April 15, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

BY DREW RUBENSTEIN AND STEFANIE LOH, The Dominion Post (Morgantown, PA)

The WVU football team has gotten a boost in the kicking game. Former Western Washington University kicker/punter Josh Lider confirmed Tuesday he has signed to play at WVU this fall on a full scholarship.

"I definitely think I'll be in for a surprise -- culture shock," said Lider, who took his official visit to Morgantown in March. "Just for the minor fact that people take football so seriously there. They bleed blue and gold."

Western Washington, in Bellingham, dropped its Division II football program in January.

Usually, student-athletes transferring to a school in a higher division must sit out one athletic season before being allowed to play for their new team. With his school cutting its program, however, Lider does not have to do so.

Lider, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior, has one year of eligibility remaining, and is expected to compete right away for special-teams play with the Mountaineers. Lider, an exercise science major with medical school aspirations, plans to join the Mountaineers in June.

With the Vikings in 2008, Lider made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts, with a long of 48 yards. He was 4-for-4 from 20-29 yards out, 3-for-4 from 40-49 yards, but just 3-for-7 from 30-39 yards. He also handled punting duties and averaged 36.1 yards.

WVU head football coach Bill Stewart has discussed his team's struggles and has been looking for answers in the kicking game all spring.

At one point, he admitted he'd thought about calling WVU men's soccer coach Marlon LeBlanc to see if he had anyone who could come over and kick for the football team.

WVU's kickers have been in and out of the training room with injuries this spring as the Mountaineers try to replace former kicker, punter and kickoff man Pat McAfee.

McAfee was a finalist this past season for the Ray Guy award, given annually to the nation's top punter, and holds the records for most career points and most games played in WVU football history.

Redshirt sophomore Ben Rios has had a disc problem in his back, and has not kicked at all in spring practice. Redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt has handled first-team field goal duties, but has been mediocre at best. Bitancurt also pulled a hip flexor midway through spring practice.

As recently as April 7, Stewart talked about the kicking game needing improvement, adding he was "really not worried about kicking just yet." He called it "a concern, but it's not a major worry at this point."

Perhaps because negotiations with Lider had already begun.

The Bellevue, Wash., native said he first contacted WVU in February by sending in game film and an application letter. WVU graduate assistant George Shehl called Lider and expressed interest, and that pretty much sealed the deal.

School dropping football kick to the heart for Lider

BY STEFANIE LOH AND DREW RUBENSTEIN, The Dominion Post

Call it divine intervention.

When former Western Washington University kicker Josh Lider learned in January that the Vikings were going to cut their football program, he was devastated.

"I was very bummed," Lider said. "I was extremely shocked. But I felt like God had something up his sleeve."

Three months later, Lider has traded in a partial scholarship with the Division II Vikings for a full scholarship as the newest member of the WVU football team.

"It was kind of a fluke. I was looking to play on the West Coast, but no one was responding to anything I was sending out," Lider said. "I never would have dreamed this would happen.

"I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me I would have signed with WVU during my spring quarter going into senior year."

Sounds unreal, huh?

To you and Lider both. In a phone interview with The Dominion Post on Tuesday afternoon, Lider revealed that he officially signed with WVU on Friday.

Even now, the kicker can barely believe his luck.

"I'm going to play for a top-25 team, going from a Division II school to a BCS conference school," Lider said.

Fate played a big part in it, but give Lider credit for his initiative, too.

Right after he found out the Vikings were dropping their program, Lider started looking for a new team. " The biggest bummer about the program getting cut was that I felt I hadn't peaked yet as a kicker and I wanted to see how well I could kick," Lider said.

To stay in shape, Lider worked out with the Western Washington soccer team. He also pored through other football teams' rosters on the Internet, and sent out application letters and game film to teams all over the West Coast.

One day, in between classes, Lider was playing around on the computer when he decided to look up West Virginia to see how many kickers the Mountaineers had on the roster.

Not many.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt and true freshman Cameron Starke were competing for the starting job in spring practice, but neither has any game experience.

Lider was a two-year starter for Western Washington, and made two-thirds of his attempts as the Vikings' field goal specialist in 2008.

Lider sent a letter and some film to WVU, and was surprised at how quickly the Mountaineers responded. He spoke to graduate assistant George Shehl and head coach Bill Stewart, and visited WVU on his spring break, in March.

"I met the kickers and hung out with all the specialists during practice," Lider said. "I got along really well with long snapper Cody Nutter. Despite being from across the country, I felt that I would fit in."

The visit convinced Lider that he wanted to be a Mountaineer.

"I felt that WVU was going to give me the best potential to see how good I could be," Lider said. "I wanted to pick the program that would help me improve the most."

He signed with WVU over offers from Colorado State, Montana and Portland State.

Initially, the exercise science major thought he might have to transfer back to Western Washington to graduate after the end of the 2009 football season.

"I made a joke to my friends that I thought it would be like a study abroad for a year," Lider said.

But after meeting with some WVU academic advisors, Lider said he will make a complete transfer to WVU and graduate in Morgantown next May.

"They assured me that I will be able to transfer [credits over] pretty well and there should not be any holdups," Lider said.

The 6-foot-2, 192-pound senior holds a 3.2 GPA and plans to major in exercise physiology at WVU, and maybe even apply to medical school.

"I'm looking forward to the whole experience, for sure," Lider said. "I feel like everything's going to be different. It'll be cool to see how a different university teaches the program I'm studying, and I'm excited about the atmosphere, with football being a big-time deal."

Lider will kick at West Virginia

By JOEL WILLITS, Bellevue Reporter Sports Writer

Josh Lider has landed a long way from home.

The former Western Washington University kicker and Sammamish alum has signed to play football at West Virginia University next fall.

Lider, who had been searching for a team since Western dropped football in early January, confirmed his signing Monday in a phone call with the Bellevue Reporter.

"I had no idea this was going to happen," Lider said. "When West Virginia called me, I was just shocked."

The Mountaineers of the Big East Conference went 9-4 last season, beating North Carolina 31-30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Lider, a second-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference pick last season, said he hadn't found much interest until after spring break. Among the other schools recruiting him were Portland State and Colorado State, Lider said, before it came down to choosing between his top choices of Montana and West Virginia.

"It was pretty even on both sides, which is funny to say," Lider said of his choice. "Both schools are national championship-calibar teams. The exposure at both schools would have been awesome. But what really swayed me to West Virginia was the future of the program."

West Virginia also boasts a medical school, Lider said, which was one of the reasons he signed, also citing the chance for exposure and a workout program that would give him a chance to play professionally.

Lider spent the winter playing with the Vikings soccer team while waiting to hear from interested schools. He will receive a full scholarship and will compete for the kicking and punting duties.

"Depth-wise, they just didn't have very many guys there," he said.

Lider has one year of eligibility remaining. He will head to Morgantown in June.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a big change from Bellingham," Lider joked. "But I'd like to see just how good I can really be."