West Virginia

Wild Speculation: Who Will Take Over For Vic Riggs At West Virginia?

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2024

Wild Speculation: Who Will Take Over For Vic Riggs At West Virginia?

West Virginia’s Vic Riggs resigned from his head coaching position after being with the program for the last 17 years.

According the public records, Riggs made $134,611.71 in 2023 and has hovered in the $130-140K range since 2018. The West Virginia men and women compete in the Big 12 Conference, which will be without Texas for the first time this upcoming season as Texas is moving to the SEC.

Let’s wildly speculate about who might take over this job.

The two most obvious choices are West Virginia alums who are currently coaching elsewhere in the NCAA, to notable success.

Pablo Marmolejo, Head Coach, Delaware- Marmolejo is a West Virginia alum as he graduated from the program in 2009 before spending the 2009-2011 seasons with the program as a graduate assistant. He graduated in 2011 with a masters in Public Administration. After graduation, Marmolejo moved to the University of Delaware working as an assistant and recruiting director from 2012-2015. He then spent a few years away from collegiate coaching as he coached club swimming with Delaware Swim Team. Then, in 2018, he arrived back at Delaware as he was hired as head coach in May 2018. So far in his second stint with the Blue Hens, Marmolejo has risen the program to be at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Both teams finished 2nd at the 2024 CAA Championships finishing only behind UNCW. Marmolejo helped coach Toni Sabev to the 2024 NCAA Championships as Sabev became Delaware’s first NCAA qualifier in program history.

Jason Calanog, Associate Head Coach, Texas A&M (Men)- Calanog is also a West Virginia alum as he graduated in 2007. He served as a volunteer assistant for West Virginia during the 2006-2007 season. After graduation, Calanog coached at The Bolles School in Florida from 2007-2015 where he most famously coached Caeleb Dressel. After Bolles, he arrived as an assistant with Texas A&M in 2015 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2019. Earlier this month, it was announced that Texas A&M would combine its men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs upon the retirement of women’s head coach Steve Bultman. With the combining of both programs, the situation for Calanog and the Texas A&M staff is up in the air for the time being. The Texas A&M men swam to a 16th place finish at 2024 NCAAs and were 4th (out of 10 teams) at 2024 SECs. The men’s team tied their program-high with a 10th place at NCAAs in 2021.

Peyton Brooks, Head Coach/Director of Competitive Swimming, Baylor Swim Club- It’s rare for Power 5 programs to hire head coaches straight out of the club or high school ranks, but Brooks is in a bit of a different position because he’s just a couple of years removed from a trajectory in the NCAA that was going to land himin charge of a program anyway. Prior to being hired at the Baylor Swim Club in October 2022, he spent three years as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, where the men’s team finished 11th at the NCAA Championships. He also spent a year as the head coach at D2 Alderson-Broaddus University in 2014-2015. Brooks is a West Virginia alumnus who swam for four years during the program’s heyday under Sergio Lopez. That included swimming on the 2007 Big East Championship team. He then spent his fifth year as a member of the West Virginia football team as a wide receiver, where he was the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year.

Bonuses:

Wyatt Collins, Former Texas Men’s Associate Head Coach– With the arrival of Bob Bowman and now the hiring of Erik Posegay, it looks as if Collins will be looking for a new home. Collins was with the Texas men since 2014 starting as an assistant and being promoted to associate head coach in 2021.
Cory Chitwood, Indiana Associate Head Coach– Chitwood has been with Indiana for five seasons now and works primarily with the distance group, including Mariah Denigan who will represent the US in Open Water swimming in Paris. The connection here is having coached current senior Ivan Puskovitch who also has represented the US in Open Water competition as most recently both were at 2024 Worlds.
Damion Dennis, IUPUI Head Coach– Dennis has been the head coach at IUPUI since June 2019 but spent 11 season with West Virginia prior to that. West Virginia has been the longest stop in his coaching career as he has also been at UCSD, Princeton, and Michigan.

Source link

Click to comment

West Virginia

Delegate Larry Kump, master of various catch phrases, has died – WV MetroNews

Published

8 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Delegate Larry Kump of Berkeley County has died, state officials announced. Kump was 78 years old.

Larry Kump

Kump, a Republican, served in the House from 2010 to 2014, again from 2018 to 2020 and finally 2022 to the present. He had announced plans to run again in the coming electoral cycle.

“As a battle-tested and liberty minded Christian and Constitutional Conservative, my consecrated action principles of good governance remains solid and steadfast,” he wrote to supporters in January.

He had been serving in the ongoing legislative session, but had been absent in recent weeks.

The daily prayer in the House of Delegates this past Wednesday included an expression of concern for Kump: “A special prayer for Delegate Larry Kump. Lord, you know where he is in the hospital now, and I pray right now that you would send your angels there to touch him, to be with him.”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Kump’s death on social media, calling Kump “a devoted public servant who dedicated many years of his life to improving West Virginia.

“Delegate Kump served with a deep commitment to the principles he believed would strengthen our communities and protect our freedoms.

“On behalf of the First Lady and myself, we extend our condolences to Larry’s family, friends, former colleagues, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him. His legacy of service and his love for our state will never be forgotten.”

