The Insider Magazine vol 20 #7 March 2018

INSIDER

the

March 2018

www.HerdInsider.com

Winning When

IT COUNTS

Marshall rolls up late-season wins as it chases a first Conference USA title.

compiled by Bill Cornwell THE INSIDER contributing writer

UP FRONT

Marshall fans were overjoyed with the news that one of the Herd’s all-time football greats, Randy Moss, was a first-ballot electee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Moss learned the good news on February 3rd, the day before Super Bowl 52.

Marshall’s other Pro Football Hall of Famer is 1940s lineman Frank “Gunner” Gatski, who was inducted for his career with the Cleveland Browns in the 40s and 50s.

Gatski’s number 72 is the only retired number at Marshall, so is it time to do the same for the “88” worn by Moss?

Certainly, the two-year career of Moss in green and white warrants it, as he helped lead the Herd to a 1996 Southern Conference title and NCAA Division 1-AA national title, followed by a 1997 Mid-American Conference title and appearance in the first Motor City Bowl as the Herd face Ole Miss of the Southeastern Conference.

I have it on good inside word that efforts ARE underway to retire Moss’ #88, possibly as early as this season, as long as Randy can be in town for the ceremony. continued on page 18

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UP FRONT

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UP FRONT

Contributing writer Bill Cornwell shares some of his experiences as a voice in the Huntington-area sports media.

Marshall MBK

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MOMENTUM

Marshall men’s basketball is keeping the momentum going as they head toward Conference USA tournament time, next month.

555 Fifth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 523-8401

General Manager Mike Kirtner Editor Bill Cornwell

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CHANGES

2018 brings both departures and arrivals of key personnel and coaches to Marshall’s football program.

Creative Director Haley Donaldson Contributor James E. Casto

Associate GM Reeves Kirtner First Subscriber Geoff Sheils

Wayne WBK

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VICTORY

Wayne High’s girls basketball team is setting records and higher program standards.

Writer Dave Walsh Printing Printograph, Inc.

Web Operations Alex Hackney All contents ©2018 Kindred Communications

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Winning When

COLLEGE

BASKETBALL

IT COUNTS

Marshall rolls up late-season wins as it chases a first Conference USA title.

Marshall University men’s basketball coach Dan D’Antoni knew he had three proven players back for the 2017-18 season. The former Marshall standout guard knew how other holdovers, incoming freshmen and transfers fit in would determine what kind of year it would be for the Thundering Herd. story by Dave Walsh THE INSIDER writer

Early-season road losses at rival Morehead State and William & Mary indicated D’Antoni still had more juggling to do. In mid-December, the Herd beat former Mid-American Conference rivals Toledo and Ohio University and battled No. 9 Xavier to the wire before losing by four (81-77). Progress.

Fast forward to mid-February. Marshall wins three of four on two road trips to Texas, the third a 74-72 win over North Texas thanks to C.J. Burks converting a layup just before time expired. That gave the Herd a five-game winning streak going into the stretch drive before the Conference USA Tournament scheduled March 7-11 in Frisco, Texas.

Marshall’s final homestand included a split, with a loss to Old Dominion and win over Charlotte. The Herd closed out the regular season with trips to UAB and Middle Tennessee, nationally-ranked at the time. Puzzle truly coming together.

“We’re going to ride with these three,” D’Antoni told the media back in October, referring to Burks, fellow guard Jon Elmore and 6-9 big man Ajdin Penava.

photographs by Greg Perry/ THE INSIDER Magazine staff

Those three have delivered in a big way, many times combining to score the majority of points in a game. The steady emergence of 6-9 Milan Mijovic, Jannson Williams, transfer Rondale Watson and freshmen Jarrod West and Darius George have provided additional firepower and needed depth to help the Herd reach 19-4 overall, 10-4 C-USA with two weeks to go in the regular season.

/ March 2018 “You can’t lose as much as we lost and expect to start the season going full speed. It takes a while to get all the parts working together,” D’Antoni said. “We didn’t have enough experience playing together at the beginning of the year. Experiment trying to figure who should be playing, who should be on the bench.

Look at all the players, see how deep we could get. Settled on things in practice, but wanted to see it in a game. Some are not playing as much now as they were then. Others are playing more. It’s process you have to go through when you get a brand new team. I always thought we’d be competitive in the conference. Where we end up goes into what we can do in the tournament.”

Elmore and Burks are the top two scorers in C-USA. Penava is one of the top rebounders and also had 111 blocked shots through Feb. 17. Burks and Elmore twice have been C-USA Player of the Week. Penava also was named once.

