No. 2 West Virginia is ready for return of Ahmad
The wait is over. Well almost.
West Virginia played 16 games without the services of forward Esa Ahmad, but they won’t have to play a 17th as the junior is set to make his season debut this weekend on the road against Texas Tech.
And it's exciting times around the basketball program for a number of reasons.
The thought process when it was initially announced that Ahmad would be suspended was that if West Virginia could hold its own until he returned the team could be in good shape. That believe was only strengthened after a disastrous opening game to the season in Germany, a 23-point loss to Texas A&M.
However, since then West Virginia has won 15-straight games while earning its highest ranking in the national polls in almost 60-years by ascending to the No. 2 spot.
And now you throw Ahmad into the mix?
It’s easy to see how exciting the possibilities are. Ranging from the ceiling of this team with Ahmad back into the mix to the different lineups and rotations that head coach Bob Huggins can go to.
There’s a lot to digest.
But where is Ahmad right now and is this going to be a learning curve or will he be able to step in and provide major minutes almost immediately this Saturday?
Well while conditioning is a concern for any player that hasn’t suited up all year, Huggins did say that Ahmad has been running in practice to prepare himself to hit the ground running.
It hasn’t hurt that he has fared well in practice, either.
And when asked if Ahmad could make an immediate impact, Huggins didn’t dive too deep.
“I would assume he would. He made an impact a year ago, I would assume he would again,” he said.
Ahmad turned in 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds a year ago, marks good enough for second on the team only behind senior Jevon Carter. And by all accounts he has been much more motivated and engaged since news of the suspension has dropped leading to some intriguing possibilities.
As for his teammates, redshirt sophomore Lamont West said he didn’t want to tip his hand too much on how Ahmad could fit in this coming weekend but did say that he’s been aggressive in practice and has rebounded the ball well in addition to finishing at the rim.
That fits the description that Huggins has attached to him as the best rebounding small forward in the Big 12, a distinction he says that “isn’t he close.”
Now one by-product of not being able to play is the fact that Ahmad hasn’t been able to practice a lot with the players who have seen the floor the most this year. However, his understanding of the game and what to do could help get past that barrier rather quickly.
“The one thing I’ve always liked about Esa is he knows how to play,” Huggins said. “He may not be at the top of his game come Saturday but it won’t be long until he will be.”
The good news is the wait won't be much longer to find out.
