Published: August 21, 2009 12:42 am      

Mountaineers shake up O-line

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia came into camp with a lot of questions about the offensive line and now, as camp winds down, there may be more questions than ever as the Mountaineers have shaken up the line.

Eric Jobe came into camp as the starting center but recently was moved to right guard while Joey Madsen moves in at center. Jeff Braun, who had been the right guard, now is the swing man between both positions.

But nothing is settled.

“We’re evaluating things every scrimmage. It’s not a permanent thing,” said Dave Johnson, the Mountaineer offensive line coach.

Madsen is a redshirt freshman and admits he has some nervousness.

“There’s going to be some anxiety, especially against our defense. They come at you from everywhere,” Johnson said. “But every day he’s getting better and learning more.”

When asked how Madsen had done in a scrimmage on Wednesday, Johnson answered:

“He’s still at center.”

Next scrimmage, however, Braun will get a look at center.

Decisions probably won’t be made until the week before the Sept. 5 opener against Liberty.



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West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks are among the 50 preseason candidates for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden All-American team and Player of the Year award.

The award, which is college basketball’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, and the All-American team are named for former UCLA Coach John Wooden.

Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody is the only returning Wooden All-American and has a chance to become a three-time Wooden All-American. He has averaged better than 20 points and 10 rebounds in each of the past two seasons, last year averaging 25.2 points and 12.8 rebounds.

Also back on the preseason list from last year are Sherron Collins of Kansas, Duke’s Kyle Singler and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State.

West Virginia, with Butler and Ebanks, was one of two schools with two candidates, joining Kansas (Collins, Cole Aldrich), Michigan State (Lucas, Raymar Morgan), Duke (Singler, Jon Scheyer, Michigan (DeShawn Sims, Manny Harris), North Carolina (Ed Davis, Deon Thompson), Purdue (Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore), Connecticut (Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson) and Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher).

Butler led WVU in scoring as a junior with 17.1 points a game while setting a WVU record for most points scored in a game at the Coliseum with 43 against Villanova.

Ebanks, a tall, lean freshman last year, came on strong in the second half of the season and averaged 10.5 points a game while leading the team in rebounding with 7.8 a game.



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The West Virginia women’s soccer team was given a preseason No. 16 ranking by Soccer America. A week earlier the National Soccer Coaches Association of America ranked Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown’s team No. 14 in the nation.

The Mountaineers are favored to win their division in the Big East this season.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.