Watson, a transfer from Wake Forest, comes off the bench and there’s virtually no dropoff. West, who led Clarksburg Notre Dame to a West Virginia Class A state title last season, has been a starter. He’s usually on the opponent’s top ball handler and he rises to the occasion. Williams and George contribute valuable minutes, too. That combination had the Herd one win from its first 20-win regular season under D’Antoni.

“We’re meeting most people’s expectations. We’re not meeting mine,” D’Antoni said. “We’re playing good basketball. We’re fun to watch, get out and enjoy. We’re getting better. We want to get where we can be a champion.”

Burks believes all questions about the Herd have been answered one by one. Scoring, defense, bench play, play on the road, etc.

“At the start of the season, we had to figure out all the new pieces,” Burks said. “Every day we worked to better ourselves and improve team chemistry. The team’s more complete now.

Everybody’s playing as one. Guys have picked up things well.

We’re not as good as we want to be, but we’re getting there.”

Burks knows the Herd offense starts with Elmore and he’s proven quite the trigger.

“Jon does a great job creating pace for a game,” Burks said.

“What helps us is we have shooters, he spaces out the floor and it makes it easier to score. We know we’re going to score.”

Of late, opponents have had to work to break 70 against the Herd, which leads C-USA in scoring. And with the depth, Burks appreciates getting a break now and then.

“We get locked in,” he said of the defensive mindset. “We’re playing more as a team. Depth, we have the three pieces. Rondale, Darius, Jannson. That’s a lot of people who can contribute.

I actually can get a blow. Guys who come in the paces doesn’t slack or slow down.”

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/ March 2018 Elmore, a member C-USA All Preseason Team, said what the Herd fans witness now is nothing like the one they saw back in November and early December.

“We’ve come a long way individually,” he said. “Guys worked hard in the offseason and improved talent wise. We play harder, mesh together. We play with more energy offensively and defensively. Everybody knows their role, contributes what they can. They know it’s next man up if something happens. We’re headed in the right direction.”

Elmore knows that kind of momentum makes the Herd a tough out in the C-USA Tournament.

“We can be right there,” he said.

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EVERYBODY KNOWS THEIR ROLE, CONTRIBUTES WHAT THEY CAN. THEY KNOW IT’S NEXT MAN UP IF SOMETHING HAPPENS. WE’RE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

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photos by Greg Perry

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ADDITIONS

OUTWEIGHING SUBTRACTIONS 2018 brings both departures and arrivals of key personnel and coaches to Marshall’s football program.

An 8-5 season is a disappointment for some football programs and their fan bases. Other schools and their fans rejoice in that kind of success.

At Marshall University, an 8-5 mark in 2017 -- one that many in that fan base didn’t see coming -more than erased the bad vibes from a 2016 season when the Thundering Herd struggled from start to finish and ended up 3-9 after three straight seasons with 10 wins or more.

Many players who contributed to that 5-game reversal of fortune, which culminated with a win over Colorado State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, return for 2018, so naturally the fan base should be expecting more starting Sept. 1 when the Herd visits Miami (Ohio) in the season opener.

Not so fast. Some surprises after the 2017 season briefly dashed some of that building enthusiasm.

Marshall no longer had its top quarterback and needed to find new offensive and defensive coordinators.

Quarterback Chase Litton opted not to return for his senior season and declared for the NFL Draft on Jan. 14. That left the Herd with inexperienced signal callers and forced the staff to seek a quarterback with experience. Earlier, offensive coordinator Bill Legg resigned after eight seasons.

Chuck Heater departed for Maryland and the Big 10 after serving as defensive coordinator for five years. This was the first time head coach Doc Holliday had to replace two coordinators in an offseason. All this happens at crunch time in recruiting. Holliday and staff holdovers worked fast to fill the voids. It didn’t take long.

Quarterback Alex Thomson picked Marshall over Baylor, Tennessee and many other big-time Quarterback Alex Thomson picked Marshall over Baylor, Tennessee and many other big-time programs as a graduate transfer, giving the Herd experience at that position. Tim Cramsey departed Sam Houston State to become the new offensive coordinator. Current Herd assistant Adam Fuller, linebackers coach since 2013, was promoted to defensive coordinator.

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COLLEGE

Thomson provided the first sigh of relief. Thomson, 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, moves in from Wagner College and joins the Herd as a graduate transfer after he completes spring classes in New York in May. Thomson dropped on Jan. 16 and a story by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports described him as one of the nation’s most heralded story by Dave Walsh THE INSIDER writer graduate transfers.

