October 8, 2011; Morgantown,WV, USA: West Virginia Mountaineers receiver Ivan McCartney (5) runs after a pass reception against Connecticut Huskies safety Byron Jones (16) during the fourth quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. WVU won 43-16. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

Head coach Dana Holgorsen got some pleasant news this afternoon, learning that former West Virginia Mountaineers receiver Ivan McCartney has decided to return to Morgantown. The move was announced by his high school’s twitter, Miramar High School (home of other Mountaineers greats Geno Smith and Stedman Bailey):

Also of note, Miramar Alum WR Ivan McCartney has found a home for next year. He will be heading back to #WVU for his senior season.

— Miramar Sports (@MiramarSports) May 17, 2013

McCartney appears to be excited about the opportunity to play his senior season for the Mountaineers>

Once a Mountaineer….. Always a Mountaineer!!

— Ivan McCartney (@IMcCartney5) May 17, 2013

McCartney left the Mountaineers team this past season after appearing in five games. In his two plus years on campus, McCartney has started 11 games for WVU, appearing in 32 games. He has 59 receptions for 701 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He will likely be eligible to play this coming season since he did not in-fact transfer from the West Virginia program. If he is eligible to play during the 2013 season, he will bring experience to a rather in-experienced receiving corps.

With his knowledge of the offense executed by Dana Holgorsen, it stands to reason that he will see a decent bit of playing time this coming season, even if he is not a starter.

December 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers marching band performs before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Milan Puskar Stadium. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 59-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When you think of fierce college football rivalries, you always think of the West Virginia vs Pitt rivalry, affectionately referred to as the “Backyard Brawl.” The series matching two of the Appalachian region’s greatest teams annually, was played annually every year between 1943 and 2011. The two schools matched up 104 times with the Pitt Panthers holding a 61-40-3 lead in the series.

Both Pitt and West Virginia also enjoyed a healthy hatred and rivalry with the other Appalachian powerhouse, Penn State. And as current Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson has made clear this week at the ACC meetings, the restoration of the rivalry with Penn State takes priority over the Backyard Brawl.

“I would sign a 30-year deal, if I could,” Pederson said. “It shouldn’t matter who the (university) president or the head coach is, these institutions should always play. It’s a great game. It’s got history to it, we’re three hours apart and in the same state. Those games ought to be played.” – Pederson on Pitt vs Penn State scheduling.

To Pedersen, it is more important to restore a rivalry with the team that they have not played since 2000 and not played annually since 1992. The rival that is three hours away. The rival that is down and out for the next decade thanks to NCAA sanctions.

It makes perfect sense to add Penn State to the schedule rather than renew your annual rivalry with the team 75 miles to the South. The team that is clearly the fiercest rival in your program’s history.

To be fair to Pedersen, it sounds like both schools are having a tough time finding room for the Backyard Brawl:

“We’re both trying to figure out when we can do it,” Pederson said. “We’re both in favor if it’s in the best interest of both schools.”

For the Mountaineers, it is a tough sell to get the Panthers back on the schedule with 9 Big XII conference games. Like so many top tier college football programs, the Mountaineers favor 7 home games a season, allowing for an infusion of ticket sales proceeds into their athletic budget.

Right now, the Mountaineers have an on-going series with the Maryland Terrapins annually. WVU also usually rents a FCS-level victim such as William & Mary.

For West Virginia to reignite a rivalry with Pitt would at the very least require that the series allow for home games for the Mountaineers in the years they had to travel to Maryland. More likely, Oliver Luck would not sign up for the Backyard Brawl as long as the Mountaineers are involved in a 9-game Big XII schedule and a long-term contract with the Maryland Terrapins.

While the rivalry with Maryland is a good one, it is not the same as the Backyard Brawl. It is more like the Pitt vs Penn State rivalry: solid, but not the #1 rivalry.

May 13 2012; Eugene, OR, USA; Laura Roesler of Oregon wins the womens 800m in 2:05.13 as part of a Ducks sweep of the top three places with Becca Friday (2:05.34) and Claudia Francis (2:05.42) in the 2012 Pac-12 Championships at Hayward Field. From left: Francis and Roesler and Friday and Justine Fredonic of Stanford and Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Rowing:

Two Mountaineers rowers earned All-Academic Conference USA nominations this week. Congratulations to senior Rachelle Purych on her 3.97 GPA in Advertising and to junior Courtney Schrand for her 3.97 GPA Elementary Education. Looks like both ladies have bright futures off the pond.

Meanwhile, in Big XII news, freshman Elizabeth Kantak was named Big XII Newcomer of the Year. Kantak was a member of the Mountaineers varsity 8+ crew that took home third place in the Big XII Championships last week.

WVU will finish their 2013 season with competition in the Conference USA Championships this weekend at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, TN.

