Matt Freed, Post-Gazette West Virginia's Steve Slaton wants to win a championship. Click photo for larger image.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Steve Slaton has looked into securing an insurance policy to protect against injuries that could affect his future in professional football. He has discussed with his parents the possibility that he could opt for the NFL draft after his junior season this year, though his mother, Juanita Tigett-Slaton, wants him to complete his final two years at West Virginia and earn a degree.

He has devised a plan.

This tailback aims to make a title run first.

"I want to win the championship," said Slaton, a 2006 consensus All-American and -- dare it be uttered in July? -- a 2007 Heisman Trophy candidate. "That's my goal. The NFL is always going to be there. Now is the time to worry about the championship.

"Even if it takes two years.

"I feel that's the goal in college. You can't leave until you get it."

It's conceivable his plans could change should West Virginia fail to convert on more top-5 expectations. For now, though, after a week back home in Levittown, Pa., spending "some time with the family" as he put it, Slaton returned to campus and to workouts with a 2007 blueprint.

"I really haven't put too much focus on it. I don't want to jump ahead," he said of that future. "I just want to take it a season at a time."

The Slaton preparing for the fall -- a recent Playboy All-American selection -- is a surgically repaired one, a stronger one, even a seemingly faster one. This after rushing for 1,744 yards and 16 touchdowns in 12 games plus a few injury-addled snaps in the Gator Bowl, where he was limited by a thigh bruise.

First of all, he had surgery in January on his right wrist, which ailed him for 15 months and caused him to carry the ball with his left hand until that was injured in the middle of last season. Comparing his health this July to last, he said, "I feel 10 times better than before.

"I'm just excited what kind of uses I can have with it," he added of the wrist, which he expects to allow him to jump into contact drills from the beginning when camp opens in a month. "I'm near 100 percent. I don't think I'm quite there yet."

Although a few ounces might be ascribed to his usual offseason Afro, Slaton said he put on 10 pounds of muscle, pushing him to 200 pounds. It's extra weight he hopes will help him to break free from would-be tacklers and churn for more yardage up the middle.

Fear not about it being extra baggage.

"I don't think you can slow him down," said quarterback Patrick White, who claims to still trail Slaton in running drills this summer, though they haven't sprinted against stopwatches. "Even with 50 more pounds, he'd be fast. I'm trying to keep up with him. I can definitely see him getting faster."

"Speed is a big part of my game," Slaton added. "But I think I can use some extra strength."

Some support from reserve tailbacks to keep him fresh could help. Beyond Owen Schmitt, who admittedly spent much of last season hurt, Slaton didn't get much rest: He finished the regular season with 245 carries; his backups had just 45. One potential backup is highly touted incoming freshman Noel Devane of North Fort Myers, Fla., and Deion Sanders' tutelage, a 5-foot-8 speedster who gained 6,894 yards and scored 92 touchdowns.

"He did a lot more stuff than I did in high school," said Slaton, a product of the Philadelphia Catholic League's lower division. "He's shown he has the talent. If he [learns] our system, he can make some contributions to our team. I hope he does push me, that'll just make me that much better."

NOTES -- After 26 years in the Mountaineers' athletic department, West Virginia native and longtime sports information director Shelly Poe is leaving to become the football media liaison with Ohio State. Poe, who was personally recruited by Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel for the job, works her last day at West Virginia July 20. ... The players have been working out on the new FieldTurf Duraspine installed after the spring game, though the uprights at the Puskar Center end of Mountaineer Field have yet to go up -- possibly to protect workers from kicked footballs. Construction continues on the center's top floor, where a new academic center is being built.