The atmosphere at Marshall/Huntington compared to Staten Island, all the returning talent on offense and pitches made by offensive line coach Alex Mirabal (who has since departed for Oregon, replaced Marshall alum Greg Adkins) and fellow assistants Mike Trier and Cramsey along with Holliday, who convinced Thomson green and white were the best colors for him.

“One of the things that was the coolest for me was to see that it is really a college town. The people around Huntington really support the football team and rally behind the program. That was a cool aspect for me,” Thomson told Thamel about his visit.

“He’s a great kid and has all the intangibles. We’re excited about him,” Holliday said.

Thomson missed the majority of last season because of a shoulder injury, but threw for 2,436 yards and 16 touchdowns with five interceptions as a junior while showing the strong arm and moxie that had former NFL quarterback and Morehead State graduate Phil Simms raving about his prospects.

Thomson will be down for a week of spring ball. He’ll be full time in mid-May. Thomson and Cramsey have plenty of weapons. NFL prospect Tyre Brady, Marcel Williams and Willie Johnson return at wide receiver. Top backs Keion Davis and Tyler King return. More importantly, all five starters on the offensive line return. That unit was No. 4 in the nation in sacks allowed (11).

“The offensive line is obviously the biggest aspect for me with all those guys back,” Thomson said. “They are only going to get better and those guys like Tyre and Marcel are dynamic guys to throw to. I’ve been able to watch tape on them and I’m really impressed with what they can do. I’m looking forward to getting on the field with them.”

At Sam Houston State last season, Cramsey and the Bearkats led the nation (FCS) in scoring offense (43.3), passing offense (362.7), total offense (538.1) and first downs (365). He coached quarterback Jer-

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FOOTBALL

emiah Briscoe, who was named the Walter Payton Award winner (top offensive player in FCS), ADA Offensive Player of the year and a consensus all-American. He also had wide-out Davion Davis, the Southland Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.

“Tim worked with coach Mirabal and that’s how we made the connection,” Holliday said on a Twitter post. “Tim has been successful wherever he’s been.

His offenses have taken care of the football too and that’s really important as well.”

Fuller has coached linebackers since joining the Herd in 2013. He will work with safeties now in his new role. Last season, the Herd’s defense was No. 2 in points allowed in Conference USA, No. 3 in total defense, No. 2 against the run, No. 7 against the pass and No. 3 in sacks recorded. Fuller embraces the challenge.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be put into this position,” he said. ““Marshall University and the Huntington community is a special place to coach college football. I look forward to continuing the improvement of our defense.”

In other coaching moves, Treier will stay recruiting coordinator and work with cornerbacks. Byron Thweatt comes on board as linebackers coach. He handled that position the past two years at James Madison.

Holliday and the staff still put together a solid recruiting class of 24 student-athletes. Three already are enrolled.

“We filled our needs,” Holliday said. “We have recruited young men who are excited to represent this program and, as always, that’s where it starts.”

Holliday utilizes other recruiting pitches. He tells recruits about the success former Herd players have enjoyed in the NFL and CFL. Most latest examples are wide-out Randy Moss, who was voted into the NFL Hall of Fame, and defensive end Vinny Curry, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, who just won Super Bowl LII. “That all came down the weekend before signing day so that was definitely something we used,” Holliday said. continued on page 10

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In the 2018 Final C-USA Recruiting Rankings, Marshall checked in at No. 1. FIU was second. Defending league champion FAU placed sixth.

Marshall players are currently in off-season conditioning. Spring ball starts this month and wraps up the final weekend of April.

“This is my favorite time of year. You don’t win games when you come back in August. You win them by putting in all of that hard work in February,” Holliday said.

When it comes to total wins for All C-USA members the past five years, Marshall leads the way with 44. Louisiana Tech is next with 38. The Herd’s bowl winning streaks is six dating back to 2009. That’s the best active bowl winning streak in FBS and the school’s 11-2 overall mark in bowls is the highest bowl winning percentage in the FBS. A Holliday-coached team has yet to lose a bowl game.

Looking ahead, Marshall’s 2018 schedule offers many challenges. Two of the four non-league foes are North Carolina State (home) and South Carolina (away). The Herd’s conference opener is at Western Kentucky. The 8-5 mark in 2017 is an afterthought.

“That’s behind us. We move forward. Our 2018 schedule will be a great challenge, but I know that our kids will be up to it,” Holliday said. “Conference USA has gotten better every year. From top to bottom, it is as good as it has ever been.”

COLLEGE

FOOTBALL

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WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

CIRCLING THE VICTORY WAGONS compiled by Dave Walsh / THE INSIDER writer

Make a charge, get knocked down. Make another charge, get knocked down again. Make yet another charge, negotiate the bumps better, the climb continues.

