Note: Skyler Howard is from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area

FOOTBALL BLOG
By Mike Montoro for WVUSports.com
December 18, 2013 05:34 PM

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen has announced the signing of four players to national letters of intent and athletic grant-in-aids for the spring 2013 semester.

• Skyler Howard, QB, 5-11, 200, Fort Worth, Texas, Riverside City College
  
• Edward Muldrow III, LB, 6-3, 215, Snellville, Georgia/Copiah-Lincoln Community College
• Sylvester Townes, OT, 6-6, 285, Memphis, Tenn./Coahoma Community College
  
• Keishawn Richardson, CB, 5-10, 170, Putnam City, Okla./Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College
  

Note: DFW Mountaineers contributed over 25 pairs of PJs for this effort.

Original press release: WVUHealthcare.com
12/18/2013

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Alumni Association loaded up a little red truck, dashed through the snow, and delivered more than 500 pairs of pajamas to WVU Children’s Hospital today.

The pajamas were part of a large community service effort, spearheaded by WVU Alumni Association chapters and volunteers across the country, to bring a little warmth and comfort to kids receiving care at the hospital.

Patricia Roe of Austin, Texas, a long-time chapter leader and alumni volunteer, was the true mastermind behind the effort. She encouraged the Alumni Association and Chapters to take on this project, and Mountaineers once again showed their spirit.

“Patti really helped us bring this project to fruition, and our alumni outdid themselves. We knew we would have a strong show of support, but the response – more than 500 pairs – is amazing,” Gregg Cave, chapter outreach officer, said.

The WVU Alumni Association presented the pajamas to Lora Edgell, Children’s Miracle Network director for WVU Children’s Hospital. Several children even stopped by to pick out their favorite pairs.

“What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season,” Edgell said. “This is a very difficult time for children and their families, and these gifts will certainly brighten their spirits. We are so thankful for the support of the WVU Alumni Association and countless other organizations that support our organization. We can’t wait to see the looks on the kids’ faces when they see these amazing gifts.”

This community service effort is just one of many projects implemented by the WVU Alumni Association and its more than 60 alumni chapters. Three years ago, the chapters presented more than 2,000 children’s books to WVU Children’s Hospital. Each year, chapters provide outreach and fundraising efforts in their own communities, including local food banks, orphanages, Adopt-A-Street, Toys for Tots, animal shelters, scholarships, and countless other worthwhile organizations.

Photo caption: Gregg Cave, chapter outreach officer for the WVU Alumni Association, presented 500 pairs of pajamas to Lora Edgell, Children’s Miracle Network director for WVU Children’s Hospital. Picking out the first pairs of PJs were WVUCH patient Austin Hedrick and his sister, Lillian, of Elkins, W.Va. The pajamas were donated by WVU Alumni Association chapters and other volunteers from across the country.

For More Information:
Angela Jones-Knopf, WVU Children’s Hospital, 304-293-7087, knopfa@wvuhealthcare.com
Tara Curtis, WVU Alumni Association, 304-293-0972, tecurtis@mail.wvu.edu
--WVU HEALTH--

The WVU Men's Basketball team is coming to Ft. Worth in January. TCU has made a block of discounted General Admission seats (Sections E & F) available for Mountaineer fans. Come out and cheer on Coach Huggins and our Mountaineers in their first game of the new year!

Discount tickets may be purchased for $5 each at the DFW Mountaineers Square Market.

Note: These tickets will not be shipped—they will be available at the Will Call window on game day).

Tickets purchased through noon on Thu, Dec 19, 2013 will be eligible for the group discount and will be made available at the Will Call window under purchaser's name; photo ID will be required to receive the tickets.

Email from Stephen Douglas, President & CEO WVU Alumni Association
December 6th, 2013

President Emeritus of The Ohio State University and former West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee was named today as president of WVU, effective in early January.

WVU’s Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve the selection, and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission unanimously voted its approval today.

Dr. Gee will serve in that role until a permanent president is in place. He will take an unpaid leave of absence from Ohio State, and will continue his commitment to lead and complete his work for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s Quality and Value Initiative: https://www.ohiohighered.org/quality-and-value.

He also will remain involved with the newly established Center for Higher Education Enterprise, approved Thursday at Ohio State. Deborah Merritt, the John Deaver Drinko/Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law, has been appointed associate director of the center and will coordinate its day-to-day operations.

