West Virginia

They played a big basketball game yesterday at McGonigle Hall. And to tell you something about the kind of game it was, the people who summed up the day best were the people in the Temple band. They did that just by launching into that time-honored, social-commentary number, "Rock Around the Clock," midway through the second half. And the only big upset was that they didn't go right into "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" when that one was over. You see, the clock - or rather the lack of one - turned out to be a big issue during Temple's rocky, 57-51 victory yesterday over West Virginia.

Kemba Walker scored 21 points and Jerome Dyson added 17 as Connecticut (17-11, 7-8 Big East) took a 73-62 win over No. 8 West Virginia (21-6, 10-5) last night in Hartford, Conn., the Huskies' third win this season over a top 10 team. Stanley Robinson had 15 points and 13 rebounds for UConn, which has won three straight to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive. The Huskies are 3-1 since coach Jim Calhoun returned from a medical leave of absence. Connecticut was 3-4 during the 23 days he was gone.

Korinne Campbell (10 points) hit two free throws late as host West Virginia defeated Villanova, 45-41 in Big East women's basketball action last night. Laura Sweeney scored a career-high 19 for 'Nova. (10-5, 0-3 Big East). WVU improved to 16-1, 4-0. In another area women's game: At Saint Joseph's, Dominique Bryant scored 11 points as the Hawks (8-8, 1-1 Big 5) thumped Penn (1-13, 0-3), 57-40.

For West Virginia, there was no keeping up with the Joneses in this year's Insight.com Bowl. Quarterback Corby Jones scored three touchdowns and sophomore Julian Jones had a big night defensively as Missouri defeated the Mountaineers, 34-31, Saturday at Tucson, Ariz. Julian Jones, a sophomore cornerback who usually doesn't start, earned the outstanding player award with a performance that included a blocked punt, intercepted pass, 39-yard kick return and 10 unassisted tackles.

NATE SMITH and his new football teammates have stories to tell. While strapping on pads in the locker room . . . Wolfing down lunch in the cafeteria . . . Riding around town on a Saturday night . . .  Though the story Smith tells, dating back to a down moment in the 2010 season, remains difficult to relive, he feels the one related by his new grid buddies is much more painful. First, some particulars. Smith, who yesterday made an oral commitment to play defensive back at West Virginia, is a 6-foot, 190-pound senior at Archbishop Wood, and a star across many skies (wideout, safety, cornerback, return man)

PITTSBURGH - West Virginia took a 75-mile bus ride to town. Gonzaga flew more than 2,200 miles. Many said it wasn't fair that the No. 7 seed had to travel so far to play No. 10, barely an hour from its campus, at the Consol Energy Center. They were all right. It wasn't fair. Gonzaga jumped West Virginia midway through the first half last night and never let up, blowing the Mountaineers out of the Big East to the Big 12 with a sendoff that only a Pittsburgh fan could love.

DARYL WORLEY'S next stop will be West Virginia. Now, as for what position he'll play ... Up for serious debate!  Worley, a 6-2 1/2, 185-pound rising football senior at Penn Charter, has chosen the Mountaineers, ultimately, over Pitt and Syracuse (he had roughly 15 offers) and next summer he'll try to nail down his role. "They told me it'll be my choice," Worley said. "On defense it could be free safety, strong safety or ‘star' linebacker, or on offense it could be slot receiver or wideout ... Oh, they did say I'll be returning kicks no matter what.

James Spears grew up playing basketball in rural southeastern Maryland - he had never even worn football pads before arriving at Glen Mills in the summer of 1987. But when Spears - hotly recruited by Division I colleges in both sports - thought about his future, he decided to keep putting on the pads. Earlier this week, he verbally committed to play football for West Virginia. "Going in the NBA, I'm only 6-6 . . . " Spears said. "Not to say I couldn't play forward in college.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski underwent a fourth surgery on his forearm Monday and doctors believe his previous infection is gone, a league source told ESPN.com. Doctors put new plates in to repair the previously broken left forearm. The estimated timetable for recovery is around 10 weeks, assuming there are no setbacks. Gronkowski originally broke the arm Nov. 18 in a game against the Indianapolis Colts. He returned to action on Dec. 30 in the regular-season finale, then broke the forearm again in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 13 against the Houston Texans.

