If there’s been one positive about West Virginia this season, it’s the ability to block shots.
Through five games, the Mountaineers rank second in the Big 12 and 17th nationally with an average of 6.4 blocks per game.
It should come as no surprise as, according to head coach Bob Huggins, improving there was an area of focus this offseason. Of the team’s seven newcomers, two of them have been praised for their defensive abilities at their previous stops. Suffice to say, their skills made the trip with them.
Dimon Carrigan, who transferred from FIU this offseason, is one of those newcomers.
With the Panthers last season, Carrigan ranked second in Conference USA with 2.5 blocks per game. This year, he leads the Mountaineers with two blocks per game.
Another is Pauly Paulicap, a 6-foot-8 transfer from DePaul. He finished eighth in the Big East last season in blocks, totaling 18 in 15 games.
After coming to WVU this offseason, he’s filled a needed defensive role off the bench, much like Carrigan has. He has not yet replicated what he did with the Blue Demons last season, but the season is still young.
Both Carrigan and Paulicap are works in progress, but properly adjusting to their new homes can only help the Mountaineers moving forward.
“We need those guys to be able to do what they did at another level, at this level,” Huggins said.
West Virginia has seven more games before advancing into conference play, which is, objectively, a step up to almost all other leagues in college basketball.
“Let me just put it this way: none of them have played in a league like they’re getting ready to play in here,” Huggins said. “This is as good a league, as good a basketball league, as there is in the country.”
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