Gee, 69, replaces Jim Clements, who announced in November he would leave the presidency at the end of the year. Gee will live at Blaney House, and fully participate in the active life of a University president.

By WVU Sports Communications for WVUsports.com
December 03, 2013 12:59 PM

First, I want to thank all Mountaineer fans who supported our football team through a difficult and trying season. Though there were some high points this year, including our upset victory over No. 11 Oklahoma State and the inspired play from many first year student-athletes, there were far too many disappointments.

We have high expectations at West Virginia University for success on and off the field and as Coach Holgorsen has acknowledged to me, we are not meeting those expectations on the field. Coach Holgorsen and I met at length and reviewed this past season. We discussed the coaching staff, recruiting, player development, strength and conditioning, academic support, facilities, in short, all the components that make up a successful program. We are working diligently to improve our capabilities in all of these areas.

I strongly believe in our coaching staff, including the work that our strength and conditioning staff is doing. In my opinion, continuity is the key ingredient that will bring our football program back to the high level that Mountaineer fans expect.

We had plenty of challenges this season; nonetheless, we should not and will not use those as excuses for our performance. We simply must get better.

Coach Holgorsen and his staff are on the road recruiting this week, securing the future for a successful Mountaineer football program. We need to do our part as well by continuing to move forward with the facility improvements needed to compete at the highest level in our conference.

We have high expectations for the 2014 football team, and I have shared those with Coach Holgorsen. He and his staff are eager to get started to prepare for our opening game against Alabama. We are well aware that we have a lot of work to do.

We have tremendous student-athletes in our program and a very accomplished core of coaches who want to bring championships back to West Virginia University. We will do all we can to help them in that endeavor, and I ask for your continued support as we move forward to a brighter future.

Note: Brittany Sample is from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area

Article by WVUSports.com

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  - West Virginia University volleyball sophomore Brittany Sample has been named the Varsity Sports Report Athlete of the Week.

Sample totaled 80 assists in seven sets this week for an 11.43 assists per set average. Sample had 40 assists, nine digs and two blocks against Oklahoma on Wednesday night. The Lewisville, Texas, native followed that performance up with 40 assists and eight digs in a three-set sweep of Buffalo in the season finale on Saturday.

Sample finished the season with 1,149 assists and played in every set of every match this season.

Congratulations to WVU women's soccer for winning the 2013 Big 12 Championship. Visitors to the WVUSports.com women's soccer team page are greeted by the following photo:

By John Antonik for WVUsports.com
November 30, 2013 06:04 PM

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Iowa State overcame a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat West Virginia 52-44 in triple-overtime Saturday evening at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“Obviously this was a disappointing end of the game,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.

Three critical second half turnovers when the Mountaineers seemingly had the game under control proved to be their undoing.

The first came with 3:25 left in the third quarter and with West Virginia poised to punch it in from the 1 to take a 24-point lead. But freshman Wendell Smallwood had the ball knocked out of his arms by Jeremiah George before he crossed the goal line, and Jacques Washington recovered it inches from the end zone.

Holgorsen said Smallwood’s fumble “really stung.”

Added Holgorsen, “He tried putting the ball over the goal line and you can’t do that. Every kid wants to score a touchdown so they try to, but you have to take care of the ball.”

Then, midway through the fourth quarter, Vernon Davis, Jr. fumbled on his first-down reception at the WVU 35 where Cory Morrissey was able to recover the ball for the Cyclones.

A third Mountaineer miscue also occurred in WVU territory when Washington wrestled the football out of Kevin White’s arms for an interception, giving Iowa State the ball at the WVU 33.

All three WVU turnovers led to ISU touchdowns, the third TD tying the game with a minute left in regulation when Grant Rohach hit Justin Coleman in the end zone for a 19-yard score.

By Nick Arthur for WVUsports.com
November 30, 2013 07:17 PM

 » BOX SCORE

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The West Virginia University volleyball team defeated Buffalo, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-21), on Saturday afternoon in its season finale.

“I thought Buffalo played great tonight,” says coach Jill Kramer. “They served really tough and played great defense. We were down by at least four at one point or another in each set, but our team stuck together, stayed composed and played disciplined in clutch time.”

The sweep was West Virginia’s 11th sweep win of the season.

The Mountaineers (20-13, 5-11 Big 12) finished the year with its first 20-win season since 1991, and coach Kramer recorded her 50th career win in the victory over the Bulls.