Track:

The Mountaineers sent four athletes to compete in the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend. The WVU quartet competed in six events, each notching top five finishes.

Heather Adams took home first in the discus throw (47.23 m) and hammer throw (52.73 m) for West Virginia’s two of WVU’s three victories at the competition. Stormy Nesbit claimed the other first place finish for WVU, taking home first in the long jump with a mark of 5.86 m. Nesbit also finished fifth in the triple jump with 11.98 m.

Sydney Cummings took second place in the high jump with a mark of 1.75 m while Chene Townsend registered a second place finish in the 100-m hurdles with a time of 13.66.

The track team will be back in action May 23-25 for the NCAA East Preliminary Round of the NCAA Championships. Competition will take place in Greensboro, NC.

Feb 9, 2012; Fort Worth, TX, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Eron Harris (10) during the game against TCU Horned Frogs at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Bob Huggins filled out his roster this week with the transfer additions of forwards Jonathan Holton and Remi Dibo. Both forwards will enter Morgantown as juniors, with two years of eligibility remaining. The two JUCO forwards combine with the Mountaineers four high school forward/center recruits to bring the Mountaineers back to a 15 man roster.

For those who have not kept up with the roster changes, here is a recap:

Additions: F Devin Williams (FR), C Brandon Watkins (FR), F Elijah Macon (FR), F Nathan Adrian (FR), F Jonathan Holton (r-JR), and F Remi Dibo (r-JR)

Losses: F Dominique Rutledge (Graduation), F Deniz Kilicli (Graduation), G Matt Humphrey (Graduation), G Aaron Brown (Transfer), G Jabarie Hinds (Transfer), and F Volodomyr Gerun (Transfer)

Just at a glance, it is clear that Huggins and the coaching staff were out to add a ton of length to the roster. The length and athleticism of the Mountaineers forwards this past season was one of the major weak points that the Mountaineers needed to address heading into the 2013-14 season.

Now the Mountaineers have added some versatile big men in Holton and Dibo while also bringing in a crop of young big men to develop for that strong interior presence that Huggins’ teams put an emphasis on. Guys like Devin Williams and Brandon Watkins will probably get early looks this season in relief of paint dominator Aaric Murray.

C: Aaric Murray, 6’10″ 245 lbs, SR; Brandon Watkins, 6’9″ 225 lbs, FR; Devin Williams, 6’8″ 220 lbs, FR

PF: Kevin Noreen, 6’10″ 250 lbs, JR; Jonathan Holton, 6’9″ 215 lbs, r-JR; Elijah Macon, 6’8″ 210 lbs, FR

SF: Keaton Miles, 6’7″ 210 lbs, JR; Remi Dibo, 6’9″ 225 lbs, r-JR; Nathan Adrian, 6’7″ 200 lbs, FR

SG: Eron Harris, 6’2″ 190 lbs, SO; Terry Henderson, 6’3″ 190 lbs, SO; Aric Dickerson, 6’5″ 200 lbs, r-SO

PG: Juwan Staten, 6’1″ 190 lbs, JR; Gary Browne, 6’1″ 190 lbs, JR; Richard Romeo, 5’11″ 180 lbs, SO

We don’t have any of the new additions as starters in our first depth chart, but would not at all be surprised to see players like Holton and Dibo find their way into the starting line-up at some point during the season. For now, we like Keaton Miles to rise to the occasion and claim a starting spot, even though he has failed to do just that for his entire Mountaineer career.

Also, Kevin Noreen is talented, but failed to be a consistent starter through out this past season and could lose out to Holton or one of the talented freshman.

We shifted Devin Williams from his natural 4 spot to the 5 for the purpose of depth given the good size he has and the fact that Noreen and Holton would have him boxed out for playing time at 4. It would not at all be a surprise to see guys like Williams, Macon, Adrian, and/or Watkins receive redshirts this season with the perceived big man depth with the upper-classmen.

Just as all last season, this coming season promises to showcase a Mountaineers roster in flux as coach Huggins tries to determine which players are going to take the reins of the team and step up as leaders. Let’s all just hope that Huggins can identify a starting five before Big XII play this season.

CREDIT: wvusports.com

When people think of West Virginia University athletics, they almost always think of the Mountaineers football program or perhaps our dominant rifle squad. Even more think to the West Virginia men’s basketball program and the great Jerry West. In the not-so-distant future, fans might come to think of West Virginia as a college baseball powerhouse.

New Mountaineers head coach Randy Mazey and WVU athletic director Oliver Luck have made huge commitments to bringing the Mountaineers baseball program to new heights. With West Virginia now a member of the Big XII, a premier college baseball conference, Mazey and Luck have made a huge commitment to rejuvenating the program, starting with a new stadium.

