The Times West Virginian

WVU Sports

September 1, 2010

FURFARI COLUMN - Spain one of the biggest WVU football recruits in a long time

By Mickey Furfari For the Times West Virginian

MORGANTOWN — At 6-foot-6 and 360 pounds, Quinton Spain is one of the biggest football players ever recruited by West Virginia.

The highly sought true freshman from Petersburg, Va., is not in the offensive line two-deep at this time. But he certainly looms large in the Mountaineers’ future.

He is the biggest football player since John Ray of Charleston, a 6-foot-10, 340-pound offensive tackle from 1988 to 1991.

Spain missed much of the fall camp awaiting academic clearance from the NCAA, and the coaches want him to shed some weight. So he’s performing on the scout team as WVU winds up preparations for Saturday’s season opener against Coastal Carolina at home. The kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

“For him to be ready to play, he’s got to get a lot better and he came late,” coach Bill Stewart said. “So we’ll bring him along.

“At this point, he’s on the scout team. So we’ll go from there and watch the progression we’re looking for.”

With four of the five interior linemen back, Spain isn’t needed as much as he will be in the future. So he likely will be redshirted this year.

“It is not harder (being larger than most players),” Spain said. “They say it’s OK as long as I can move.”

He also was an outstanding basketball player on a top-ranked team at Petersburg High School and that helped him in his footwork on the gridiron.

“I’ve been learning and getting in shape,” he said. “Coach (Dave) Johnson just told me to work hard and my chance will come.”

Asked whether it’s hard to live in the spotlight (because of his size), Spain replied, “Yes. I’d rather be just one of the guys. Everywhere I go, someone wants to interview me.”

He played in the U.S. Army All-America game after his senior season as a prep standout. Rivals.com ranked him as No. 2 defensive guard prospect.

Spain was named All-District first team on offense and defense in 2009. He had 54 knockdown blocks. He also scored touchdowns and two-point conversions. He earned numerous other honors.



o o o o o o



If you’re a Mountaineer basketball fan, you’ll enjoy “Roll out the Carpet,” now in leading bookstores.

It is the proud creation of John Antonek, in his 20th year as a member of WVU’s sports information department.

This book, a bargain price of $40, is a comprehensive history of the school’s 101 years of intercollegiate basketball competition. It contains some 500 photographs and stories put together so expertly by Antonek, an excellent writer and designer.

I think it’s a must for WVU basketball lovers of the past and present.

Text Only
WVU Sports
  • Streaking Louisville visits WVU

    Everyone has focused on West Virginia University’s rivalry with Pittsburgh as a potential victim of the move to the Big 12 by the Mountaineers, but there is another rivalry that almost certainly will be coming to an end, and while the feelings are not as bitter, the games often are as hard-fought and tense.

    February 11, 2012

  • Verbal agreement: $20 million to Big East

    West Virginia University and the Big East have reached a verbal agreement that will allow the Mountaineers to join the Big 12 on July 1 and play all sports in that conference this year, according to a source and published reports.
    A total of $20 million will go to the Big East to allow WVU to skip the 27-month waiting period stipulated in conference bylaws and to cover the damages caused by possibly playing with just seven members this season.

    February 11, 2012

  • HERTZEL COLUMN: Mountaineers of past won’t forget Brawl

    It is difficult to write about a story that is just beginning but that will never end, that being, of course, West Virginia University’s move to the Big 12 from the Big East, a move that may well signal the end of the Backyard Brawl.

    February 11, 2012

  • Holmes to play in McDonald’s All American games

    Bria Holmes, a signee to the class of 2012-13 West Virginia University women’s basketball team, has been selected to play in the 11th annual McDonald’s All American Girls Game.
    Holmes becomes the first-ever female player out of the state of Connecticut to be selected to the roster.

    February 11, 2012

  • WVU, Big East reach agreement

    West Virginia University and the Big East have reached a conditional agreement that will allow the Mountaineers to join the Big 12 on July 1 and play football there next season, the Charleston Daily Mail reported Thursday night, citing an unidentified source.

    February 10, 2012

  • HERTZEL COLUMN: This WVU team different from previous squads

    Games may be won or lost under glaring lights of a college arena, filled with faithful fans and the prying eye of the ever-present, unblinking television camera, but teams are built in a far different way.
    They come together in a gym that smells of sweat and yesterday’s hotdogs.

    February 10, 2012

  • Notre Dame stops WVU, 55-51

    If Kevin Jones could have scored 20 points against Notre Dame on Wednesday night before a disappointing crowd of 9,258 in the Coliseum he would have joined Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley in the West Virginia record books.

    February 9, 2012

  • HERTZEL COLUMN: It’s unfair to consider Truck villain

    The zero next to Truck Bryant’s name stood out like an obscene gesture during a Super Bowl halftime show.
    Some even said he was M.I.A. as West Virginia University lost a heartbreaker, if not a season-breaker, to Notre Dame, 55-51.

    February 9, 2012

  • Jones nears milestone as Notre Dame visits WVU

    That it is a crucial game in a season that seems to have nothing but, today’s 9 p.m. visit to the Coliseum by a streaking Notre Dame team comes with a historical footnote in the history of West Virginia University basketball.
    Kevin Jones enters the game having scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games.

    February 8, 2012

  • WVU source: Battle to join Big 12 nearing conclusion

    Indications were growing that West Virginia University’s battle to leave the Big East and join the Big 12 in time for the 2012 season was about to be won, possibly as early as today.
    A source within the Mountaineer athletic department said on Tuesday that the matter was nearing a conclusion and also told the Times West Virginian that West Virginia would be reinstating a golf team to compete in the Big 12.

    February 8, 2012