Good Monday morning, Mountaineer fans! It's time to crack open this week's West Virginia On SI mailbag.

Q: Any intel on where we are on signing Hawkins or any other skill players?

A: I don't expect anything to go down with Hawkins during the season. Yes, they had talks during the bye week, but that's nothing new. That has been going on for the better part of the year, to be honest. There may be some non-marquee names that have new deals done, but I haven't heard anything to confirm that as of this moment. Hawkins is definitely priority No. 1, and they do believe they will have the resources to make it happen. At the end of the day, it will come down to whether he believes this is the best situation for him. His family loves Morgantown, the coaches, and WVU, so there are a lot of positives.

Q: Why won’t WVU utilize the onside kick with the defense being so weak? Recovering 20 percent of the time might be better than putting our D out there against a good offensive team.

A: I'm not sure of what the exact recovery percentage is, but I would be shocked if it were actually 20%. I think it's probably more like 10-12% if I had to guess. Regardless, it's just such a low-percentage play, and by not recovering, you're gifting them an easy field. As bad as the defense has been, you still have a much better chance of forcing a stop or them screwing something up and turning the ball over.

Q: What kinds of vibes are you getting from WVU men’s basketball after the big win over Niagara?

A: I think this team is legit. The defense, in my opinion, is going to be a work in progress, especially against competitive teams. They are a step or so late sometimes, and one overaggressive decision in the backcourt can lead to everyone being out of position and having to chase the ball. That happened several times last night. They will get better as the season moves along, but I still firmly believe in my preseason record prediction.

Q: On the letter scale, how would you grade the basketball team’s performance for their first actual game as a group?

A: I'd put it somewhere between an A- or B+. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and round it up to an A-. The slow start wasn't great, but that wasn't overly concerning to me. I knew once they settled in, they would be fine and pull away. It was more the rotations on defense, some bad decisions on that end of the floor that led to fouls, and being out of position at times. But for a first real game? There's not much to complain about in a 91-46 win where you force 24 turnovers and not allow a single offensive rebound.