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'We plan on being great': Milum expects no drop off on offensive line – WV MetroNews

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'We plan on being great': Milum expects no drop off on offensive line – WV MetroNews


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Despite losing a pair of veteran starters that are now in NFL training camps, the WVU offensive line could feature at least three senior starters and several multi-year contributors this fall.

The departures of four-year starter Zach Frazier and three-year starter Doug Nester are significant. Frazier, a Fairmont Senior High School graduate, was a second-round pick of the Steelers. Nester, a Spring Valley High School alumnus, signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Wyatt Milum started alongside Frazier and Nester for three seasons.

Sep 22, 2022; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers offensive lineman Wyatt Milum (64) leads the team onto the field before their game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen

“It is a little weird because coming into college you have Frazier and Doug there,” Milum said.

“The biggest thing Frazier taught me is routine. Coming in early, doing the body maintenance that you need, doing the recovery, I think that’s the biggest thing Fraz [said]. Just taking care of your body was the biggest thing he taught me.”

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Success for an offensive line can be quantified in a number of different ways. Milum says there is no reduction in standards or expectations despite the graduations of two key contributors.

“We plan on being great. We plan on nothing changing from last year. That’s our mindset and that’s our standard. We want to be a physical team and a physical O-Line. We expect nothing but being great.”

Milum is entering his fourth season as a starter and he is a contender for All-American honors at left tackle. Nick Malone (40 career games), Brandon Yates (48 games), Ja’Quay Hubbard (27 games) and Tomas Rimac (25 games) join Milum on the front line.

“I feel like we have an old group. We have Ja’Quay Hubbard, Brandon Yates, Nick Malone and Tomas [Rimac]. So they are older guys and they know what the standard is here. It is a leadership role. But it is a good thing because we have older players on the O-Line.”

Jul 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers offensive lineman Wyatt Milum speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Malone and Jacksonville State transfer Xavier Bausley look to be battling for the starting spot at right tackle opposite from Milum.

“He is playing really well right now,” Milum said about Bausley. “He came in during the spring and he is playing good football right now.”

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Milum says his former Spring Valley teammate and offensive lineman Bryce Biggs is recovering well from a knee injury that limited him during spring drills.

“He improved a lot last year. But especially with his knee injury, he is getting back to full health. He is playing good football right now. Having him back is a big help.”

West Virginia’s top three rushers return from a year ago in Jahiem White (842 yards, 4 TD), CJ Donaldson (798 yards, 11 TD) and Garrett Greene (772 yards, 13 TD).

“Jahiem is more speed and CJ is more power. When we are blocking for them, you just have to know which type. CJ, he is going to be one cut and go. Jahiem, you don’t really know where he is going to go. It is a difference there.

“Having a mobile quarterback like Garrett, it allows a little more. You can mess up a little bit and he’ll still break it out. He’ll make you right.”

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Milum is a top-tier professional prospect and is projected in some scouting services as a potential Day 1 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. Milum has one eye to how the professionals play as part of his preparation for the season.

“You’ve got to be really good at the basic stuff and also really watching film. Watching NFL film really helps. You see what they do and you try to mimic some of it.”

In a relatively short summer for college football players, Milum says his time off the field was mostly spent outdoors.

“I went to Hinton, West Virginia and did some small mouth fishing with my brother and dad. So that was fun. I went fishing a couple times and that’s about it. That, football and golf.

“Golf is not really my game. You don’t know where it is going when I hit it.”

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West Virginia

‘Without a donor, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you right now.’

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‘Without a donor, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you right now.’


CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – What looks like two words on a license to most people, means a second chance at life to Tabitha Adkins.

“Without a donor, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you right now,” said Tabitha Adkins, an organ donor recipient.

After receiving the call that saved her life one year ago, Adkins spends West Virginia Donor Day sharing the importance of organ donations.

“There’s over 500 individuals in the state of West Virginia waiting for that life-changing phone call, and everybody out here can be the potential to be a hero,” Adkins said.

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More than 100,000 U.S. residents are on the transplant list and more than 500 of those waiting are West Virginia residents, but only 36% of West Virginians are registered organ donors.

The Center of Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) is a non-profit organization serving Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Traveling all over the state, CORE talks about organ donation and helps people register to be an organ donor. CORE says their mission is to “save and heal lives through donation.”

Twelve hospitals and eight DMVs in West Virginia have tables with information about organ donation and ways to register as an organ donor setup.

Craig Powers volunteers for CORE because organ donation hits home for him. Twenty-two years ago, he made the decision to donate an organ to his brother.

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“In August of 2002, August the 9th I donated him a kidney and he has been doing great since then,” Powers said.

To find more information about organ donation tap here. Anyone can register to be an organ donor there.



