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The Charleston Gazette Wrote:WVU opens camp today

Rodriguez ready for surprise no-shows
August 03, 2007
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer

http://wvgazette.com/section/Sports/WVU/2007080236

MORGANTOWN — Times have changed — for the better — since Rich Rodriguez opened his first preseason camp as a head coach 19 years ago. No longer does he wait at the front door of whatever football facility he calls home, waiting to see just how many of his players show up.

The West Virginia coach can think back now, though, and laugh about it.

There was the case of Siam Ezekial, a fullback and long snapper from Massachusetts, who arrived on campus in 2001, got out of his car, pretty much got right back in and went home.

“His mom and his dad and his girlfriend and everyone was telling him not to come back,’’ Rodriguez recalled of Ezekial, who wound up going to Northeastern and having a good enough career as a linebacker that he had some NFL tryouts. “But he had his mind made up.’’

Rodriguez’s favorite story, though, is the one about the player from Mississippi his staff recruited one year at Glenville.

“He was a stud. He had no business playing [Division II] except for academics,’’ Rodriguez said. “He never visited. He drove 16 hours to Glenville and they said he got out of his car, looked around and said, ‘No way.’ I never even met the kid. Herb Hand recruited him and I told Herb I didn’t even believe the kid existed.’’

There is no guarantee that something similar won’t happen today, when players are scheduled to report for Rodriguez’s seventh preseason camp at West Virginia. But given the nature of the relatively new NCAA rules that allow newcomers to enroll in summer school classes and begin conditioning work ahead of time, Rodriguez would be surprised if it happened.

“We’ve only got five or six kids who haven’t been here all summer or at least since the first of July,’’ Rodriguez said. “But you never know.’’

The Mountaineers, expected to be ranked as high as the top-five when the major polls are released, report this afternoon and have their first mandatory meetings tonight. The first of 29 practices allowed by the NCAA prior to WVU’s Sept. 1 home opener against Western Michigan will be held Saturday.

Rodriguez said Thursday that not only does he expect everyone to report, virtually all of them should be in shape, and those who are recovering from offseason surgeries should be ready to practice.

“I think they’ve had a good summer and we expect them to be in shape,” he said. “And we’ll be able to get them in even better condition with some good, warm weather.’’

Among the healed is consensus All-America tailback Steve Slaton, who had surgery to repair bones in his wrist. Also, starting offensive lineman Greg Isdaner (shoulder) and middle linebacker Marc Magro (knee) are healthy.

“They’re all pretty good,’’ Rodriguez said. “We had a few guys who strained a hamstring or something over the summer, but most of the returnees don’t have any problems that should preclude them from practicing.’’

The only known casualties at the start of camp are backup fullback Max Anderson and reserve lineman Jake Miller. Anderson has been battling mononucleosis all summer and, although doctors have cleared him, may not be ready for the rigors of camp. Miller had hernia surgery in the offseason and hasn’t progressed enough to be invited back as one of the 105 players allowed to be in camp.

Rodriguez said he also did not know of any academic issues with veterans, but summer school doesn’t end until the end of the first week of camp, which is an issue in itself.

“That is a real pain,’’ Rodriguez said. “In camp you want it to be all football. And we can’t because half the guys have classes.’’

As for the newcomers, Rodriguez signed 28 high school and junior college players during the offseason, three over the NCAA limit. But as is usually the case, academic attrition has taken care of the overage.

Four players appear to have failed to qualify, and all are expected to go to prep school — linebacker Vincent Harris, wide receiver Andrew Harris, defensive lineman Asa Chapman and running back Terence Kerns. The two Harrises are definitely out, while the cases of Chapman and Kerns are still tied up in the NCAA Clearinghouse. Rodriguez said he doesn’t expect either to be approved but hasn’t been given a final word on either.

Chapman, a 6-foot-5, 360-pounder from Orange, Va., will be going to prep school for the second year in a row (he was at Fork Union last year). Kerns, a 6-1, 230-pounder from Frederick, Md., was a question mark anyway because of a serious knee injury suffered last November.

As for the 24 remaining recruits, all but three seem to have passed through the NCAA’s Clearinghouse, and Rodriguez is hoping those will follow in short order. The three with questions remaining are Brandon Hogan — a gifted athlete who could be tried at several positions — along with defensive back P.J. Shirdin and Morgantown defensive lineman Junius Lewis.

All three can practice for the first 14 days of camp without Clearinghouse approval, and Rodriguez said he expects Hogan and Shirdin to be approved shortly.

Lewis, whose father of the same name played basketball at West Virginia, earned a qualifying test score this summer, but the Clearinghouse has put his case under an internal review. But even if he is cleared to play, a knee injury suffered during summer conditioning might keep him on the sidelines.

“We did an MRI and it came back negative,’’ Rodriguez said. “But it’s still a concern because it’s swelling up on him.’’

If Lewis isn’t approved by the Clearinghouse, he would be a candidate to grayshirt — delay enrollment until January and count against next year’s 25-man limit.

Among those approved by the Clearinghouse is the most highly publicized of the recruits, running back Noel Devine.

There is also one other significant new addition, although he didn’t need Clearinghouse approval. Safety Ryan Mundy graduated from Michigan in the spring and transferred to West Virginia for his final season of eligibility under a rule since rescinded by the NCAA. The rule allowed players who graduated with eligibility remaining to transfer without penalty to a school that offered a graduate degree that was not offered at the original school.

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, use e-mail or call (304) 348-1734.