Holgorsen Pleased By No Surprises In Recruiting Class

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Football:

Holgorsen pleased by no surprises in recruiting class | The Exponent Telegram
Dana Holgorsen, like a Royal Canadian Mountie, got his man Wednesday. More to the point, the West Virginia football coach who had a whole lot of recruiting to do, turned National Signing Day into a state holiday as he landed every player he hoped or expected to sign.

No surprises: WVU addresses defense | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
For a change, signing day went as expected for West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.

WVU goes heavy on defense, junior college players | Charleston Gazette-Mail
There were a lot of circus-like atmospheres around the country on college football’s National Signing Day. At WVU, however, there weren’t many fireworks — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For once in Dana Holgorsen’s head coaching stint, almost all went according to plan.

Decent-looking class of 2016 must make early impact | WV MetroNews
Allan Taylor weighs in on the new collection of West Virginia recruits, about one-third of whom must produce immediately.

Right approach helps Mountaineers land Ferns | The Exponent Telegram
Here was what was laid out before Tony Gibson, West Virginia’s defensive coordinator and a man acknowledged as one of college football’s best recruiters, as he tried to add linebacker Brendan Ferns to his defense.

Four-star linebacker highlights WVU’s Signing Day class | The Daily Athenaeum
Possibly the biggest names to commit to WVU were ESPN Top 300 linebacker Brendan Ferns and wide receiver Steven Smothers, along with ESPN’s top junior college safety, Kyzir White. Those three could all have an immediate impact on the field.

Ferns and some signing day moments | Charleston Gazette-Mail
If you followed the action on college football’s National Signing Day, you saw some fireworks.

Star JC RB Crawford a Late Addition | WVU Athletics
Football coaches can sometimes spend a couple of years establishing relationships with recruits, getting to know them, their coaches, mentors and families. So when junior college All-American running back Justin Crawford popped up on West Virginia’s radar screen in mid-January after Wendell Smallwood surprisingly declared for this year's NFL draft, the Mountaineers were swimming upstream getting involved with the 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound tailback.

Basketball:

WVU basketball thrives on being underappreciated | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has a team ranked No. 14 by the media and No. 12 by the coaches. It was in the top 10 of both polls the previous two weeks and actually first reached those heights after a loss.

Huggins inspires WVU through media clippings | The Exponent Telegram
Normally, coaches advise their players to avoid reading the sports pages of newspapers — and, yes, they actually do still publish newspapers.

Make no mistake, Devin Williams is back | The Daily Athenaeum
Before the team’s biggest road victory of the year without Jonathan Holton, Williams was in the midst of one of his collegiate career’s lowest points. Nothing was going right, recording at least four fouls in each of the previous three outings.

West Virginia Athletics:

Davis Named to Preseason All-America Team | WVU Athletics
Coming off a standout freshman season, West Virginia University sophomore infielder Kyle Davis has been named to the Preseason All-America Third Team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Four Sign with Mountaineers | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown announced the addition of four student-athletes for the 2016 season.

Backyard Brawl adds a twist to WVU’s Senior Night | The Daily Athenaeum
Mountaineer seniors Thomas Brooks, Harrison Colby, Nick Burt, Jimmy Murray and Tyler Conaway will take to the ice at the Morgantown Ice Arena for the last time in their college career.

Around The NCAA:

After Signing Day, which teams are rising the most in recruiting? Baylor and TCU, for starters | SBNation
Which teams are rising and falling in two- and five-year recruiting rankings?

You have to be a madman to be good at recruiting. Luckily for Michigan, it hired Jim Harbaugh | SBNation
People said Jim Harbaugh wouldn't come back to college because he wouldn't like recruiting. Instead, he dove into recruiting, completely immersing himself in a world exactly ridiculous enough for Jim Harbaugh.

In 2 months, Les Miles went from basically fired to signing one of LSU's best classes ever | SBNation
How does a coach celebrate barely keeping his job? By going and signing an amazing recruiting class, of course.

How Michigan can best deploy Rashan Gary, the terrifying No. 1 recruit | SBNation
The No. 1 incoming freshman has been a terrifying athlete for years. Here's how the Wolverines can set him up for success on the field.

On Signing Day, Tom Herman's Houston did what it wasn’t supposed to … again | SBNation
The #HTownTakeover continues.

This map shows every 2016 5-star football recruit and where they're headed | SBNation
Georgia and Ole Miss enter Signing Day as the only teams with multiple five-star commitments. LSU, USC and Alabama have since joined them.

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