Living in the era of the transfer portal, West Virginia’s freshmen could soon see a bigger role — especially in the midst of a now-seven-game skid.

Kobe Johnson — one of the more accomplished players in Ohio’s 2021 class — has seen a somewhat substantial amount of minutes amongst the team’s first-year players, but there are still three others vying for the team’s limited opportunities.

There’s Seth Wilson, a guard that also ranked among Ohio’s top prep players; Jamel King, a lanky but versatile forward; and James Okonkwo, a somewhat unknown forward from across the pond.

“I would like to see them be players for years to come here,” head coach Bob Huggins said Friday. “I think that’s extremely important. They are good players. I mean you are talking about two of the best players in Ohio, you’re talking about a kid from Great Britain who just gets better and better every day, and I don’t know that we have anybody that shoots the ball as well as Jamel does.”

King, a 6-foot-7 forward, found his way to Morgantown after originally signing with New Mexico. Circumstances shifted following a coaching change, which resulted in King being granted his release and committing to the Mountaineers in June.

This season, he’s only played a handful of minutes in a handful of games — peaking at 12 against Texas on New Year’s Day. But a recent surge in practice has placed King on the radar of the coaching staff as a potential role player as the Mountaineers look to snap a long losing streak.

It appeared as if Saturday’s game against Texas Tech would have provided King with his chance, but 40 minutes came and went with King doing little more than getting comfortable in his folding chair.

“I thought that was as physical a game as we’ve played in a while,” Huggins said postgame. “Why would I throw a 170-pound guy out there that’s a freshman that’s never been in that situation? He had no chance in that situation. He’s gonna be a really good player, but he had no chance in that situation.”

Wilson has logged 54 minutes over 10 games, scoring 16 points.

Much like King, Wilson has shined in practice, according to Huggins. His scoring consistency has drawn the eyes of many in the building with the Mountaineers searching for additional depth on offense.

But, also like King, Wilson’s only action on the floor Saturday came in the pregame shootaround.

“My plan was to play Seth a little bit because he’s been making shots in practice, but who are you gonna sub him for?” Huggins said on his postgame radio show. “He’s not a point guard. You keep thinking Sean’s gonna make shots and Jalen didn’t make shots, so who do you sub him for?”

Okonkwo, along with Johnson, was the only one to play against the Red Raiders, logging only four minutes in the box score. This season, he’s played in three games, scoring only two points.

Despite the group’s inexperience, Huggins hasn’t been one to mince words when boasting about the future potential of the class — especially when either one of them could be the missing piece to turn things around.

“We’ve got some freshmen that I think can be really good players, and really good players here,” Huggins said Friday, “and certainly trying to get them some playing time has been a priority for reasons you can figure out.”

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