top wide receivers in the draft -- Kevin White, Amari Cooper, and DeVante Parker -- and not look back after selecting them.

2015 NFL Draft: Top five undersized wide receivers - NFL.com
4. Mario Alford, West Virginia

Report: Big 12, ACC propose rule changes for conference championship games - Sporting News
The Big 12 and ACC have proposed new legislation that could relax the NCAA's current rules for a conference to host a championship game.

The Big 12 goes there … but where exactly is that? - WVU Sports with Mike Casazza
As they vowed to do back in December, the ACC and Big 12 have apparently deregulated conference championship games, and the landscape could look much different as soon as 2016.

Hoops

Huggins won’t stray from pressure next season - Charleston Daily Mail
Huggins said the early, if not obvious, plan is to press again next season.

WVU finishes first in NCAA in steals - Daily Athenaeum
According to a tweet sent out by West Virginia basketball’s official Twitter page, the Mountaineers led the nation in steals (10.7 per game), total steals (376) and offensive rebounds (16.4 per contest).

'One and done' debate rages on - Exponent Telegram
Bob Huggins here at WVU, a coach who is almost certainly Hall of Fame bound, has talked often of never having been at a place where he could pick who he wants

Way-too-early 2015-16 Top 25: Virginia lands at No. 1 - Sporting News
16. West Virginia

WVU Getting No Respect in Way-Too-Early Polls - EerSports
Link after link went up last night with these rankings, and nary a mention of the Mountaineers could be found.

Huggins: Officiating inconsistency detracted from championship game - WV MetroNews
"I wish that at one point in time you could talk about the game and not talk about the officiating and all that other kind of stuff," West Virginia’s coach said Tuesday night on MetroNews "Sportsline."

Recruiting:

WVU recruiting: Holgorsen may be hitting JUCO ranks hard again - Charleston Gazette
When West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen first arrived in Morgantown, the Mountaineers went heavy on the junior college recruiting scene to fill in for a lack of depth.

Possible WVU point guard in Scott Brown game - Beckley Register-Herald
Now that the 2014-15 college basketball season has come to a close, the discussion among West Virginia University basketball fans has naturally turned toward 2015-16.