And down the stretch they come. It’s hard to believe, but just six regular season basketball games will remain for West Virginia after today’s game against Kansas State.

 

Yes, WVU still has a chance at the Big 12 title, but it will take one heck of a run down to get there.

 

It starts today against Kansas State at home and continues Monday in Lawrence against Kansas.

 

West Virginia sits at 7-4 in Big 12 play heading into today’s game and trails Baylor by one game and Kansas by two games in the standings.

 

As of now, West Virginia has the head-to-head advantage over both. The challenge for West Virginia in winning the Big 12 is two-fold. One: it must show it can win a string of games to close out the conference season. It’s quite possible, West Virginia would have to win out (and still get some help with someone knocking off KU) to have a chance for the title. Thus far, West Virginia hasn’t been able to win more than three in a row in league play. 

 

Two: not only will West Virginia have to beat a K-State team that beat them earlier this season, but they will then need to go on the road and win in one of the toughest venues in all of college sports - Phog Allen Fieldhouse.

 

Prior to last week, Kansas had won 54 straight games at home. The Jayhawks’ loss to Iowa State, 92-89 in overtime on February 4, was the first loss for KU in Allen Fieldhouse since 2013.

 

Winning in this league is tough enough. Winning at Kansas takes a special effort.

 

The glass half full look would say Iowa State showed the Jayhawks aren’t invincible at home. You can go in and win. The glass half empty approach says, now that Kansas has already lost this season they won’t do so again for a few more years. Which will it be on Monday?

 

As we often say in sports, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. That opportunity comes up Monday as West Virginia looks to get its first win in Lawrence.

 

Football Recruiting

 

Last week on our radio show, the Northside Automotive Statewide Sportsline, we sat down with West Virginia’s director of player personnel, Ryan Dorchester.

 

Per WVUsports.com, Ryan "oversees the organizational aspects of recruiting and managing the personnel of the current members of the program.” There’s three more paragraphs on the WVU athletics web site outlining Dorchester’s other duties, but suffice it to say, overseeing recruiting is one of the most vital duties he performs.

 

We covered a wide range of topics the other night with Ryan, but one of the more interesting to me was the approach to transfers the program has been taking as of late.

 

As you have probably noticed, WVU is taking in more transfers than before. And having great success in doing so.

 

Just take last year’s team. Justin Crawford, Skyler Howard and Rasul Douglas all came to WVU following stints at JUCOs. Add in Maurice Fleming, who was a graduate transfer from Iowa, and you have four guys that were extremely vital to WVU’s 10-win season.

As Dorchester said to us, Maurice Fleming’s interception against BYU sealed the victory. In fact, he used the words “won the game for us.” He went on to mention, if you could pick up a player via the transfer route that is directly responsible for a win during the season, you do it every time.

 

Clearly, the group I mentioned above was responsible for multiple wins between them this past season. Add in Clint Trickett, Charles Sims, Shaq Riddick and Kevin White and you can see why Dana Holgorsen has made transfers a point of emphasis.

 

The recently signed 2017 class includes eight junior college transfers at this point. With a few scholarships still remaining to use in this class, we could see WVU sign a few more and/or pick up a graduate transfer.

 

The transfer route has been fruitful for WVU, but as Dorchester pointed out, they are not abandoning the high school prospects. 

 

The program’s foundation will still be built on high school players joining the team, but junior college (and graduate) transfers can generally play more quickly. They have had a developmental year or two and theoretically, are ready to hit the ground running.

 

Who will be the next wave of transfers to make an impact at West Virginia? Kyzir White showed signs of brilliance last year. A quarterback you may have heard of is chomping at the bit to take the field. Florida transfer, Will Grier appears ready to fill the shoes of past transfer quarterbacks, Clint Trickett and Skyler Howard, that have produced some big numbers.

 

Spring practice is right around the corner. Who’s next?

 

If you are interested in watching the entire interview with Ryan Dorchester, you can view it by clicking HERE.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows WVU Coach Bob Huggins working over an official, while Ryan Dorchester is shown in the  middle. Bottom photo shows Shaq Riddick going in for a sack against Baylor.