Virginia

CJ Donaldson Explains Decision to Leave West Virginia, Transfer to Ohio State

Published

11 months ago

May 15, 2025

CJ Donaldson Explains Decision to Leave West Virginia, Transfer to Ohio State

When the coaching change took place in Morgantown, there were really only a handful of players who West Virginia fans were hoping would stay put and finish their career out at West Virginia.

One of those guys was running back CJ Donaldson.

The big bruiser quickly became a fan favorite when he rushed for 125 yards in his first-ever game playing the position in the 2021 season opener against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. He dealt with a few minor injuries throughout his tenure in the Old Gold and Blue, but was still very productive.

He ended his career at WVU with 2,058 rushing yards, placing him 20th in program history. Had he stayed, there’s a good chance he could have jumped up to as high as sixth, surpassing Leddie Brown, who has 2,888 yards.

Donaldson didn’t stick around very long, entering the transfer portal about a week after Rich Rodriguez returned to his post at WVU. A few days later, he landed with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Following one of Ohio State’s spring practices, Donaldson was asked about his decision to leave West Virginia.

“There was a lot into it. You got to think about your family, you, and what you want to get out of this. This is my last opportunity, last guaranteed opportunity to play football because the next level is not promised. You have to earn that. I just took a chance on myself. You got to bet on yourself at all times.”

Why Ohio State?

“It was difficult. I would say it’s like speed dating. There’s a lot of calls, a lot of red carpet talk, but what separated the Buckeyes from every other program was coach (Carlos) Locklyn…and Coach (Ryan) Day had a big impact on it,” Donaldson said. “Coach Lock, he told me that he would challenge me and help me develop into the player that I know I can be.”

In a recent article on ESPN by Max Olson, Donaldson was ranked as the 65th-best transfer this offseason.

“The Buckeyes must replace second-round draft picks Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson at this spot and have lots of blue-chip talent competing for carries. Donaldson should be a great complement to sophomore James Peoples and will have an opportunity to play a significant role for the defending national champs.”

Virginia

Made in Southwest Virginia craft market returns

Published

54 minutes ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

Made in Southwest Virginia craft market returns

ABINGDON, Va. (WCYB) — The made in Southwest Virginia artisan and craft market returns April 11, 2026.

The Southwest Virginia Cultural Center in Abingdon will host more than 20 local artists.

Those artisans will offer demonstrations of their work and they’ll also be selling some of their crafts.

“We want to give this opportunity for community members to come out, as the weather is warming up and as spring is rolling around, to meet these makers and take home a little bit of Southwest Virginia,” Ryan Vaughan with the Friends of Southwest Virginia said.

The market will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Virginia

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

Published

13 hours ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

A new West Virginia law aims to boost the state’s coal and natural gas sectors while more than tripling its electricity generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

The measure, signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, is designed to turn West Virginia into an energy hub for the data center industry. By sending more electricity to the regional grid and leveraging his state’s relatively lax regulations, Morrisey and his allies are looking to lure data centers to the state, as well as power those beyond its borders.

“We know there’s virtually unlimited need for energy in our country,” Morrisey said at a bill signing of H.B. 5381. “PJM and our grid operators, they’re starving for states to step up and take the lead. And that’s what West Virginia is doing.”

The new law calls for the state’s Office of Energy to produce rolling five-year plans to keep the state’s existing coal-fired power plants operating through 2050, while also developing new “baseload” energy powered by gas, nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen.

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Virginia

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

Published

1 day ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 23 Boston College Baseball will host Virginia Tech in a three-game series from April 10-12. On Friday and Sunday, the two teams will compete at Harrington Athletics Village with first pitch at 3:00 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, and both games will be streamed on ACCNX. On Saturday, the game will be played at Fenway Park for the 14th annual ALS Awareness Game. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and broadcast on ACC Network.

The 2026 ALS Awareness Game

The 14th annual Boston College ALS Awareness Game is coming to Fenway Park on Saturday, April 11, at 2 p.m., when the Eagles will face Virginia Tech in the second of a three-game series. The game has been played annually in honor of former BC baseball captain Pete Frates since his ALS diagnosis in 2012. This year marks the seventh time it has been played at Fenway Park. Frates passed away in 2019 at the age of 34.

Record vs Virginia Tech

Boston College is 26-35 all-time against Virginia Tech, including a 14-13 record at home. The Eagles were swept when the two teams last met in 2024. Six current players saw action in that series, with Nick Wang, Kyle Wolff, and Owen DeShazo seeing at-bats. Wolff was a combined 4-11 with five RBI, a home run, two doubles, and a triple in the series. Kyle Kipp, A.J. Colarusso, and Tyler Mudd all pitched, with Colarusso starting and going six innings with six strikeouts.

Scouting the Hokies

Virginia Tech is 15-16 this season and 6-9 in conference so far. The Hokies dropped their lone midweek contest, 11-4, to Liberty and lost two of three over the weekend to Miami. They won the finale against the Hurricanes, 6-3. Virginia Tech is hitting .256 as a team this season, but has three hitters above .300, led by Ethan Ball at .310. Ball leads the Hokies in hits and home runs with 35 and six, respectively. Hudson Lutterman is the team RBI leader with 23. The Virginia Tech pitching staff has four arms with over 20 innings, including Griffin Stieg, who has thrown 37 innings with 33 strikeouts. Brett Renfrow is the Hokies’ strikeout leader with 49 so far this season. The staff has an ERA of 7.68, but two arms with sub-5.00 ERAs: Luke Craytor and Chase Swift, with 3.77 and 4.24 ERAs, respectively.

The Matchups

The first game of the series will feature A.J. Colarusso against Logan Eisenreich. Colarusso is 3-1 on the year with a 2.88 ERA in 40.2 innings of work to go with 37 strikeouts. In his last outing, Colarusso went six innings against No. 6 North Carolina, allowing just one unearned run while matching his season high of seven strikeouts. Eisenreich is 0-1 this season with a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings of work to go with 18 strikeouts. His last appearance was three innings in relief against Miami, where he allowed an earned run while striking out two.

On Saturday, Brady Miller and Brett Renfrow will face off. Miller has yet to earn a decision this season in 27 innings of work. He has posted a 2.33 ERA to go with 27 strikeouts. His last outing saw him throw five innings against No. 6 North Carolina, where he gave up five earned runs with two strikeouts. Renfrow is 1-4 this season in 34.1 innings with 49 strikeouts and a 6.82 ERA. His last start came against Miami, where he allowed seven earned runs in five innings of work while striking out six.

Sunday’s starters are still to be determined.

Last Time Out

Boston College won both of its midweek contests, defeating UMass 11-1 in the Beanpot semifinals before beating Dartmouth 13-3. Against the Minutemen, Cesar Gonzalez, Luke Gallo, and Carter Hendrickson all had two RBI, while four guys had two hits each. On Wednesday, Wang paced the offense with three RBI. Julio Solier, Ty Mainolfi, and Jack Toomey all had three hits in the win. Jacob Burnham earned the win against UMass, while Peter Schaefer won against Dartmouth.

Up Next

The Eagles will host two midweeks next week, beginning on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with the championship game against Northeastern, followed by UConn at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. They will then host Duke for an ACC series.

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