West Virginia doesn’t possess traditional size at the five spot when Illinois transfer Amani Hansberry will be on the floor but that doesn’t mean it won’t open other doors.
Hansberry, 6-foot-8, isn’t cut from the same cloth in the height department as the other five on the roster in the 6-foot-11 Eduardo Andre but he makes up for that in other ways.
And one of those is his ability to pick and pop.
“He’s put in a lot of time this summer. He’s in the gym and he’s really put a single focus on being able to be that guy for us,” head coach Darian DeVries said.
While there aren’t as many opportunities available to shoot a three in live practice situations given the limited number of reps, DeVries has trust that Hansberry could handle that role somewhere in the 4-8 range. And that is a total that he has proven capable with his numbers throughout the summer and fall.
That trust is something that has given Hansberry a lot of confidence in his role.
"He yells at me every time I pass up the open shot. He wants me to just keep building my confidence and seeing the ball go in especially in practice with live reps. I never had that before in a coach just believing in me to take those shots and no second guessing its really just being able to play freely," Hansberry said.
To prepare for the role, Hansberry also adjusted his shot some and his more confidence than he's ever had at any point in his career.
"Put a lot of hours in the gym getting my confidence up. I'm feeling confident I'm more than a 30-percent shooter this year and more than capable to make a three or a few threes a night," Hansberry said.
The hope is that Hansberry will only continue to grow and expand in that role as well.
The former four-star prospect saw limited action in a loaded front court last season at Illinois averaging just 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds across 7.5 minutes per contest. He only attempted 13 three-pointers across that action but did connect on 31-percent of those opportunities.
Still, Hansberry has the pedigree as the 2023 Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year after he averaged 15.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Mount Saint Joseph High.And the system is one that he has played in previously as both a junior and senior in high school so he is comfortable doing that. He has shown the ability to penetrate and creating plays for his teammates both shooting or passing the ball.
"Play making, being able to pass the ball and getting the guys who needed to get shots the shots. And just feel slipping out of the screens all of those type of things and finding different actions," Hansberry said.
Having that type of player on the roster opens up a lot of opportunities overall.
“Because it just puts a lot of pressure on a defense when you have a guy that can step out and shoot it like he does,” DeVries said. “And he’s a terrific passer out there as well.”
Passing is something that is critical in the West Virginia offense from the five spot as DeVries will often run a lot of things through the five man in order to be a distributor and have an extra body to make plays for others. When you throw on top the ability for Hansberry to shoot the ball, it opens up even more possibilities.
Given the nature of having that type of option it often leads to open shots due to the nature of the pick and pop being difficult to defend. Teams have to decide whether to switch it or trap it which leads to open shots.
“You can get so much more creative with play designs. And it just becomes so much harder to guard,” senior forward Tucker DeVries said. “So, I know he’s super excited to be able to have that flexibility.”
And the younger DeVries has seen firsthand the ability for Hansberry to hit those opportunities.
“When he has his feet set it’s pretty good. If you head it out there too far on him then that brings in his passing ability,” he said. “It opens so many more doors when he can shoot and pass.”
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