Mountaineer Morning Links: Wednesday (6/24/15) Edition

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 Down To Earth Session IPA from 21st Amendment Brewery.

Kiisk Earns Top Finish at European Games - WVU Athletics
Kiisk finished eighth in the men's 50m prone at the 2015 European Games.

Football:

Take Two: Other Big 12 teams to rise or fall - ESPN
West Virginia, Oklahoma could be programs about to head in different directions over the next few seasons.

FURFARI: Nehlen pays Spiker tall tribute as he retires after 40 years - Beckley Register-Herald: College Sports
John Spiker has done much more than just athletic training at West Virginia University since 1975 and is going to retire after 40 years of service on June 30, 2015.

Basketball:

Staten to Lebron in Cleveland? - EerSports
Just one day before the 2015 NBA Draft, West Virginia point guard Juwan Staten will be working out with the Eastern Conference Champion...

30 second shot clock won't increase scoring - The Exponent Telegram
Here’s my question … if college basketball cuts back on its shot clock and makes the game less physical, hurting man-to-man defense, what are coaches going to do?

Mitch Vingle: Debating Huggins, recruiting Ferns and Frank - The Charleston Gazette
Vingle debates a recent Sporting News article that examined which of the active coaches might eventually join inducted Kentucky coach John Calipari into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Pettaway on board - WVSports.com
The summer momentum continued for West Virginia with Detroit (Mi.) Martin Luther King running back Martell Pettaway committing to the Mountaineers.

2016 TE Thaddeus Moss Chooses WVU Football in Top 8 - West Virginia Illustrated
Thaddeus Moss, the son of former Marshall Thundering Herd All-American and NFL 7-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, is beginning to make headlines across the country as his recruitment picks up.

Personnel director: Summer camps invaluable until players get ‘cooked’ - WV MetroNews
With West Virginia in the heat of its summer rush, Ryan Dorchester, director of player personnel, appeared on MetroNews "Sportsline" to chat about recruiting.

Pat White: Quarterback turned entrepreneur - College To Pro Sports
Retirement struck earlier than expected for WVU Legend Pat White. But like every good quarterback, he's not going into his post-playing career without a solid gameplan.

Making the Leap, No. 19: Jets QB Geno Smith - NFL.com
Can Geno Smith build on a late-season surge and be the franchise quarterback the Jets drafted him to be? Gregg Rosenthal sat on the Genocoaster to divulge his findings.

How Giants' linebacker J.T. Thomas got his football education from his 'toughest critic' - NJ.com
With the help and guidance of his father, a former linebacker, J.T. Thomas is ready for his close-up with the Giants.

Jedd Gyorko turning corner at Triple-A El Paso? - The San Diego Union-Tribune
Padres' demoted second baseman has two homers in last three games in minors.

10 Position Groups Under Pressure in the Big 12 for 2015 - Athlon Sports
The terms "on the hot seat" or "under pressure" usually apply to quarterbacks and head coaches. After all, there’s an enormous amount of pressure on quarterbacks and coaches for any college football team.

Stadium renovation back on Oklahoma Sooners' regents agenda - ESPN
The renovation to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is about to crank up in earnest.

Why Kansas State football could fall in the next three years - ESPN
Given an impending regime change in Manhattan, the Big 12 team that could endure the biggest fall in the coming years is Kansas State.

Iowa State: Dream and nightmare scenarios - ESPN
Upsetting TCU and Texas and beating Texas A&M in a bowl to reach nine victories would be music to ears of Cyclones fans.

Baylor Now Has A Perfectly Reasonable 120 Uniform Combinations - Brobible
That’s enough for 9 successful seasons and 10 bowless campaigns.

SBNation contributors Dan Rubenstein and Ryan Nanni break down the big stories, risers, fallers, under the radar players, and big games of the 2015 Big 12 football season.

I thought you were an okay guy, Dan...

Today's Tweet of the Day comes in two separate tweets to help us really appreciate the coaching/recruiting staff we have.

Got a new toy to play with. Big body sitting on Chrome. #WVU

— JaJuan Seider (@coachseider) June 23, 2015

Don't underestimate how tough it is to say "I'm going to recruit an entirely new area and take one of the best." @coachseider

— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) June 23, 2015

Today's Miss Throwdown is the perfect woman to represent the Shotgun/Throwdown. CLICK HERE for today's gallery of Instagram queen, Sydney Maler.