Timber Creek football coach Rob Hinson will serve as head coach of the North team at the fourth annual Chesapeake Bowl all-star game Dec. 28 in Hyattsville, Md. Hinson has led Timber Creek to back-to-back South Jersey titles. The Chargers won in Group 3 in 2011 and Group 4 in 2012. Hinson was The Inquirer's South Jersey Coach of the Year in 2011. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Football Foundation, the Cheasapeake Bowl is a seniors-only invitational game featuring players from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The Eagles twice passed on Geno Smith, and it's reasonable to wonder whether their interest in the West Virginia quarterback was ever that significant. This topic was debated leading up to the draft, and intrigue was added when owner Jeffrey Lurie accompanied coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman on a personal scouting visit to West Virginia. "First off, it wasn't a smoke screen," Kelly said Tuesday morning on WIP-FM (94.1). "We were as thorough with Geno as anyone else with our evaluation.

Tale of the Tape Height          Weight        Arm length       Hands 6-foot-2         218 lbs.       321/2 in.            91/4 in. Combine Results 40-yard dash: 4.59 seconds    Vertical jump: 33.5 inches Broad jump: 124 inches Skinny Smith is a polarizing quarterback. But what cannot be disputed are the prolific numbers he produced at West Virginia. As a senior in 2012, Smith completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 4,205 yards and 42 touchdowns, with just six interceptions.

NEW YORK - Geno Smith was swarmed by adoring children Wednesday morning and directed participants in an NFL youth festival the way he would West Virginia receivers. In the eyes of the children, Smith was just one of the 24 NFL draftees-to-be in attendance - and the most heralded quarterback in the group. He was not viewed by the children as the most polarizing player this season at the league's most polarizing position. Smith has been seen as a potential top-five pick, but he also has received criticism and been discussed as a quarterback who could fall out of the first round.

"Don't be shocked if the Eagles take Tavon Austin" - the "dimunitive" receiver/runner/returner out of West Virginia - with the fourth pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night. That's what a GM said, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio told Mike Missanelli late yesterday afternoon on 97.5 The Fanantic. And Paolantonio endorsed the idea. "Tavon Austin, to me, is a top 5 player in this draft," he said. ". . . I think Austin could fit, and I think people want to see excitement on offense. They're tired of the same old dull offense that's been around here for 14 years.

NEARLY 30 reporters crowded into a NovaCare meeting room Monday to talk to Eagles general manager Howie Roseman about the April 25-27 NFL draft. The session lasted nearly an hour, and the discussion meandered all over the map. Lots of the stuff Roseman said will be sprinkled through predraft stories over the next week or so. Right now, let's just parse what we might have learned about what the Birds might or might not do in the first round, when...

WASHINGTON -- It was a procedural vote, part of the Senate's arcane process, but it brought tears to the eyes of family members of those killed in Newtown in December. The Senate voted Thursday morning to take the first step toward considering the background-check bill sponsored by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, and West Virginia's Joe Manchin, a Democrat. While the vote will only allow debate to move ahead, it opens the door to up-or-down votes on the background check bill as well contentious plans to ban assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.

Coatesville's Jake Kennedy, a savvy and hard-hitting catcher, hopes that some late-year heroics will replace an early-season blunder. In the seventh inning against host Unionville, with the bases loaded and one out in an 8-8 contest, the usually focused backstop erred in thinking a strikeout was the third out and rolled the ball toward the mound. That gave the Unionville runner at third base the chance to race home for the deciding tally in the season opener. "It was a brain cramp," Kennedy said matter-of-factly.