That in a nutshell describes the fortunes of the Wayne High School girls basketball the past three seasons.

The Lady Pioneers twice suffered tournament exits quicker than they wanted in the tough Class AA/ Region 4. Come 2017-18, no major illness or injuries strike this time and the achievements start to pile up. First 20-win season in school history, a record 22-game win streak leading to a sectional title, a conference championship and the leading scorer in school history (boys/ girls).

Wayne appears ready to add to the resume. The Lady Pioneers started the sectional this time as No. 1 seed and recorded homecourt wins over Nitro (66-64) and Winfield (52-39). The ultimate destination is the State Tournament in Charleston.

“Coming in, seeing what we’ve got, I thought we were OK, thought we had a pretty good shot,” Wayne coach Wade Williamson said. “I told some people this was the best team I’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve got five seniors. We’ve been building for this. Injuries and illness are unfortunate. We probably had a chance to get to Charleston. We’ve put ourselves where we’ve got that chance again. It’s take care of business. We all know anything can happen.”

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Having five starters back, along with solid contrifound ways to win. We’ve got composed kids, they butions from the bench, explains how Wayne didn’t know what’s going on and how to handle the ups lose again in the regular season after a Game 2 and downs. We’re deeper than we last year, too.” setback to Class AAA George Washstory by Dave Walsh THE INSIDER writer ington. The Lady Pioneers started the One of the many highlights is the season No. 10 in the preseason poll, late-season win at 2015 state champ but climbed to a school-best No. 3 going into tourSissonville, a first for the seniors. Wayne beat the nament play. Five teams Wayne beat on the way to Indians, 51-47, in overtime despite a poor shooting winning the Cardinal Conference are in its section. night from the field (12-for-66) and foul line (16 missed free throws).

Guard Aeriel Adkins, a two-time Class AA all-state selection at second team and team’s leading scorer “Someone told me that’s the biggest win we’ve had (16.6), is the top returning starter. Forward Maddie in program history,” Williamson said. “Some truth in Wilcox, Lakyn Adkins, point guard Whitney Sansom that I don’t know. We get that monkey off our back. and Sara Hooks round out that five. Hannah Preece, Twenty wins is bigger for me maybe than the kids.

Bailey Robertson, Jamalin Ray and Makayla Hood We’d been close. The night we won the Cardinal, provide spark off the bench. Aeriel Adkins, Wilcox, they didn’t realize it. Their eyes were somewhere Preece, Nakayla Elliott and Ray are seniors. Aeriel else. I told them after the game we’d won 20 and and Lakyn are sisters. they didn’t know that either. They just play.”

“Maybe we’re proving it ourselves in some ways,” Williamson said. “We went on the road and won some tough games. Took care of business at home.

We had some tough losses in the past. This time we

Aeriel Adkins is the school’s all-time leading scorer with more than 1,400 points. continued on page 15

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“She comes in the first year and sets the tone for the program,” Williamson said. “She took a leadership role. The big thing about her is she’s consistent. Not too high, not too low. She knows how to practice.”

All accomplishments to date don’t come as a surprise to Aerial Adkins, who is undecided on college plans.

“I was hoping we’d be better than last year,” she said.

“It’s amazing to be part of this team. Our bond has really helped. Coach tells us to act like we meant to do this. I don’t like to brag on myself. I’m proud of myself because I worked hard in the gym a lot for this. We distribute the ball. We don’t force anything.”

Adkins appreciates all the fan support. One example was the large turnout for the Sissonville game.

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“I see all the people show up and say, ‘Wow,’ “Adkins said. “Oh my gosh (at Sissonville) there were people from my church everywhere. The preacher came.”

Adkins is aware all the Lady Pioneers have done could lose meaning if they don’t reach Charleston.

“We start over. We come in ready to play,” she said.

“We lost some tough games in the past. We’ve learned how to work past that.”

Lakyn Adkins has a remarkable story. She suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through last season. She made it back for opening night wearing a brace. “It was a huge loss then, a huge shot in the arm now,” Williamson said.

“That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, going through all that,” Aeriel Adkins said. “Not having her really killed us. It’s super having her back.”

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“They’re different kids all the way around,” Williamson said.

Wilcox gives the Lady Pioneers a presence down low. She’s compiled a long list of double-doubles.

“You have to keep your composure. Sometimes it can get rough,” Wilcox said. “Twenty wins is a big achievement. We worked hard for it.

We hit some tough spots and worked through them.”

Wilcox loves the way she and her teammates climbed the ladder in the poll. Call it a statement.

