The Shotgun/Throwdown (2/25/19): McCabe and Gordon give Mountaineers something to build on in Baylor loss

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

FOOTBALL

WVU recruiting: Mountaineer football holds another Junior Day | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia University’s football team Saturday hosted its second Junior Day in as many weekends and welcomed recruits from South Carolina to Michigan and everywhere in between. The demographic of recruits was a collection of offensive and defensive players--all from the 2020 class--most of whom received an offer from the Mountaineers in the last couple of months. Just like the first Junior Day, the reviews were positive.

Neal Brown: Getting here (Part I) | WV MetroNews
Purpose, humility and squeezing every available dollar from his budget marked Brown’s rise to West Virginia.

After impressing at Clemson, Dye gets first full-time chance at WVU | WV MetroNews
Xavier Dye certainly knows how to make a good impression.Three years ago, Dye was teaching and coaching at a South Carolina high school when he got a call from his old college coach, Dabo Swinney. Swinney remembered Dye’s work ethic as a player and assumed it would translate well to coaching.

BASKETBALL

Gordon, McCabe give Mountaineers something to 'build off' in loss at Baylor | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Word came out that West Virginia University freshman guard Brandon Knapper would not play in Saturday’s game against Baylor just a few hours prior to tip-off in Texas. With Knapper out, that left the Mountaineers down five players due to either injury or dismissal from the team with a good Baylor team on deck. WVU needed some people to step up their games, and despite what would eventually become an 82-75 loss to the Bears, the Mountaineers saw two young players turn in their best performances in a West Virginia uniform.

WVU’s guards help develop an identity | Times West Virginian
Any team in the country playing without five starters would lose against a team fighting for position in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments as is Baylor, but this was a game in which the Mountaineers had nothing to be ashamed of in defeat.

WEST VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Mountaineers, Thrasher Win GARC Titles | West Virginia University Athletics
The No. 4-ranked West Virginia University rifle team clinched its 10th consecutive Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship crown Saturday with a winning 2373 air rifle score shot inside the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio.

WVU Ties for Third at Seminole Intercollegiate | West Virginia University Athletics
Junior Etienne Papineau led the way in the second straight tournament as the West Virginia University golf team finished tied for third at the Seminole Intercollegiate at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida, on Sunday.

WVU Falls Short in Regular-Season Finale | West Virginia University Athletics
Five Mountaineers came away with wins, as the West Virginia University wrestling team (4-14, 3-6 Big 12) capped its 2018-19 regular season with a 22-19 loss at Big 12 foe South Dakota State (3-10, 2-7 Big 12) on Sunday, held at Frost Arena, in Brookings, South Dakota.

Mountaineers Fall to No. 1 Oklahoma | West Virginia University Athletics
The West Virginia University gymnastics team capped its two-meet weekend with a 197.15 - 195.35 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma this afternoon inside the WVU Coliseum.

AROUND THE NCAA

How Mack Brown’s UNC will take cues from both Clemson and Oklahoma | SBNation
Structurally, the Heels are setting themselves up like two Playoff teams. There are worse examples to follow.

Arkansas softball player hits the Home Run Cycle ... in 4 innings | SBNation
WHAT?!

The ‘Last Chance U’ coach resigned after a report he told a German player: ‘I’m your new Hitler’ | SBNation
The Independence Community College’s coach had become a national star on Netflix.

Will Texas and Texas A&M play again? The post-breakup tracker | SBNation
Realignment broke up one of college football's greatest hate-relationships, but the two won't stop eying each other. Let's keep track as they work their way to meeting up again.

TODAY’S FBS TEAM PREVIEWS BY BILL C

As always, SB Nation’s Bill Connelly is working his way through every Division I FBS football team, from Bowling Green to Alabama. Check out the teams Bill has already previewed by clicking HERE.

Can UTSA rebound after such a comprehensive 2018 collapse? | SBNation
Frank Wilson should once again field a sterling defense in 2019. But at some point, his Roadrunners have to score points.

UTEP football might (eventually) not be hopeless! | SBNation
The bar is low in El Paso, but the Miners could win three or four games in 2019 while building toward an interesting future.

At Ohio, Frank Solich is better in his 70s than he was in his 60s | SBNation
The 75-year-old is still looking for his first MAC title, but his Bobcats will be as dangerous as anyone in 2019.

The MAC might have 2019 college football’s best conference race | SBNation
Seven MAC teams are projected within shouting distance of the top. This is going to be fun.

Year 2 of Rice’s Stanford-ization: young talent and a brutal schedule | SBNation
Building Rice is going to take a little while, but Mike Bloomgren probably knew that in advance.

Why Will Healy might be the guy to unlock Charlotte’s football potential | SBNation
The man who resurrected Austin Peay gets a chance to prove Charlotte’s ceiling as a program is quite high.

2019 NFL mock draft: 3 rounds shows just how deep the rookie class is this year | SBNation
Get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine by knowing these deeper prospects.

Neymar gets emotional talking about ‘special guy’ Lionel Messi | SBNation
The Brazilian says he offered him support

The Good and Bad of Abolishing the NBA’s One-and-Done Rule | The Ringer
League executives weigh in on what draft reform would mean for NBA teams, draft prospects, and the future of the association

The 2019 Oscars Winners and Losers: ‘Green Book’, Spike Lee, and More | The Ringer
With Spike Lee yelling about the Knicks tanking, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga staring lovingly into each other’s eyes, and ‘Green Book’ winning big, it was a night of high highs and (very) low lows

The ‘Green Book’ Best Picture Win Enters the Hall of Oscar Travesties | The Ringer
Peter Farrelly’s film about the friendship between a white chauffeur and a black musician in the 1960s took the big prize on Sunday night. What does that mean for an Academy Awards that is desperate to change?

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