You might have recognized one member of the West Virginia coaching staff on the bench this season.

Juwan Staten spent three seasons with the Mountaineers basketball program as an impact player under head coach Bob Huggins. He transferred over from Dayton and after sitting out a season, was highly productive in his role as the lead guard on the club. The Ohio native is one of only six players in school history to have 1,000 points, 400 assists, 100 steals and 350 rebounds in a career.

Staten averaged a career best 18.1 points during his junior year and has obviously been there and done that when it comes to playing and performing as a player for Huggins.

That’s why it made so much sense that Staten was added to the staff as a graduate assistant manager before the season. Given his experience of playing at a high level and operating with Huggins as his head coach he can pass on his knowledge to the current guards on the team.

“Our guys think the world of him. He’s got a great personality. He’s very easily approachable and he’s been great for us,” Huggins said.

The decision brings Staten back to Morgantown to pursue a master’s degree in sports management. It was the next step in the process for the former on-the-court great after stints in professional leagues across the world in Belgium, Finland, France, Estonia and Hungary.

Now, he is trying his hand at coaching.

That experience at the professional level certainly isn’t lost on those currently on the team who look to him as a valuable piece of the developmental process.

“All the experience he brings to the table of playing pro and he just knows the ropes,” sophomore guard Deuce McBride said. “Trying to learn everything and take it all in. He does a great job of explaining things. Making sure we understand how to come off ball screens but really talking us up.”

Senior guard Taz Sherman has benefited from it as well.

“He tells you straight up what it is. Of course he helps you off the court and works on things,” he said. “He’s helping me with ball handling and getting to the spots offensively.”

It’s a homecoming for Staten but one that provides a different challenge than the first time he was in Morgantown. But one he is embracing head on.

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