Pauly Paulicap has earned everything he’s gotten thus far in his West Virginia career.

The DePaul graduate transfer played only four minutes in the season opener against Oakland but was stuck in a log jam at the position behind Isaiah Cottrell and another graduate transfer Dimon Carrigan.

That’s a stark contrast to his impact in game eight where he was +24 across his eight minutes of action while scoring 7 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and blocking a shot.

Yes, that’s +24 in only 7:59 on the floor.

In fact, over the last three games Paulicap has scored 18 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks across 31 minutes of action. That’s an average of 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in only 10 minutes of action. That’s a testament to the work that the fifth-year senior has put in after transferring up to the Big 12.

“You guys let’s be honest, you didn’t think Pauly was very good first time you saw him,” head coach Bob Huggins said. “Now, all the sudden he’s blocking shots, he’s our best rebounder, he’s our best inside scorer. Because he worked at it.”

The impact that Paulicap has had goes beyond the box score as he has quickly developed into the energy guy off the bench for the Mountaineers. When a play needs to be made, more often than not it has been Paulicap at the center of it of late. That was certainly the case against Radford when he blocked a shot at the rim after entering the game and that led to a transition three.

West Virginia would never look back after that sequence.

“I would say when I get in I do as much as I can. Try to have as much impact as possible and try to be as much help as I can be when I get in,” Paulicap said.

It isn’t always the plays that stuff the stat sheet that matter and Paulicap has embraced that role for the Mountaineers as a big that is trying to carve out a role. That has meant a lot of time working with assistant Erik Martin and learning the offense as well as his role on the team.

The argument can be made that Paulicap isn’t playing enough right now but that could be changing if he continues to put together these type of efforts.

“He wants to get better; he wants to be good. He wants to play. You got Isaiah and the leading shot blocker in the country a year ago and those guys are playing ahead of him and he decided he was going to outwork them. That’s how it works,” Huggins said.

And with a coach that often rewards that work, as Paulicap continues to make strides the avenue is there for him to carve out a more significant role as he becomes more comfortable.

“Just every practice I just try to focus more and more and pay more attention to the details. Just try to translate that to the game,” Paulicap said.

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