Jovon Durante Could Be The Next Big Thing At WVU

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

Football:

Explosive Durante might contribute early: ‘Could be the next big thing here’ | WV MetroNews
Those three practices Jovon Durante missed last week awaiting NCAA clearance? They won’t make or break his chances of playing as a West Virginia freshman. The four-star receiver was a quick learner during summer 7-on-7s. He’s quick in almost every fashion.

Despite WVU’s experience, Holgorsen not rushing redshirt decisions | WV MetroNews
West Virginia’s preseason camp features fewer position battles than past years, but Dana Holgorsen said the staff remains a couple weeks away from formulating its redshirt lists.

Holgorsen in no hurry to decide on redshirts | The Exponent Telegram
West Virginia football coach Dana Holgorsen is in a position to redshirt a lot of players this season, considering the experienced depth he has to work with, but Holgorsen says he is not about to rush into decisions about it.

Henry’s development adds to his value for Mountaineers | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia has practiced eight times now and in full pads for four of those days, and coach Dana Holgorsen is starting to see the difference in new and veteran players. Sophomore free safety Dravon Henry’s improvement is "night and day from where he was last year at this time," Holgorsen said at his news conference Monday. Though he made ESPN’s freshman all-America team last season, Holgorsen said Henry only now looks and acts like he belongs among senior safeties K.J. Dillon and Karl Joseph.

Cajuste could shine or struggle up front | The Exponent Telegram
The burning question concerning West Virginia’s offensive line as it roars toward its opening game, now less than a month away, is whether redshirt freshman Yodny Cajuste is listed as the starting left tackle because he is an extremely advanced prospect or whether it is a matter of necessity.

Basketball:

WVU Opens Trip With Easy Win | WVU Athletics
The WVU men's basketball team defeated IBA Elite on Monday.

Mountaineers snag 55 steals in 111-39 exhibition romp | WV MetroNews
Jonathan Holton, Devin Williams and freshman Esa Ahmad each scored 15 points and West Virginia forced an almost unfathomable 55 turnovers Monday night during a 111-39 exhibition victory over IBA Elite in Nassau, Bahamas.

Montgomery Leads WVU with 21 in Triumph | WVU Athletics
Lanay Montgomery scores 21 to help Mountaineers win over Catalana.

Around The Big 12:

Big 12 recruiting scorecard | ESPN
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and West Virginia add to their 2016 coffers and fill some needs in the process.

Kansas State dealing with four candidates for starting QB job | FOX Sports
Oklahoma is dealing with a quarterback battle between two candidates. Same goes at Texas Tech and Texas. At Kansas State, offensive coordinator Dana Dimel is dealing with four players looking for the No. 1 spot.

Baylor would be big success in SEC | WacoTrib.com
The Bears are not in the SEC and they never have been, but the school as a whole is a perfect fit for the conference.

Around The NCAA:

The AP Top 25's most surprising programs, for better (Boise State, TCU) and worse (Oklahoma) | SBNation
Nice work, Boise State, Missouri and TCU! Notre Dame is nowhere near as overrated as you think! And, wow, look at the Red River rivals!

Braxton Miller a full time wide receiver, no QB starter until Virginia Tech | Land-Grant Holy Land
Urban Meyer spoke with the gathered media at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on the campus of the Ohio State University Monday evening with one of the most eagerly anticipated subjects of discussion the move of former Big Ten Player of the Year Braxton Miller to H-back

Braxton Miller now a 'full-time' receiver; learning curve begins | Sporting News
New jersey. New position. New outlook. That’s the tell-all revelation for Braxton Miller after the first day of practice for Ohio State's football team. Miller no longer wears a black No. 5 quarterback jersey at practice. He has switched to a scarlet No. 1. He ran routes against former Buckeyes receiver Joey Galloway on ESPN before practice.

Oregon teases the idea of glow in the dark uniforms for 2015 | Sporting News
Can the kings of outlandish uniforms actually get more outlandish? The Oregon Ducks, a football program with more possible uniform combinations than there are universities in the country, just may take the uniform game to another level.

THE 2015 ACC WORST-CASE CONFERENCE PREVIEW | Every Day Should Be Saturday
Not saying all of these things will happen in the ACC. Some of them? Probably.

Geno Smith throws first two interceptions of training camp | ESPN
Some observations from Day 12 of Jets training camp, which included evidence that Geno Smith isn't perfect after all.

LaDainian Tomlinson somewhat skeptical about Geno Smith | Newsday
No sooner did the words come out of LaDainian Tomlinson's mouth than Geno Smith underscored exactly what the future Hall of Fame running back was talking about. Tomlinson was standing on the sideline watching practice and offering his take on the Jets when Smith did what Tomlinson said he simply can't do.

#SeahawksCamp Highlight: Bruce Irvin Punt Return Slow Mo | Seattle Seahawks
#51 Bruce Irvin, catches a punt on this sunny day 9 of Seahawks training camp.

Bears rookie Kevin White takes baby steps in rehab, far from playing | Chicago Tribune
The Bears continue to push Kevin White through a cautious rehabilitation program from his skin injury, as the rookie receiver did do some backpedaling, light jumping and half-speed agility work on the grass.

Enjoy some highlights from the men's basketball team vs IBA Elite. There are plenty of them.

Today's Miss Throwdown is Canadian fashion model, and one of my personal favorites since I took over the Shotgun/Throwdown. CLICK HERE for today's gallery of Kate Bock.