West Virginia has been slotted as the No. 13 team in the Big 12 Conference in the coaches’ preseason poll.
It’s not that surprising given the turnover in the program and how much uncertainty is there but it does provide a look at where the outside expectations are for the basketball program this season.
“I didn’t see us in any of the top 10 rankings,” head coach Darian DeVries said.
But those preseason rankings are difficult to nail down, even more so in today’s game where rosters are in a constant state of flux with the transfer portal and other movement. So, in turn, the first-year Mountaineers head coach has never placed a lot of emphasis on those preseason accolades.
“I think a lot of times the preseason rankings are really more of a credit to last year’s team and who you have coming back because that’s what people have to go off now,” DeVries said. “I think for us, we’re a team nobody’s seen.”
And outside three games over in Italy that has certainly been the case as West Virginia features 12 new scholarship players with only one returner from last season in Ofri Naveh. The program also has an entirely new coaching staff and system which they will utilize on both ends of the floor.
That uncertainty makes it hard to peg down exactly where this team will fit into the picture in the league but there’s a lot of others that fall under the same umbrella.
“So, until you start playing games then you start to figure out who’s got what,” DeVries said.
In the meantime, DeVries has certainly noticed his team show signs of improvement throughout the build-up to the season. He recently compared one of the Italy games to practice the other day and the evidence was clear that the Mountaineers have certainly made jumps.
“And what we look like today is a much-improved basketball team. So, I was kind of excited about that, because there are times when you just see it day after day after day. You don't know if you're making the progress you want to be making,” DeVries said. “But we certainly have come a long way from that point, going back and watching that tape.”
Anytime there is a coaching change there is no built-in break when inheriting a program and the focus has been solely on making sure that this team improves every day. But DeVries has embraced that aspect and is excited for what comes next as his team continues to make strides.
“It's all part of it. I love it. I think I'm excited about it. I love where the team's at, where they're trying to get to. And like I said, we'll just keep working and see where it is come November 4,” he said.
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