The off-season came quicker than expected for the West Virginia basketball team.
Due to the ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountaineers chances at a run in the NCAA Tournament were cut short before it even started as the tournament was canceled altogether. The season ended at 21-10 with no ability to ever see how things would have fared in the Big Dance.
Now, the majority of players are back in their hometowns working out and spending time with their families as the nation remains largely quarantined as an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.
“They’re all trying to find a place to work out by themselves and if they don’t we’re going to spend an enormous amount of time getting better at those things,” head coach Bob Huggins said.
While last season was cut short, Huggins and the rest of those associated with the West Virginia basketball program are already looking forward to what this coming year can bring. The Mountaineers showed resolve bouncing back from a 15-21 campaign the year prior to being projected in the NCAA Tournament field and return 9 players from that club. Among those nine are most of the key contributors.
“We can’t wait to get going and I know our players are the same way,” Huggins said.
Huggins will have a group that not only will be deeper than it was a year ago, but more experienced. The Mountaineers were able to mature over the course of a grueling Big 12 Conference slate and returns a club that could be primed to make a run in the league.
“I really like our team. I think it’s a team that’s built for a lot of success,” Huggins said.
The three departing seniors from last year in Jermaine Haley, Chase Harler and Logan Routt will be replaced by a trio of highly regarded prospects that signed in November in big men Isaiah Cottrell and Taj Thweatt as well as high scoring junior college guard Kedrian Johnson.
Those big men should help what West Virginia is expected to return in Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe by providing more versatility at the position to allow step out shots and more pick and pop type skill sets. Currently, Tshiebwe has submitted his name for an evaluation at the NBA level but Huggins has expressed confidence that a return to Morgantown is likely in the cards.
Both Culver and Tshiebwe have already proven to be a highly skilled duo.
“We can be good whether we play both of them together or don’t play them together,” Huggins said.
But the goal is now to not only make the NCAA Tournament next year but to have the ability to win games in it over a span of several weekends.
And despite the current challenges, this team could very well be at that point given another year of seasoning to ready themselves for the task.
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