MORGANTOWN — West Virginia basketball great Da’Sean Butler is in Cincinnati recovering from a third knee surgery that has put yet another road block in his attempt to have an NBA career.

Butler, of course, injured the ACL in his left knee driving to the baseline against Duke in his final college game, the 2010 national semifinal.

Despite the injury, he was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Miami Heat but was not ready to play toward the end of camp and released. He signed with San Antonio but needed further surgery and has since been trying to come back.

“I want to play basketball, so I had to do this now,” Butler told WVIllustrated. “If I waited any longer, I would prolong the process and push back trying to get back to my career and I may not play. We came to the decision to have the surgery.”



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This might be putting the horse before the cart and it probably won’t be received well in these parts, but the respected Athlon magazine has predicted that West Virginia will wind up facing Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, which is not the BCS placing the Mountaineers had hoped for.

If only Lindsey Nelson could show up in his plaid sports coat to do the play-by-play like he did in the old days, it wouldn’t be such a bad deal.



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This from NFL.com, which ranked WVU’s Geno Smith No. 5 among the QB prospects at the Manning Passing Camp this week:

“... Smith was very impressive during the week. He is right around 6-3 and he has the frame to carry 225 pounds. The senior boasts a very live arm and his footwork was much better than I anticipated. Off the field, Smith has a great personality and he’s very focused on taking his play to a new level in 2012.”



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According to research done by the reliable John Antonik of the WVU Mountaineers website, WVU is about to take a huge step up in class.

He estimates they will play five or six nationally ranked teams in their first year in the Big 12 ... which is more than you may think.

Consider how it used to be.

Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden played only seven nationally ranked teams in his five regular seasons, Frank Cignetti just 10 in his run, Rich Rodriguez faced 20, but eight of them took place in his first two years, meaning there were only 12 from 2003 through 2007.

He inherited those early schedules from Don Nehlen, who coached against 52 ranked teams, but he coached 20 years at WVU so that’s only 2.5 or so per year.

In the recent past Bill Stewart faced only three nationally ranked teams in his stay and Dana Holgorsen only two last year, so if they face six this year it will be one more than Stewart and Holgorsen combined faced in four years.

It also might say why Athlon sees them in the Cotton Bowl rather than the national championship game.



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Speaking of Bowden, he was on WAJR the other morning and came up with this description of how times have changed since he coached here in old Mountaineer Field to what it’s like now with all the amenities that come to a head coach.

“I don’t want to say I had a small office, but it was almost the size of a birdhouse,” he chirped.



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Bob Friend, the former professional golfer who is the son of the one-time Pirates’ 20-game winner by the same name, is pushing to become head coach at WVU, should the school add golf.

Indications are that golf is the leading candidate to be added, the Big 12 requiring WVU to add one sport to its program within the next couple of years.

Friend also is indicating that Pikewood National, an ultra-private course in Preston County that he represents, could be made available for the team.

“Decision-makers for West Virginia University and the West Virginia Golf Association have been discussing the possibility of having some fundraisers around the state to show two things,” Friend said on his radio show.

“No. 1: To raise money for a possible West Virginia University golf program, and also to show there’s a great deal of interest in the game of golf for West Virginia University.”

Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter @bhertzel.