Only 16 days before the start of the college season, Marlon LeBlanc was named the men’s head coach at West Virginia. Practice had already begun at Penn State, where he was an assistant, when he was hired to replace ousted Mountaineer coach Mike Seabolt.

“I’ve got about six month’s of work to do in two weeks,” LeBlanc told MSNsportsNet.com. “I’m getting down there in time for practice and I really want to watch the kids a little bit and evaluate.”

Seabolt, who alleges his firing came after he told school officials about problems in the athletic department’s compliance office, has sued to regain his job. Seabolt had his contract extended in December after leading the Mountaineers to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, but he was fired in July.

West Virginia director of athletics Ed Pastilong had said it was “in the best interest” of the athletic department to dismiss Seabolt, who had a 30-25-3 record. Seabolt’s departure came as the school was investigating potential rule violations in the soccer program. An investigation by West Virginia and the NCAA determined that “several violations may have occurred,” according to the school.

2006 Big East Men’s Preseason Poll
BLUE DIVISION: 1. Connecticut, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Seton Hall, 4. Pittsburgh, 5. West Virginia, 6. Georgetown, 7. Marquette, 8. Pittsburgh.
RED DIVISION: 1. South Florida, 2. St. John’s, 3. Cincinnati, 4. Rutgers, 5. Louisville, 6. Villanova, 7. Syracuse, 8. DePaul.

2006 Big East Men’s Preseason All-Conference Team
GOALKEEPER — Jason Landers, Jr., St. John’s.
DEFENDERS — Julius James, Jr. Connecticut (Defensive Player of the Year), Gordon Kljestan, Sr., Seton Hall, Yohance Marshall, So., South Florida.
MIDFIELDERS — Greg Dalby, Sr., Notre Dame Ian Etherington, Sr., Notre Dame, David Guzman, Jr., Louisville, Andrew Wright, Jr., West Virginia.
FORWARDS — Omar Cummings, Sr., Cincinnati (Offensive Player of the Year), Eliseo Giusfredi, So., Seton Hall, Rodrigo Hidalgo, Jr., South Florida, Jordan Seabrook, So., South Florida, O’Brian White, So., Connecticut.