The Shotgun/Throwdown (3/20/18): TJ Simmons Named ‘Big 12 Newcomer To Watch’

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

Football:

West Virginia WR TJ Simmons 'newcomer to watch' in Big 12 | DieHards
ESPN lists Simmons as one of three “newcomers to watch” next season, joining Baylor tackle Jake Fruhmorgen and Oklahoma defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles.

Priority Ticket Request Deadline for Tennessee Game on Friday | West Virginia Athletics
March 23 is the priority ticket deadline for the 2018 season opening game between West Virginia and Tennessee in their first-ever meeting on Sept. 1, at Bank of America Stadium, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Basketball:

WVU finds diamond with change in pressure | WV News
Diamonds, as we all know, are created by pressure. However, it was a diamond that caused the pressure in West Virginia’s 94-71 win over Marshall in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Huggins, Carter still the strength of WVU ahead of Sweet 16 | The Times WV
It has been the perfect marriage of player and coach, this union that has gone on for four years between Bob Huggins and Jevon Carter at West Virginia. As other teams have fallen along the way in this NCAA championship, West Virginia has chugged forward into the Sweet 16, Huggins drawing the strategy on white boards and Carter carrying it out on the court.

Degree of difficulty ramps up for WVU in Sweet 16 | Charleston Gazette-Mail
That so-called road to the Final Four just got a lot bumpier for WVU’s basketball team. After vanquishing a No. 12 seed in Murray State and a No. 13 seed in Marshall, the Mountaineers now face the East’s top seed in Villanova in a marquee Sweet 16 NCAA tournament game in Boston on Friday.

Jevon Carter on Bleacher Report All-Tournament Team | DieHards
Amid all the chaos in college basketball’s postseason so far, the Big 12 still has four schools left in the Big Dance. And without Jevon Carter and Keenan Evans, that wouldn’t be the case.

Despite the WVU win, a renewal of the Capital Classic is inevitable | The DA
Due to scheduling talks that dominated state and national sports media during the weekend, Marshall coach Dan D'Antoni still felt the need to talk about how his team and West Virginia should still play on a yearly basis.

Roundup: D'Angelo Hunter granted release from WVU basketball team | Charleston Gazette-Mail
D’Angelo Hunter, who played in 17 games for West Virginia this season, has been granted his release from the Mountaineers’ basektball team. The school announced his departure Monday.

West Virginia Athletics:

Mountaineers T-14th at The Hayt | West Virginia Athletics
Starting the day in a weather delay, the West Virginia University golf team posted its second straight score of 298 to tie for 14th place at The John Hayt Invitational on Monday at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Moisey Named Student-Athlete of the Week | West Virginia Athletics
Following an eighth-place finish in the 125-pound pool of the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, West Virginia University redshirt junior Zeke Moisey has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Trae Young announces plans to enter 2018 NBA Draft | DieHards
Oklahoma point guard Trae Young plans to sign with an agent and enter the 2018 NBA Draft, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, bringing his collegiate career to a close.

NCAA tournament and college football show mid-majors deserve better | SBNation
Both the basketball and football committees regularly underrate teams from the non-power conferences.

I’m a few days late on this, but Jon Bois did it again.

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