MORGANTOWN — At Big 12 media days, Neal Brown said the conference’s preseason poll, which had his Mountaineers picked last, ruined his vacation. It turns out his players were just as upset.
“When you get picked last, that’s pretty much a slap in the face,” center Zach Frazier said after the team’s third fall practice on Friday. “Obviously when we all saw it we weren’t happy with it but it’s good motivation. We’re looking forward to try and prove everyone wrong.”
WVU finished 2022 in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with a 3-6 conference record, so a low ranking in the following preseason poll wasn’t all that unexpected.
“Obviously we felt disrespected, but you kind of expect it,” safety Hershey McLaurin said. “We pay attention to it, but we just let it fuel the fire to work harder every day.”
In addition to being picked last, the team also only had one preseason Big 12 selection, Frazier. Despite the recognition, the junior said it is not overall a big deal to him.
“I don’t get caught up in the preseason stuff because what matters is at the end of the year,” Frazier said. “I think we definitely have some guys that will be there at the end of the year with me hopefully. The goal is the end of the season and I think we have plenty of that caliber of guys on our team.”
One of those guys who might find himself on an all-conference team is running back CJ Donaldson, who is also using the preseason slights as motivation.
“I don’t really get too much into things like that because I’m playing the game and I know where our team stands,” Donaldson said. “All we have to do now is prove everybody wrong, there’s not much to be said about that.”
Not a running back?
Donaldson began his time at WVU as a tight end, not a running back. Even now a year later, as he’s returning from an ankle injury, the sophomore still does not consider himself a running back.
“I would never say I feel like a running back because I’m technically an athlete,” Donaldson said. “You can put me anywhere and I’ll get the job done. I would never just classify myself as a running back.”
Running backs coach Chad Scott had the idea to try Donaldson at the position prior to the 2022 season, a move that worked well as he ran for 526 yards and eight touchdowns in seven games.
“He definitely still reminds me to this day just to go out there with a freshman mentality,” Donaldson said of Scott’s coaching. “Just go out there and have fun, don’t try to overthink things, just go out there and play your game.”
Donaldson’s breakout freshman campaign, unfortunately, came to a sudden halt when a broken ankle against TCU ended his season.
“I got my first start against TCU and I was just really excited,” he said. “The first half of that game I was explosive, real comfortable back there. In the second half, I sat out a little bit for a shoulder injury and then I broke my ankle. That was one of the real low points.”
It was a hard moment for the then-freshman, who went so far as to scrub his social media accounts clean of anything relating to WVU as a way to try and distance himself from the game.
“It was disappointing, but it definitely taught me a lesson in life,” he said. “When something goes wrong, it’s always either a lesson or a blessing. It taught me a lesson on things I need to work on with my body to be able to play at this level.”
Unique connections
Donaldson came to WVU from Gulliver Prep in Florida and he didn’t come alone, as high school teammate Trey Lathan came with him.
“He’s one of the main reasons why I’m here,” Donaldson explained. “They saw his film first and then they saw me and that’s when they recruited me and Trey at the same time.”
Lathan is on the opposite side of the ball from Donaldson and is competing for playing time at Will linebacker this spring.
“He’s my friend, but he’s my enemy,” Donaldson said. “We’re friends off the field, that’s my brother off the field, but when we’re on the field and we’re one-on-one, he knows I’m giving him my best and he’s going to give his best to me, too.”
In addition to Lathan, Donaldson also has a connection with cornerback Jacolby Spells and quarterback Nicco Marchiol.
“Me and Jacolby Spells played on the same Little League team (in 8th grade) and we played against Nicco,” Donaldson explained. “We had a tournament where it was the best teams from throughout the country. Nicco’s from Arizona so it was Arizona versus Florida. We were like the number-one team in the country at that time and they almost beat us, too, that was crazy.”
Hitting the links
Marchiol and fellow quarterback Garrett Greene are competing to be WVU’s week-one starter, but they spend a lot of time off the field together on the golf course. They seem to be spreading the hobby throughout WVU’s offense. Frazier, who said he is putting better than usual right now, explained that playing golf is a good way to take a step back from football.
“I think we started golfing a lot during COVID and ever since then it’s just been a good, relaxing thing to do to get away for a little bit,” Frazier said.
Not everyone has joined in on the fun, however.
“I don’t like to embarrass myself a lot,” said Donaldson, who Greene and Marchiol regularly extend invitations to. “That’s why I just stick with bowling. In bowling, I can always say the ball slipped.”
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