Business administration minor to be dropped after Spring semester p. 3 The Daily Athenaeum
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2018-19 men’s basketball season one of WVU’s messiest ever p. 8 danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
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THURSDAY MARCH 28, 2019
Mountaineers have sluggish start in spring practice BY JOHN LOWE SPORTS EDITOR
FOOTBALL For WVU head coach Neal Brown, the Mountaineers’ first practice with pads isn’t exactly as clean as he had hoped. “We did not practice very well, I told you that right after the practice,” Brown said. “But after watching the film, I thought our effort was good on Saturday. I think part of it is, as coaches, we probably got a little ahead of ourselves on the install and probably put too much from a schematic phase in on Saturday, which caused our guys to play a little slow, and it got a little sloppy. Despite the slow start, Brown continued the calm optimism that has taken over his program. “I thought today was much better,” Brown said. “The guys were excited. I like this group, and I said this before at the same podium, it’s because we have really good energy. I think when you come out to the first 25-30 minutes of practice, you see that. We have
PHOTO BY TEMITAYO ADESOKAN
Running back Alec Sinkfield getting shifty during spring practice. good energy, guys like to compete. We have some work to do.” The Mountaineers’ quarterbacks have also gotten themselves acclimated to the Brown system. Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall, and returners Trey Lowe and Jack Allison
PHOTO BY TEMITAYO ADESOKAN
Wide receiver Tevin Bush throwing the ball back to coach after a solid catch.
are also set to see time as holders. “I’m not sure we’ll know that until the end of spring when we go back and really evaluate them in full,” Brown. “When you have three guys that are really competing, you have to divide up the reps, and we’re not
overly deep at wideout as far as numbers are concerned right now, so it’s tough on them, because they’re not getting as many reps as they normally would. So, we have to figure out a way to be able to save the wide receivers’ legs and tight ends’ legs, but, at the
same time, get the quarterbacks the reps they need.” WVU will continue practice until their Gold-Blue spring game, which will take place on April 13 at Mountaineer Field.
Mon County judge throws out lawsuit made by WVU women’s basketball player BY JOE SEVERINO AND JOHN LOWE EDITORIAL STAFF A Monongalia County Circuit Court judge denied a request made by a suspended WVU women’s basketball player to become eligible for the team’s postseason run. WVU senior center Theresa Ekhelar filed a lawsuit on Friday against WVU and Athletic Director Shane Lyons, which was first reported by the Dominion Post, for what her counsel deemed as being punished for double jeopardy due to an incident from earlier
this season. According to the complaint filed in circuit court, Ekhelar’s lawyer, Sean Logue, wrote “[o]n November, 27, 2018, an alleged incident happened between intimate partners on a school sponsored trip; no criminal charges have been filed in regards to the alleged incident.” As a result of the incident, Ekehlar was suspended one game (a home game versus Missouri), did not start the following game (away at Pittsburgh), and was required to undergo anger management and psychological counseling, according to the complaint.
Following the punishment from the athletic department, WVU Student Conduct later conducted their own investigation and filed a charge against Ekhelar for a violation of the student handbook. Logue wrote in the complaint that the basketball program placed Ekhelar on indefinite suspension due to the Student Conduct charge, even though Student Conduct has not suspended Ekhelar and the disciplinary process has not been completed. “While WVU Student Conduct has filed a charge, WVU Student Conduct has made no formal findings and
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Plaintiff has not had an opportunity to exercise her due process rights specifically to present evidence on her behalf, to confront her accuser and to potentially rebut the charge,” Logue wrote. The complaint alleged that if Ekehlar is not given the chance to play in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) due to the suspension, she “will suffer irreparable harm,” considering she may be innocent of the charge. Ekehlar plans to pursue her basketball career at the next level, according to the complaint. The WVU women’s basketball team (23-10) fell to Northwestern Wednes-
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day night in the third round of the WNIT, ending their season. WVU had already beaten Rider and Villanova in the tournament. When asked about the status of Ekhelar, athletic department communications staff denied Carey the opportunity to comment, stating, “We don’t have any further comment on that.” Prior to the suspension, Ekhelar was averaging 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this season through 17 games played. The senior also registered a career high 11 points and 15 rebounds against Morgan State on Dec. 18.
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