Luck has worked aggressively to secure funding for a brand new baseball stadium along I-79 that will be a major upgrade from the Mountaineers current stadium. The new stadium will bring the Mountaineers facility on par with the best schools in the Big XII Conference.

Coach Mazey has molded the WVU baseball squad into a Big XII competitor and a team deserving of the large investment by WVU and the state of West Virginia. In just his first season on the job, Mazey has managed the Mountaineers to a 29-20 record and a three-way tie for first place in the Big XII.

The rise of the Mountaineers baseball program is creating a huge buzz around a program that few Mountaineers fans ever paid attention to before. With only a couple weeks left in the season, West Virginia will be in the midst of baseball fever.

Mar 14, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins speaks at a press conference during practice for the second round of the 2012 NCAA men

According to research published by the Auburn University athletic department, the West Virginia University Mountaineers rank in the Top 25 of two out of three social media indexes.

The study, conducted by College Athletics Internet Digital Association (CAIDA), analyzes the social media activity of Division I FBS programs. The three leading social media sites analyzed in the study were Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

As the report shows, the Mountaineers made the Top 25 in both Twitter (#22) and Youtube (#18). The Mountaineers presence in Twitter is good enough for 4th in the Big XII conference with 30,720 followers. WVU trails Big XII Twitter champion Kansas, #5 overall with 61,855 followers. The Jayhawks strong presence on Twitter is clearly driven by their men’s basketball program and not their football program.

The Mountaineers are also looking up at Big XII foes Oklahoma at #7 with 57,045 followers and #20 Kansas State with 32,215 followers.

On the Youtube front, West Virginia fairs much better with 4,053 subscribers for #18 nationally. The Mountaineers subscription base is good enough for third in the Big XII conference. WVU trails #12 Oklahoma’s 5,543 subscribers and #17 Oklahoma State’s 4,511 subscribers.

It is somewhat surprising that the Mountaineers Youtube subscriptions are so low, given the massive amount of WVU videos on Youtube. The study must only be considering the WestVirginiaU official account and not the fan accounts like dougitydog (which puts out some amazing content).

The one social media where WVU is severely lacking is Facebook. The Mountaineers did not qualify for the Top 25 of the rating in terms of likes. According to Facebook, the West Virginia Mountaineers fan page claims 205,985 likes which would be good enough for #25 on the list ahead of Miami. Not sure whether the study used this page or not.

As it stands, the reigning champions of each social media are Ohio State on Facebook, Nebraska on Twitter, and Oregon on Youtube. To help the Mountaineers raise up the standings, like the Facebook fan page, follow @WestVirginiaU on Twitter, and subscribe to the WestVirginiaU channel on Youtube.

Nov 20, 2011; Lincoln, NE, USA; Rhode Island Rams forward Jonathan Holton (35) drives against Nebraska Cornhuskers center Jorge Brian Diaz (21) during the second half at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska won 83-63. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Bob Huggins and the West Virginia University men’s basketball team received reinforcement this week with the announcement that junior college forward Jonathan Holton has decided to transfer to the Mountaineers.

Holton is a 6’7″ 215 lb forward that can really stretch opposing defenses with his accurate outside shooting. As coach Huggins put it, Holton is exactly the kind of big man that WVU needs to compete in the Big XII:

“Jonathan is a prototype Big 12 forward,” says Huggins. “He can really score it off the bounce, play with his back to the basket, stretch defenses to make 3-pointers, as well as being a terrific offensive rebounder. He should give us immediate help on the front line.”

Huggins and his staff are clearly impressed with Holton’s production at the junior college level. While attending Palm Beach State Community College (FL) this past season, Holton averaged 17.5 points and 14.1 rebounds per game.

Holton enrolled at Palm Beach State after playing his freshman season for the Rhode Island Rams of the Atlantic 10 Conference. He fell out of favor with the Rams as a result of two charges of video voyeurism in which he allegedly filmed two separate sexual encounters and made that content publicly available on social media.

After spending a year of mending his ways in Florida, Holton is finally getting his second chance at the Division I level.

Holton will sit out the 2013-14 season but will be eligible to play for the Mountaineers in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Terence Garvin (28) at the line of scrimmage against the Oklahoma Sooners during the third quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners won 50-49. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It took a couple weeks, but finally, one of the former West Virginia University Mountaineers defensive stars was signed by an NFL franchise. WVU’s former star at safety and outside linebacker Terence Garvin signed a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers today.

Garvin received a mini camp invite from the Steelers a few weeks back. Coach Tomblin and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau must have been impressed with Garvin’s quickness and agility. While Garvin is not the biggest outside linebacker (6’3″ 223 lbs) he is one of the more athletic linebackers and a potential star on special teams for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh is in desperate need of linebacker depth with the departure of former NFL Defensive MVP James Harrison and the serious injury to Sean Spence. Current reserve linebackers Sylvester Stevenson and Jason Worilds have underwhelmed in recent seasons as well.

