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Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.
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Football
Big 12 schools intend to open in fall, giving football hope
All 10 of the schools in the Big 12 Conference expect their campuses to be open in the fall, which is a key step towards playing fall sports. If they follow through, the possibility exists that football can start as originally scheduled. The season is slated to begin August 29, though Big 12 teams don’t begin play until the following week.
WVU football: Pandemic hasn’t slowed down Mountaineers in recruiting
No recruiting visitors? No trips to see prospects? For the West Virginia football coaching staff, so far, it has been no problem. The Mountaineers have seven verbal commitments so far in the 2021 signing class. Of those seven, three of them announced their pledges after the coronavirus pandemic left college coaches unable to trek to recruits’ towns for a visit and for recruits to come to campus.
West Virginia Athletics
After two seasons of growing pains, Flynn optimistic for future of WVU wrestling
Tim Flynn’s first two seasons at West Virginia have produced individual success stories. In 2019, five Mountaineers qualified for the NCAA Championships. This season, Coal City native and Independence High School graduate Noah Adams was undefeated at 197 pounds. Adams has become the Jevon Carter of the WVU wrestling program, a guy around whom Flynn can base his rebuilding program.
Sensing 2021 could be ‘special’ for WVU, Papineau to return for additional season
The cancellation of NCAA spring sports championships has led to opportunities for graduating senior athletes. With his undergraduate studies in sports psychology now complete, Etienne Papineau will get started on his MBA this fall, returning to the West Virginia golf team for an extra season of eligibility.
The West Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs were experiencing the anticipated boost that comes from having a new aquatic center when the country abruptly shut down in March. For the first time ever, the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships took place at the Aquatic Center in Mylan Park in late February, and the NCAA Zone Diving Championships occurred there 10 days later.
Twenty-Five Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors
Twenty-five members of the West Virginia track and field team have been named to the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Track and Field Team.
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Around the Big 12
Big 12 moving football media days to virtual format
Add the Big 12 to the list of conferences that will hold their football media days virtually and make it the first among the Power 5 conferences to do so. A Big 12 spokesman told the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday that the event, scheduled for July 20-21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will not be held in person.
Five times Kansas screwed up a Mizzou football season
Kansas and Missouri have decided they are going to play each other in football again, renewing a series last played in 2011. In honor of the decision, here are five times Kansas absolutely ruined a season for Missouri.
Around the NCAA
College basketball transfer rankings for 2020-21 and 2021-22
Here are the top college basketball players that are looking for new homes. Some are immediately eligible graduate transfers, and some are transfers that will have to sit out for one season.
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The Dolphins have a plan to start letting fans attend NFL games, and it’s wild
With the NFL schedule being released soon there is an expectation that the league will also announce plans to keep fans safe, but the Miami Dolphins are not waiting on that. The Dolphins organization began unveiling its plans on Tuesday on how fans can attend live games when the season begins, while also trying to maintain safety for those in attendance.
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