MORGANTOWN — Da’Sean Butler will begin rehabilitation as soon as possible after undergoing surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left knee Thursday afternoon at The Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Fla., founded by the renowned orthopedic and sports medicine surgery Dr. James Andrew.
Butler injured his knee with 8:59 left in last Saturday’s NCAA national semifinal loss to Duke.
Butler finished his career as the third leading scoring in WVU history with 2,095 points. He played in a school-record 146 games and was part of more victories (107) than any other player in school history.
Butler had been projected as a first-round draft pick in this year’s NBA draft until the injury.
WVU women finish No. 16
WVU’s women’s basketball team finished the 1009-10 basketball season ranked 16th in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. The team was 10th in the final Associated Press poll, released March 15, prior to the NCAA Tournament.
It is the third time the school has finished in ranked in the top 25 among women’s teams. The 1991-92 team finished 14th and the 1007-08 finished 17th.
Coach Mike Carey’s team recorded a 29-6 record with a 13-3 record in the Big East and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years.
Men’s soccer welcomes Akron, Slippery Rock
WVU men’s soccer team resumes its spring slate with a pair of home matches this weekend at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
On Saturday, WVU plays host to 2009 NCAA runner-up Akron at 3 p.m. The Mountaineers then welcome Slippery Rock on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission to both matches is free.
“Akron didn't lose a game last year,” coach Marlon LeBlanc says. “They had the best defense and highest scoring team in the country. We're playing arguably the best team in America on Saturday. That alone will present a great challenge.
“Slippery Rock was one of the top teams in its division last year. Both games will be a big challenge for our team. We’ve only had three days of training outside, so that will be a challenge for us as well. We're looking forward to playing some good competition.”
In each of the two matches, the Mountaineers will be wearing black arm bands with gold-lettered initials “R.S.” on them to honor the late Russ Sharp, who was WVU’s senior associate athletic director for administration and finance. Sharp, who lost a long battle with prostate cancer, passed away on March 17.
Women’s soccer at home
West Virginia’s women’s soccer team will play two matches Saturday as part of the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center Soccer Invitational.
They play Pitt at 11 a.m. at Dick Dlesk Stadium and then face Akron at 5 p.m.
Both games are free to the public as part of WVU’s exhibition season. The Pitt match is 60 minutes, and the Akron game a 90-minute match.
Over the past six years, the WVU women’s soccer team has raised more than $48,000 to help fight breast cancer.
WVU hosts gymnastics regional
West Virginia University will play host to the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnastics championships at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers, 19-9, qualified for their 27th regional appearance as the No. 6 seed. Stanford and Michigan, tied for No. 6 in this week’s GymINfo Poll, earned the two seeds.
WVU has hosted six previous regional championships, the most recent in 2007 when they finished third. WVU has advanced to the national championship once from Morgantown, finishing second in the 1999 regional.
WVU is looking for its fourth trip to the nationals, having last advanced there in 2000.
Saturday’s top two teams will earn the right to advance ot the 2010 NCAA Championship, April 22-23, in Gainesville, Fla.
