Tarik Phillip Ready To Step In And Lead West Virginia

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Basketball:

Phillip Looking To Take Point Role, Lead WVU | BlueGoldNews
If Juwan Staten was last season’s most valuable player, and counterpart Gary Browne was the finest overall leader, then Tarik Phillip has drawn the most daunting of challenges – and the finest of opportunities.

Mountaineers stress conditioning for press | The Dominion Post
It is 6 a.m. and the sun hasn’t been shining long enough yet to provide a usual summer’s day kind of warmth. The grass surrounding the WVU outdoor track, in the shadows of the WVU Coliseum, is still drenched in morning dew, as 16 WVU men’s basketball players get set for another round of early morning laps.

WVU a tight-knit bunch ahead of Bahamas trip | The Exponent Telegram
West Virginia’s basketball team leaves for what you’d hardly term a business trip to the Bahamas on Aug. 8.

Football:

Four Mountaineers make ESPN's Big 12 2015 All-Underrated team | ESPN
Three ESPN Big 12 bloggers compared notes and came up with their take on a Big 12 "All-Underrated" team. Four Mountaineers made the list.

Pat Narduzzi evokes Joe Paterno in WVU comments | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Renewing the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry doesn’t seem to be a top priority for Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi.

Prep coach on Niehaus: ‘It’s kind of scary to think what he’ll look like’ next year | WV MetroNews
At Cincinnati’s Colerain High School, football coach Tom Bolden has watched Nathan Niehaus sprout into a major-college prospect. And sprout rapidly.

FURFARI: Fullback Ron Wolfley not yet in WVU Sports Hall of Fame | Times West Virginian
Ron Wolfley recalled that when he showed up in 1981 to join the West Virginia University football team he was listed as a running back. He became one of the best fullbacks the Mountaineers ever had.

West Virginia Athletics:

WVU's Buchanan a Rising Star in Soccer | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University’s newest star student-athlete slowly sat down in front of a dozen or so reporters Tuesday afternoon inside the basketball practice facility to take about 20 minutes worth of questions – all of them soft and straight down the middle.

Around The Big XII:

Iowa State, Oklahoma State will be leaning on inexperienced RBs | ESPN
Both programs have a proud running back tradition. Getting production at the position from unproven players figures to be critical for Oklahoma State and Iowa State as they both attempt to bounce-back from down 2014 seasons.

Is Bob Stoops Hinting That Baker Mayfield Is Leading The Quarterback Competition? | Crimson And Cream Machine
With multiple position battles set to begin when OU opens camp next week the most glamorous of them all it the battle for the starting quarterback where it's a neck-and-neck race...or not.

Mason Rudolph is the Big 12’s Cardale Jones | The Student Section
While Cardale Jones made a splash for Ohio State in the stretch run of the 2014 season, leading the Buckeyes to the national title, it might have slipped under the radar that Mason Rudolph was in a similar situation at the time.

Big 12 Conference Expands | WVU Athletics
On Wednesday, The Big 12 Conference announced they have added affiliate members for gymnastics and wrestling.

Around The NCAA:

SHUTDOWN FULLCAST 3.13: YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL MOVIE PROBABLY SUCKS | Every Day Should Be Saturday
The Fullcast goes way, way long this week, eclipsing the hour mark mostly because SOMEONE found Chris Berman's IMDB page halfway through the broadcast. (He was in The Program AND Necessary Roughness! He's practically the Jean-Paul Belmondo of '90s football films!)

More #MACtion? Commish reveals plan to increase conference's profile | Sporting News
#MACtion gave the conference visibility. Now, the Mid-American Conference and commissioner Jon Steinbrecher are looking to take the next step with a branding initiative launched as part of MAC Media Day on Wednesday.

Coaches complaining about Notre Dame's schedule should look at their own | SBNation.com
For some reason, coaches are taking sudden issue with the Irish not putting themselves to the terrifying test of, um, an ACC schedule.

Geno Smith laughs right back at doubting NFL execs | New York Post
Jets quarterback Geno Smith did not appreciate an ESPN poll of league executives and coaches that ranked him dead last among projected starting NFL quarterbacks.

Bears WR Kevin White starts camp on PUP list | NFL.com
No. 7 overall pick Kevin White spent the final few days of offseason practice because of an undisclosed injury. He'll start his first training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

West Virginia Mountaineers in NFL Training Camps Diary (7/30/15) | College to Pro Sports
Today’s camp notes include Kevin White, Geno Smith, Don Barclay, Mario Alford, Will Johnson, Terence Garvin and Quinton Spain.

Today's Miss Throwdown is the star of the upcoming relaunch of NBC's Heroes, and she also happens to be Clint Eastwood's daugther .  CLICK HERE for Francesca Eastwood's Instagram.

A photo posted by Francesca Eastwood (@francescaeastwood) on Jul 20, 2015 at 6:27am PDT