“I feel like some people underestimate us,” she said. “We’ve worked hard, got our name out there. Now the target’s on our back instead of the target being on someone else. We know they want to beat us.”

“We’ve got to be mentally ready,” Aeriel Adkins said.

Williamson kept his pre-tournament talk simple.

“We play them all over again. We’re home this time,” he said. “I like our approach. We’ve done a good job of not looking past people.

Hopefully we’ll continue to do that. We’ve grown up, matured. Comes with age. We’re an old team (start three seniors and two juniors).

That lends itself well in those situations.”

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Aeriel Adkins Wayne High School Basketball

When you think of Wayne High School athletics, your first thoughts go to past successes on the baseball diamond led by legendary coach George Brumfield or the more recent multiple state Class AA state titles picked up by Coach Tom Harmon’s football squads.

There is a new winner in town “Out Wayne” and it’s the Pioneer girls basketball team.Winning is a team effort but the leader of this Pioneer squad is 5-10 senior guard/wing player Aeriel Adkins.

Adkins has been the Pioneers leader in points this season as she averaged 16.4 per contest through 23 games. She’s also second in the team in rebounding with 9.4 per game, trailing only teammate Maddie Wilcox.

In her career, Adkins has actually averaged in double-figures in both points and rebounds, including a breakout freshman season in which she scored just over 19 points a game and took down nearly 12 and a half rebounds per contest.

She’s had six 20-point scoring performances this season, including 25 and 21-point efforts in sectional wins over Nitro and Winfield. Her top scoring number was a 37 point explosion against Cardinal Conference rival Logan on December 14th. Her top rebound performance was on January 25th in a 54-27 win over another Cardinal Conference member, Mingo Central.

Adkins is the leading all-time scorer for any Wayne High basketball squad, male or female.MShe’s also been able to play for three seasons with her sister, Pioneer Junior Guard Lakyn Adkins.Wade Williamson has been her coach throughout out her high school career and he says that she’s been a model athlete in his program.

“She comes in the first year and sets the tone for the program,” Williamson said. “She took a leadership role.

The big thing about her is she’s consistent. Not too high, not too low. She knows how to practice.”

Adkins says that all of her accomplishments to date haven’t come as a surprise.

“I was hoping we’d be better than last year,” she said. “It’s amazing to be part of this team. Our bond has really helped. Coach tells us to act like we meant to do this. I don’t like to brag on myself. I’m proud of myself because I worked hard in the gym a lot for this. We distribute the ball. We don’t force anything.”

Adkins says she hasn’t made any final plans on college or if she’ll be playing at the next level.

—compiled by Bill Cornwell

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UP FRONT

03.18

VOLUME 20 NO. 7

I was surprised with the late off-season departure of fiveyear Herd Offensive Line Coach Alex Mirabal, but not totally shocked that he decided to head to the Oregon Ducks program to coach the offensive line there for his old friend, new Ducks Head Coach Mario Cristobal.

Mirabal was often a miracle-worker during his time at Marshall, as depth issues and injuries forced him to lots of personnel juggling. Still, he produced some stand-out lineman, including Sebastian Johanansson, Chris Jasperse, Clint Van Horn, Michael Selby and just this year, Levi Brown and Tarik Adams.

Cristobal and Mirabal worked together to build the FIU program until the Panthers decided to part ways with Cristobal after the The entire Mirabal family, including wife Berta and sons 2012, just a year after Cristobal and the Panthers faced Marshall Alejandro and Nicolas, will admit that they fell in love with in the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida, a 20-10 Huntington and they’ll be missed.

Herd victory.

The Herd was fortunate to quickly replace Mirabal by allowing Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday wasted no time in scooping a “Son of Marshall” to return, as alum Greg Adkins will now up Mirabal to lead Marshall’s offensive lineman after Cristobal lead the Marshall offensive lineman, a unit that’s deep and full dismissal in Miami and the results were nothing but impressive of talent. as the Herd picked up the 2014 Conference USA title and four bowl wins during Mirabal’s five seasons in Huntington, includ- Adkins, a 1990 Marshall grad with 27 years of coaching ing last season’s New Mexico Bowl victory over Colorado State. experience, comes home after spending a season with the compiled by Bill Cornwell THE INSIDER contributing writer

March 2018 / THE INSIDER /

The Cross Lanes, WV native got his coaching start as part of Coach Jim Donnan’s Marshall staff and he later followed Donnan to Georgia. Adkins has also coached at Tennessee, Troy, Oklahoma State and Syracuse as well as the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

the

the struggling Charlotte 49ers program. One of the 11 losses suffered by Charlotte last season was a 14-3 loss to Marshall.

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