MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart has cleared junior Jock Sanders to return to working out with the team but says he has not yet lifted his suspension of the talented but sometimes troubled slot receiver.
Sanders was suspended indefinitely by Stewart in mid-February after he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
Sanders was arrested after being stopped for speeding and crossing the center line in a black Dodge Charger. The arrest report stated he failed three of four field sobriety tests and had a blood alcohol level of .125. The legal limit in West Virginia is .08.
It was Sanders’ second brush with the law within a year, having been arrested with three other WVU players after a fight outside a downtown club the previous February, pleading no contest and receiving a fine and community service.
Before Stewart will allow Sanders to participate in camp or play in any games he must pass a DMV driving class and stand before the Student Judiciary Committee chaired by Melanie Cook.
“If he does all that, he probably still will be facing a suspension,” Stewart said.
But Stewart believes that Sanders has been moving in the right direction in straightening himself out.
“I told him that letting him work out is an act of good faith on our part,” Stewart said. “I did it with the backing of my athletic director and after talking to my seniors. But I also let him know that he must still pass the required DMV course and the Judiciary Committee.”
Sanders has been going through summer conditioning drills at Mountaineer Field for the past week and has been participating in 7-on-7 drills.
“He has to get some help, and our job is to help him mature and become a better citizen in society,” Stewart said. “I gave my word when I got this job that we would have good citizens playing for us.”
Sanders’ on-field presence would be a big help to what promises to be a pass-happy offense that Stewart is putting together.
Last year he was the team’s leading receiver with 53 catches for 462 yards and seven touchdowns.
No other West Virginia player caught more than 35 passes.
The Mountaineers also used him effectively on reverses, carrying 48 times and averaging 5.2 yards a carry and scoring two more touchdowns.
With Sanders suspended during the spring, Stewart experimented with 6-8 Wes Lyons running out of the slot, and he was nothing short of sensational in the role.
However, if Sanders is back, Lyons most likely will work out of the wide receiver spot with Alric Arnett and Bradley Starks.
Stewart might continue to use Lyons in the slot when Sanders is out of the game or even use Sanders at times at running back to spell Noel Devine or with Devine in the same backfield.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com or reach him through Facebook.
Bob Herzel
Related Photos
-
PHOTO BY TAMMY SHRIVER
The first step
WVU’s Sanders cleared to work out with team
- Bob Herzel
-
-
HERTZEL COLUMN - Truck drives Mountaineers to needed win
Perhaps it is what has kept him going through a West Virginia basketball career with as many turns as a trip to Pineville down in Wyoming County, but Truck Bryant enjoys being Truck Bryant.
-
WVU finds a way, wins in overtime
Truck Bryant made the headline plays, including a 3-point shot with 3.3 seconds left to play, as West Virginia saved its season with an 87-84 overtime victory at Providence, but the subheads had to be reserved for Deniz Kilicli and a pair of freshman guards.
-
Mountaineers face critical test today at Providence
The schedule tells you it’s another game in the marathon run that is the Big East season, a trip to Providence to play a team with only two conference victories, but somehow everyone connected with the West Virginia University program knows today’s noon meeting with the Friars is much more than that.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Jones on the brink of WVU history
On the one hand there is yesterday’s Warren Baker, who entered the WVU Athletic Hall of Fame in the latest class for the work he did from 1973 to 1976, and on the other hand there is today’s star Kevin Jones, who has emerged from the shadows of the likes of Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler this year to carve his own niche in Mountaineer basketball history.
-
WVU backs out of Florida State game
West Virginia University has canceled its Sept. 8 football game at Florida State.
Once again, as they have done with virtually everything since announcing they planned to move from the Big East to the Big 12, they did it behind closed doors, without any announcement or statement. -
WVU women upset Louisville
It is foolhardy to put it up there with the Baylors and Notre Dames of the women’s world just yet, but really if you look closely and see potential, much of which came out Saturday afternoon when the Mountaineers upset No. 12/14 Louisville, 66-50, you realize that this team is closer to greatness than it is to mediocrity.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Nothing guaranteed with recruits
Signing day has come and gone, and here is something to think about.
Scout, one of the most popular online rating services, has raised West Virginia University’s crop of football recruits to No. 25 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big East. -
Who really pays WVU’s medical bills?
A couple of weeks back, West Virginia University released a post-season list of injuries to its football team, and it was a lengthy list of some injuries that required surgery and rehabilitation.
-
Louisville next test for WVU women
The last time out, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team played its usual game.
It was at South Florida, facing a pretty good team. It built the big lead it normally builds, then struggled to hold on at the end, turning the ball over and missing free throws, but somehow managed. -
Smith won’t coach WVU, to stay with Jets
A couple of days ago, coach Dana Holgorsen, knowing he was going to be changing the defensive schemes West Virginia University runs, was wondering if he would have enough quality defensive linemen.
A day after recruiting letters were returned and his first recruiting class was on hand, that worry was alleviated.
But immediately a new worry cropped up. - More Bob Herzel Headlines
-
HERTZEL COLUMN - Truck drives Mountaineers to needed win
