WVU looks to finish on a high-note in a tale of two seasons

There's the one that started the season, a club that was ranked pre-season No. 13 before injuries and other issues derailed it. And the one that finished it, a team that won four of its last seven and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

It's been a year full of twists and turns and one that the 37-year coaching veteran refers to as a “refresher course,” on the basketball court. There have been injuries, suspensions, dismissals and even players leaving the program before the season has been completed. It would be fair to say it’s had it all.

“I think it solidified some of the things that we knew that we maybe took for granted,” Huggins said.

But the focus is now on that the club that will carry over into next year.

The roster now is basically comprised of newcomers with a few veterans mixed in but down the stretch they have developed on the floor and off of it. It’s that desire to adapt and want to play the game that forced Huggins hand when it comes to participating in a post-season tournament despite a 14-20 record.

“They wanted to keep playing. So I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

West Virginia will open the College Basketball Invitational inside the Coliseum against Grand Canyon and the Mountaineers are hoping to use the potential five-games that could come with winning the tournament as a springboard into next season with the nucleus of the club set to return.

Huggins has seen signs of development from his team down the stretch such as playing well together and even showing signs of better ball movement but there are still areas that need to improve. This post-season opportunity could help them iron some of those issues out.

“These guys were sitting on the bench watching those other guys play. I like what these guys have done,” Huggins said of his team.

After the departure of Trey Doomes, who WVSports.com first reported had entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal Monday, the Mountaineers are now down to 10 players for the tournament. Not ideal, but Huggins believes that is enough to handle the task.

The Mountaineers will have the benefit of playing the Antelopes at home Wednesday night at 7 p.m. but being in the position of possibly even being a favorite isn’t an issue that Huggins has broached with his team. Instead, the focus has been squarely on the opportunity at hand.

“We haven’t talked about it. we talked about it’s an opportunity to play and gain experience for really a bunch of young guys,” Huggins said.

The goal is to win the tournament and the set up even will allow Huggins to hit the road to recruit given the break between games something that is ideal when trying to reconstruct a roster. While he didn’t go into specifics of what he is looking for when it comes to positions on the recruiting trail, the head coach did say that things are going well on that front.

“Reception has been good. Really good, we’re pleased,” he said.

Reaching that goal of winning could prove challenging however as Grand Canyon finished 20-13 this past season and is one of the biggest teams that the Mountaineers have played this season with a pair of 6-foot-10 starters and another player listed at 6-foot-7.

“They’re good. They got great size, their guards are playing well. They run really good stuff. They have great size, they have as good of size as anybody we’ve played,” he said.

--NOTES

--West Virginia will be without junior Sagaba Konate for the CBI and when Huggins was asked about Konate possibly seeking a redshirt next season, he clarified.

“I didn’t say he was seeking a redshirt. I said that was a possibility and it would make sense for him to do that. It’s available to him why wouldn’t you?” he said.

Embed content not available

Enter the contest by clicking on the following link and choosing to subscribe to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide