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SPORTS
2008: The year ahead in sports
The Marshall Thundering Herd football team locks arms and marches onto the field on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, prior to kickoff of the 2007 installment of the Friends of Coal Bowl between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Marshall Thundering Herd.
Purchase this photoStorylines hardly are lacking entering the 2008 sports calendar year.
In the immediate, West Virginia University's football path soon will be set with the hiring of Rich Rodriguez' replacement as head coach. Contention between Rodriguez and his former employer, which could result in dueling lawsuits, likely will play out as well.
Closer to home, Marshall University football enters a pivotal season with several intriguing plots within the plot. An offensive coordinator soon will be hired, who will be charged with grooming the next Thundering Herd starting quarterback.
Marshall men's basketball continues to form a new identity under first-year head coach Donnie Jones and his talented coaching staff. Early returns have been favorable, but Conference USA, loaded with proven, veteran coaches, presents a challenging road.
Following is a 2008 Tri-State sports preview as compiled by The Herald-Dispatch.
RETURN TO FORM? Circumstances leading to three consecutive Marshall University football losing seasons have been well-chronicled. Most, including a shortage of scholarship student-athletes, now are behind the program, suggesting a return to winning form looms.
Not that challenges lack in 2008. That list begins with another daunting non-conference schedule, featuring trips to Wisconsin and West Virginia on back-to-back September Saturday afternoons.
A new offensive coordinator will be hired and oversee a wide-open battle at quarterback. As many as four returning signal-callers will compete for the top spot vacated by 3,000-yard passer Bernard Morris.
Competition behind center will take center stage during spring practice, which will feature position battles throughout the two-deep roster.
Head coach Mark Snyder, entering his fourth season, has added four junior college transfers toward the '08 recruiting class. Combined with numerous redshirts, grayshirts and academic non-qualifiers who sat out last season, Marshall football appears steered toward a makeover.
NEW LOOK, WITHOUT A DOUBT: There's no questioning the metamorphosis taking place at the Cam Henderson Center. First-year coach Donnie Jones' vision already is developing through 10 games entering this afternoon's 2 p.m. home tip-off against San Diego.
It appears that priority one has been ratcheting up expectations, both from player and fan perspectives. Tempo also has been elevated, pleasing Henderson Center crowds through non-conference play.
Jones will lead his program into his first Capital Classic against WVU as head coach on Jan. 23. The midweek event annually draws an enthused Charleston Civic Center crowd and an entertaining clash.
Later in the year, Thundering Herd fans will be checking their rosters when three Division I-A transfers are added full-time for the 2008-09 season.
HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: Coming off a successful calendar year, Tri-State high school teams and individuals again should compete for numerous state titles.
First up is Huntington's girls basketball team, which already has proven an ability to compete at Class AAA's elite level. The Highlanders knocked off No. 1 Morgantown on Friday before falling a day later to host Parkersburg South in a holiday tournament title game.
Whitney Bays and Erin Bailes lead a balanced squad which has sprinted to a 5-1 start.
Transition likely will define Tri-State football following disappointment in 2007. The postseason largely was a non-event for local high school football fans, but several squads will seek bouncebacks.
From Spring Valley's perspective, the process begins with naming a new head coach.
PERFECT PATRIOTS? Normally, the pursuits of an NFL franchise don't exactly qualify as local news. New England (16-0) is proving the exception, however, and local fans are engrossed, along with the rest of the nation.
Four former Marshall standouts -- wide receivers Randy Moss and Troy Brown, punter Chris Hanson and tight end Jason Rader -- dot the Patriots' roster. Foxboro, Mass., and Huntington are separated by about 800 miles, but Tri-State fans carry more than a rooting interest.
Moss merely set a new single season record with 23 touchdown receptions in his inaugural New England campaign. After more than 14 seasons with the Pats, Brown remains an unquestioned leader and could provide an on-field impact through the playoffs.
Hanson and Rader largely have served as spectators. Hanson, because a Moss-powered offense set a new single-season scoring record, and Rader, for his time on the practice squad.
WHO WILL GUIDE WVU? It wasn't long ago that West Virginia University's football future was clear. Following Tuesday's BCS bowl appearance against Oklahoma, the offensively-charged Mountaineers would enter 2008 as a national championship favorite behind coach Rich Rodriguez.
The seventh-year coach since has vacated his position for the same job at Michigan, an increasingly nasty split that already has led to one lawsuit. WVU players, meanwhile, are left to prepare with highly-respected (but interim) coach Bill Stewart, while a permanent replacement is sought.
Central Michigan coach Butch Jones has been listed as a top candidate, along with Doc Holliday and Terry Bowden. Securing the proper head coach is pivotal for a program that consistently has battled for Big East titles and top 10 contention in recent seasons.
MAYO TO STAY OR GO? Former Huntington High School standouts O.J. Mayo and Patrick Patterson help comprise an ultra-talented true freshman class throughout college basketball's landscape.
Mayo quickly is becoming the face of Southern California basketball, while Patterson has balanced individual brilliance against team struggles at Kentucky. Tri-State fans can track each as they compete close to home and on the West Coast at college basketball's highest level.
Ideally for local supporters, Mayo and Patterson will extend their seasons into March Madness at the NCAA Tournament. Mayo's first season with USC could be last, however, should he choose to enter the 2008 NBA Draft.