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West Virginia

Intel slashes 18,000 jobs and suspends dividend to better compete with chip rivals Nvidia and AMD

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Intel slashes 18,000 jobs and suspends dividend to better compete with chip rivals Nvidia and AMD


West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, is in a fight to keep his iconic Greenbrier hotel.

A legal notice announcing a public auction for the luxury resort near White Sulphur Springs due to unpaid debts was publicized in the West Virginia Daily News Wednesday — only the latest development in the Justice family’s financial woes.

Justice, who owns dozens of companies and whose net worth was estimated by Forbes Magazine to be $513 million in 2021, has been accused in numerous court claims of being late in paying millions of dollars he owes in debts for family businesses and fines for unsafe working conditions at his coal mines.

He began serving the first of his two terms as governor in 2017, after buying The Greenbrier, which has hosted U.S. presidents and royalty, out of bankruptcy in 2009. The PGA Tour held a tournament at the resort from 2010 until 2019.

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His family also owns The Greenbrier Sporting Club, a private luxury community with a members-only “resort within a resort.” That property was scheduled to be auctioned off this year in an attempt by Carter Bank & Trust of Martinsville, Virginia, to recover more than $300 million in business loans defaulted by the governor’s family, but a court battle between the Justice family and the bank delayed that process.

Wednesday’s notice said the auction involves 60.5 acres — including the hotel itself and the adjacent parking lot — and is scheduled for August 27 at 2 p.m. at the Greenbrier County Courthouse in Lewisburg.

A spokesperson for Justice said the impending auction is not a state government matter and the governor’s office wouldn’t comment. Campaign staff did not return an email from The Associated Press Thursday.

In a statement to West Virginia MetroNews, Justice attorney Bob Wolford accused lender JPMorgan Chase Bank of aligning with the Democrats “to undermine the next Republican Senator from West Virginia.”

The statement said that the Justice family originally secured a $142 million loan in 2014 from JPMorgan Chase and that only $9.4 million in debt remains after payments made as recently as June of this year. On July 1, the governor was notified by JPMorgan Chase that it had sold Justice’s loan to Beltway Capital Management, which declared it to be in default.

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A U.S. Senate financial disclosure report filed by Justice on July 13 — after the loan was sold to Beltway — identified The Greenbrier debt to be between $25 million and $50 million.

“Let me be clear that the Greenbrier will not be sold, and the Justice family will take all necessary action to ensure that there will not be any adverse impact on their ownership of the Greenbrier or the Greenbrier’s operations and the ability of the Greenbrier to continue to provide world class service for its guests will be uninterrupted,” Wolford told MetroNews.

West Virginia Democratic Party officials said in a statement that the resort’s foreclosure is not the result of a political stunt, as the Justice family’s attorney contends. A

“It is a direct consequence of his own financial incompetence,” they said.

JP Morgan Chase declined to comment.

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West Virginia

Penn State Adds 4-Star Defensive Player to Highly Ranked 2026 Recruiting Class

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Penn State Adds 4-Star Defensive Player to Highly Ranked 2026 Recruiting Class


Despite opening training camp Wednesday, Penn State football made some time for recruiting. The Nittany Lions received commitments from two players, including an edge rusher in its highly ranked 2026 recruiting class.

Daniel Jennings, a 4-star prospect from West Virginia, became the fifth player to commit to Penn State for the 2026 recruiting cycle. Jennings is the state’s top-ranked player, according to the 247Sports Composite, and a member of the ESPN300. Jennings chose Penn State over the home-state Mountaineers and from an offer sheet that includes Illinois and UNLV. He has been busy on the camp circuit, making trips to Penn State, Notre Dame and UNLV before committing to the Nittany Lions.

Jennings (6-2, 220 pounds) will play for Princeton High in West Virginia this season after competing for Graham High in Virginia in 2023. Jennings was a second-team all-state defensive lineman in the VHSL Class 2A last season.

Jennings’ commitment continued a superb start for Penn State’s 2026 recruiting class. The Nittany Lions have five players committed, four of whom are early 4-star prospects according to the 247Sports Composite. In addition, all four listed in the ESPN300: offensive lineman Kevin Brown (No. 68), running back Messiah Mickens (No. 120), quarterback Troy Huhn (No. 169) and Jennings (No. 264).

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And though it’s early, Penn State’s 2026 class ranks second nationally to Auburn, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Earlier Wednesday, Penn State received a commitment from 3-star Maryland player Yvan Kemajou. The two-way lineman, who likely will begin his Penn State career at defensive end, chose Penn State over Virginia Tech and Duke, among others.

Penn State begins the 2024 season Aug. 31 at West Virginia. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on FOX.

More Penn State Football

Nittany Lions land two commitments for the 2026 recruiting class

Defensive end Max Granville, a 2025 commit, reclassifies to join Penn State for the 2024 season

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Penn State to face “Stripe the Stadium,” and ” hornet’s nest” in first visit to West Virginia since 1992

Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.



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