Derek Culver has undergone a transformation.

Not only off-the-floor with his maturity and putting himself in position to succeed, but on it as well. The 6-foot-10 center has been asked to do things that should be outside of his comfort zone, but he’s handled it with surprisingly impressive comfort level.

Yes, Culver can handle his way in the post and prefers that method. He’s averaging close to a double-double on the season and continues to expand his repertoire in the post.

Culver already has recorded five double-doubles on the season and has became one of the more physically imposing big men in the entire Big 12 Conference.

“I’ve always been kind of rough so to speak. Me playing in the post and getting bounced around and roughed around a little bit doesn’t bother me,” he said.

Culver doesn’t have any qualms about banging around in the post but in order to play him and Oscar Tshiebwe on the floor at the same time there’s had to be an adjustment. That means taking Culver out of his natural habitat and slotting him on the perimeter to defend multiple smaller athletes.

Teams rarely have one, forget two primary post players in today’s game so it forces him to adjust and use his athleticism in unfamiliar territory. It was something the coaches approached him with during the off-season after essentially playing in the post for most of last season like he did in high school.

“Derek was much more suited to go out on the perimeter and guard,” head coach Bob Huggins said. “So, he guarded if you think about it a lot of 6-foot-0 to 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-4 guys that are way more agile than your 6-foot-10, 270-pound guy but he liked it.”

His ability not only to hedge screens but defend in space is a key element to the success of the Mountaineers on that end of the floor.

"It was natural but I had my ups and downs," he said. "The hard close out were the hardest things."

It’s also important because if Culver wants to make it at the next level because he will need to showcase that he can switch and defend guards consistently, a luxury in the NBA for players with size. Physically imposing post players are seemingly going the way of the dinosaur at that level so that makes a versatile skill set critical for sustained success.

That makes for a potential interesting comparison for Culver if he wants to model his game after somebody at the highest level of basketball.

“I tried to explain to him to look at Tristan Thompson. He signed for the max in Cleveland, but they never throw him the ball. Never throw him the ball but he offensive rebounds it, defensive rebounds it and he can switch and guard guards,” Huggins said.

“He’s got a chance because he brings that to the table,” Huggins added. “There aren’t many big guys that can do what he does.”

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