Adrian set to fill role at the top

West Virginia has become known for its press defense over the past couple seasons.

But with the graduation of Jonathan Holton the biggest question became who would fill his role as the disruptor at the top of the press.

Well, the answer shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise.

“Nate (Adrian) will be the primary guy,” head coach Bob Huggins said.

“We didn’t lose anything when we had Nate in,” he added.

While not to be confused with the length that Holton brought to the table, Adrian does bring some other elements that make him a fit in that spot. For one he handled the role for the past two seasons when Holton wasn’t on the floor but perhaps more important is the mental side of things.

“He’s got a good understanding of what’s supposed to happen,” Huggins said.

That comes with experience because once Adrian got to the college level he quickly realized that due to the speed of the game you had to get to places quicker.

That meant learning the right angles to get there and it’s something that became an emphasis for him. Over time it became second nature as he would go through the press on a daily basis in practice.

“Hours a day in practice just doing it and doing it and doing it,” Adrian said.

The length of Holton was something that created problems for opponents, finishing second in the nation in turnovers forced per game at 17.8. But while Adrian doesn’t possess the length of Holton, he does bring the aforementioned mental side of it, he also has lateral quickness that rivals his predecessor.

“It’s as good or better than Jon’s,” Huggins said.

West Virginia has yet to start working on the press in pre-season practice but along with Adrian, Huggins is looking at potential options such as redshirt freshman Lamont West, redshirt senior Brandon Watkins and true freshman Maciej Bender to help in that department as well at the top.

Now regardless of who gets the work at the top the biggest key will be to avoid fouls that keep them on the bench and off the court. This is an area that Holton saw significant improvement in and that must be the case for Adrian and the rest of the options this season.

“We need him in the game,” Huggins said.