Secretary of State Kris Warner also posted condolences to Kump’s family. “Larry was a conservative Christian and a true Mountaineer! He will be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues,” Warner posted.

The West Virginia Democratic Party also put out a statement to offer condolences, saying Kump’s work reflected a lifelong commitment to accountability, public policy, and the effective administration of government.

“Delegate Larry Kump devoted his life to his family, his community, and to his state. He brought experience, independence and thoughtfulness to his role, and he never lost sight of the people he served,” said Mike Pushkin, the Democratic Party chairman who is also a delegate from Kanawha County.

Kump was known for his turns of phrase, for example kicking off his comments on the House floor with “Great googly moogly” for emphasis. He often described his adoration for his “beloved and bodacious wife Cheryl.”

He regularly concluded interactions and written communications this way: “Meanwhile, and for sure and for certain, may God bless you all real good!”

Source link

West Virginia

Vape Safety Act of 2026 passes W.Va. House, tightening oversight and licensing for shops

Published

20 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Vape Safety Act of 2026 passes W.Va. House, tightening oversight and licensing for shops

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Vape Safety Act of 2026 passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday, aiming to crack down on what lead sponsor of the bill Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said are the bad actors in the vape shop world.

“They’re very lightly regulated,” McCormick said. “Here’s something that is becoming a blight on our landscape out here in our neighborhoods and towns. They’re all over the state and they need some oversight.”

McCormick said the bill will also strengthen licensing as to who can run the shops.

A key part of the legislation that passed the House by a vote of 88-5 is an FDA registry, requiring all the products sold in the shops to be approved at the federal level.

“Make sure that something doesn’t have 30 times the nicotine in it that it’s supposed to, which has happened, and get a 12-year-old kid addicted to nicotine,” McCormick. “That’s buying something that looks like Pokémon.”

Cracking down on the marketing strategies vape shops use is also included in the bill. It has gained support from both sides of the aisle.

“You walk into them and they have you know it looks fun and all the flavors and all the things,” Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha said. “So when teens go in there, it’s geared towards teens. So I think some regulation is important.”

Other provisions include vape shops not being allowed within 300 feet of schools, libraries or churches.

“I would deem these things almost attractive nuisance for kids and teenagers,” Lewis said. “What we want to do in this piece of legislation, we want to ultimately, above anything else, is protect our children and to get rid of bad actors to make sure that we know what’s being sold in the shop and we know who’s selling it.”

Source link

West Virginia

BYU Cougars at West Virginia Mountaineers odds, picks and predictions

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

BYU Cougars at West Virginia Mountaineers odds, picks and predictions

The No. 23 BYU Cougars (20-8, 8-7 Big 12) visit the West Virginia Mountaineers (16-12, 7-8) Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. ET (FOX) tip from WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NCAA basketball odds around the BYU vs. West Virginia odds and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions for the best bets.

BYU has dropped 2 of its last 3 games after falling 97-84 against UCF on Tuesday, failing to cover as a 13.5-point home favorite with the Over (162.5) hitting. F AJ Dybantsa led all scorers with 29 points and G Robert Wright III added 20 as only 3 Cougars players scored in double figures in the upset loss.

West Virginia has dropped 3 games in a row after falling 91-84 in overtime against Oklahoma State on Tuesday, failing to cover as a 1.5-point road underdog with the Over (143.5) hitting. G Honor Huff scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from 3, while the Mountaineers overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to force OT before running out of gas.

– Rankings: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Watch NCAA basketball on Fubo!

BYU at West Virginia odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated 10:20 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): BYU -135 (bet $135 to win $100) | West Virginia +110 (bet $100 to win $110)
Against the spread (ATS): BYU -1.5 (-115) | West Virginia +1.5 (-105)
Over/Under (O/U): 142.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

BYU at West Virginia picks and predictions

Prediction

BYU 81, West Virginia 74

PASS.

There is better value on the Cougars to cover the spread.

BET BYU -1.5 (-115).

A win all but guarantees a cover for the Cougars in this matchup with such a slim spread. They have covered in 2 of their last 3 and 3 of their last 5, including back-to-back road games.

Neither side has played particularly well recently, with both teams being 4-6 straight up (SU) and 3-7 ATS over their last 10 games. This matchup will give Dybantsa, the nation’s leading scorer (25.1 points per game) who earned USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors last week, an opportunity to take over the game.

BET OVER 142.5 (-110).

The Mountaineers have scored at least 74 points in 2 of their last 4 games while allowing 67 or more in 3 of their last 5.

The Cougars have hit the Over in 7 of their last 10 games. They have scored 79 or more points in 4 of their last 5, including 90 or more twice in that span. They have scored 82 or more points in 7 of their last 10 and have allowed at least 86 in 6 of their last 9.

For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and like us on Facebook.

College sports coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Duke / Florida / Florida State / Georgia / Iowa / Kentucky / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / Nebraska / North Carolina / Notre Dame / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / UCLA / USC / Washington / Wisconsin / College Sports Wire / High School / Recruiting

Source link