The Shotgun/Throwdown (12/21/18): David Sills will take his final bow as a Mountaineer in Camping World Bowl

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

Football

David Sills: Football, Finance and the Business of Life Going Forward | West Virginia University Athletics
For David Sills V, the road to West Virginia University was anything but typical. And, as it turns out, his departure will be just as unique.

Receiver David Sills determined to take his final bow as a Mountaineer | WV MetroNews
No amount of cost-benefit analysis is going to keep David Sills from his final game as a West Virginia Mountaineer.

Mountaineers face another tough QB in Syracuse’s Eric Dungey | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Slowing down a high-powered offense with a standout quarterback is not unfamiliar territory for this season’s West Virginia University defense.

West Virginia’s Southern Recruiting Strategy | West Virginia University Athletics
We've heard about the so-called Southern Strategy in U.S. politics. Well, for years West Virginia has adopted a Southern Strategy in football recruiting. Now with West Virginia competing in the Big 12, Holgorsen has expanded WVU's Deep South net to also include North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, where the Mountaineers are really beginning to make inroads with second-year assistant coach Doug Belk.

West Virginia recruiting class incomplete, but feels peachy on signing day | WV MetroNews
West Virginia’s 2019 signing class is far from a finished product, but in one sense it’s a peach.

Martin excited to begin career as Mountaineer | WV MetroNews
When Capital’s Kerry Martin signed his letter-of-intent Tuesday to play football at West Virginia University, he did so as the only state native on scholarship in the 2019 recruiting class.

Basketball

Hoops Analytics Shows Disturbing Trends | EerSports
Earlier this month, EerSports went through some of the available analytics on West Virginia's men's basketball team and came across some interesting notes.

Mountaineers Down Towson | West Virginia University Athletics
Behind a career performance from senior guard Katrina Pardee, the West Virginia University women's basketball team picked up a 90-43 win over Towson at the WVU Coliseum on Thursday evening.

West Virginia Athletics

West Virginia Stumbles vs. No. 14 Virginia Tech | West Virginia University Athletics
Three Mountaineers claimed wins, as the West Virginia University wrestling team dropped a 24-9 dual to No. 14 Virginia Tech on Wednesday evening, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown.

Around the NCAA

Haha, this might be Nick Saban’s best recruiting class yet | SBNation
Remember back in January, when the dynasty appeared to have a dent? That was fun!

Early Signing Day 2019’s blue chip signings, mapped | SBNation
With most of 2019’s recruiting class signed, let’s take a visual look at who landed elite talent.

Urban Meyer will co-teach a ‘character and leadership’ course at Ohio State, despite these facts | SBNation
Meyer’s responsibilities in Columbus in "retirement" are getting clearer.

As USF’s plummet continued, so did Marshall’s ascent | SBNation
The Gasparilla Bowl showed that who you are in October and November is often who you are in December.

USF started the season 7-0. They finished the season 7-6. | SBNation
Welp.

Our people are leaving | WV MetroNews
West Virginia’s depressing drip, drip, drip population decline continues. New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that West Virginia’s population dropped by 11,216 people from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2018.

Ranking all 30 of the teams that should sign Bryce Harper | SBNation
Harper would improve every team, but the internet is a slave to lists. Who am I to disappoint?

Klay Thompson is the most accidentally funny player in the NBA | SBNation
Klay Thompson brings us so much joy, and he doesn’t even need to try.

What a Character: The Unlikely Movie Stardom of John C. Reilly | The Ringer
The veteran supporting player—currently appearing in ‘Holmes & Watson’ and ‘Stan & Ollie’—may not be a household name, but he’s definitely a familiar face. Here’s how the ‘Step Brothers’ star combines normalcy and absurdity into acting magic.

How BioWare’s ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG | The Ringer
The genre-stretching game broke new narrative, technical, and gameplay ground and established the identity of one of the past two decades’ most storied video game studios

The 40 Best Movie Musicals of the Past 40 Years | The Ringer
A ranking covering everything in between ‘Grease’ and ‘Mary Poppins Returns’

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