The Steelers sought to shore up their linebacker deficiencies by drafting Georgia OLB Jarvis Jones and Florida State ILB Vince Williams. Garvin figures to fill in as the primary back-up to Lamar Woodley at one OLB position while Jones and Worilds fill in the opposite OLB position heading into fall training camp.

Garvin will need to demonstrate a knack for making big hits in kick coverage to find a home in Pittsburgh. Should he make the 53-man roster this fall, he will have the opportunity to be groomed by one of the most-talented defensive coordinators in all of football, Dick LeBeau.

Garvin should model his work ethic after that of James Harrison, a man who had to fight his way from the Pittsburgh practice squad to the special teams coverage before becoming a pro bowl linebacker in the Steelers blitz-happy defense.

Terence Garvin is now the third former West Virginia Mountaineer to sign as an undrafted free agent this season, joining WR JD Woods and C Joe Madsen. The Pittsburgh Steelers also employ former Mountaineers FB Will Johnson.

Rowing:

Sept 1, 2012; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns marching band carries flags representing the member schools of the Big 12, including newest members West Virginia and TCU, prior to kick off against the Wyoming Cowboys at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

WVU’s competitive paddlers headed out to the Big XII Rowing Championships at the Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, KS. The Mountaineers had a solid team performance at the event, placing 4th in the overall competition.

The first varsity 8+ crew took 3rd place in their competition, falling just off the pace set by Oklahoma and Texas. In the second varsity 8+ crew competition, taking 4th place. The second crew finished behind Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas State.

In 4+ competition, WVU’s first team took 5th place while the second team came up in 4th place.

The Mountaineers, as a team, finished with 75 points in the competition for 4th place. The Oklahoma Sooners won the Big XII Championship with a score of 136.

Two Mountaineers received All-Big XII honors. Junior Courtney Schrand earned first team honors while senior Rachelle Purych earned a second team nomination.

19 Mountaineers rowers earned Academic All-Big XII honors as well.

WVU will take the week off prior to competing in the Conference USA Championships to end the season.

Soccer:

The WVU women’s soccer team unveiled their 2013 schedule this past week. The schedule features match-ups with some of the top teams in the nation in the non-conference play. The Mountaineers will take on perennial powers such as Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, and Central Michigan.

West Virginia will open the fall campaign with a home exhibition match against Rutgers on August 13.

Track:

The Mountaineers track stars competed in the Big XII Track and Field Championships in Waco, TX this past week. WVU had many solid performances but failed to make major impacts in many of the competitions. West Virginia’s best finish of the competition came in the triple jump competition. Stormy Nesbit took 2nd place in the competition.

West Virginia took home an 8th place team finish, besting TCU and Oklahoma State. The #2 nationally ranked Kansas Jayhawks won the Big XII title.

The rowing team will tune up their game in the Virginia Challenge this weekend in Charlottesville, VA prior to the NCAA East Preliminaries in Greensboro, NC May 23-25.

For more in-depth coverage of WVU women’s athletics, visit wvusports.com.

CREDIT: wvusports.com

When the West Virginia Mountaineers brought head coach Randy Mazey on board from TCU, everyone expected the program to make a turn around and become a competitive factor in the Big XII conference. Not many expected Mazey to make that happen in his first season on campus.

Mazey’s squad struggled out of the gate this season, limping out to a 1-3 start against lesser competition. Since that point, the Mountaineers have clawed their way up the standings, fighting to become a winning squad with each game.

This weekend, in a series with the #10 Oklahoma Sooners in Charleston, the Mountaineers showed their supporters that they have arrived. In three spectacular games, West Virginia claimed two victories to pull into a three-way tie for first place in the Big XII.

After West Virginia dropped the first game of the series in a heart-breaking 4-3 decision in 10 innings, the Mountaineers lit up the Sooners pitching staff in consecutive 9-3 and 9-6 victories.

Coach Mazey has been impressed with the Mountaineers focus and determination as of late:

“We told the guys before the game that they put themselves in a position to win this thing (series),” coach Randy Mazey says. “Mediocre teams take days off, take at bats off and take pitches off. Now that you’ve proven yourself to be capable of winning this thing, you can’t take a day off and we didn’t today.”

With the victories this weekend, West Virginia, with a Big XII record of 11-7, is in a three-way tie for first place with Oklahoma and the Kansas State Wildcats.

The Mountaineers will look to take over sole possession of first place in the conference this coming weekend as they head back to Charleston to square off with coach Mazey’s former club, the TCU Horned Frogs for three games. WVU will face TCU starting Friday at 6:30 pm at Appalachian Power Park.

For more quotes and box scores from the Mountaineers series against Oklahoma, visit wvusports.com.