The preseason poll marches on, as if voiced by the ubiquitous announcer on vintage newsreels. Except this one has Bob Huggins. Today, we check out the #8 team in our reckoning, the West Virginia Mountaineers.
If you can do the math, you know that you'll have the #1 team laid out for you by next Friday. We're taking a big risk doing it this way - you never know when your #1 team might get Le Moyne'd. So... like... you should be impressed. With us.
Location: Morgantown, WV
Conference: Big East
2008-09 Record: 23-12 (10-8)
NCAA Postseason: Lost to Dayton 60-68 in the first round.
Head Coach: Bob Huggins (3rd Season)
Losses: Graduation - 6'6" G Alex Ruoff (15.7 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.7 spg). Transfers - 6'5" G Will Thomas (3.1 mpg), 6'10" F Dee Proby (5.6 mpg).
Key Returnees: 6'2" Sophomore G Darryl "Truck" Bryant (9.8 ppg, 2.7 apg, 39% from three), 6'7" Senior F Da'Sean Butler (17.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6'9" Sophomore F Devin Ebanks (10.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.7 apg), 6'7" Senior F Wellington Smith (5.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg), 6'2" redshirt Junior G Joe Mazzulla (5.6 ppg, 3.7 apg), 6'8" Sophomore F Kevin Jones (6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg).
Additions: 6'4" Junior G Casey Mitchell (Chipola College, FL), 6'5" G Dalton Pepper (Levittown, PA), 6'8" F Danny Jennings (Oak Hill Academy), 6'9" F Deniz Kilicli (Istanbul, not Constantinople, Turkey).
The Skinny:
West Virginia seems more... West Virginia with Bob Huggins, don't you think? John Beilein's artful schemes seem more at home in Ann Arbor, and the concrete dome with the statue of Jerry West out front seems more like the den of a ferocious bear nowadays. Which is as it should be in our nation's 35th state. Only the tenacious and stubborn thrive there.
Marco and I have a real fascination with Coach Huggins, and it's only partly because he has slicked-back hair, recruited a sword-weilding thug at Cincinnatti, and memorably puked on his car the night of his infamous DUI arrest. When it comes right down to it, that stuff is just the window-dressing that us bloggers like to make cold-hearted jokes about. The truth is, Huggins is just about the toughest son-of-a-bitch in basketball now that the General has retired. His hardscrabble, often-injured teams at WVU represent his jut-jawed iron will far better than any K-State or Cincinnati squad ever has.
For instance, they can be a bit unruly at times, but they're all business on the court. They defend with great vigor, especially on the perimeter, and force turnovers. On offense, they take care of the ball and hit the backboards hard. Surprisingly enough, it's a Beilien recruit who best personifies the Huggins Way.
Senior SF Da'Sean Butler - in addition to having one of the higher-profile random apostrophes in the nation - is the team's defending MVP and leading scorer, but it's his commitment to defense that has impressed Huggins and the Mountaineer faithful. Frontcourt mate Devin Ebanks was maddeningly inconsistent as a Freshman, but grabbed rebounds aplenty even on nights he couldn't hit the broad side of Milan Puskar Stadium. Wellington Smith has contributed little on offense, but should become one of the school's top-five all-time shot blockers in his senior year, barring injury.
The backcourt is run by a sophomore from Brooklyn who goes by "Truck", and will likely feature a JC transfer at off guard, so consider this your official Achilles Heel Alert. Bryant got in Huggy's doghouse last season, and shot so badly (39%) from the floor that his nickname should probably be "Brick". If he passes more and shoots less, he'll please a lot of people in Morgantown, including his coach. It's anyone's guess how the new guy Mitchell will play. Joe Mazzulla backs them up as a ballhandler, after his return from a bout with the West Virginia Two-Step - a domestic violence rap and the subsequent karmic retribution of an on-court injury. If these three guys (heck, even two of them) can get their crap together, this team should step into the top five.
Bloggers Say:
"After never having been picked to finish higher than fifth in its history within the Big East Conference, the league's coaches picked WVU to finish second this year, just three votes shy of favorite Villanova. This voting included five of fifteen coaches picking the Mountaineers to finish first.
Think about what I just wrote: never, ever, have the Mountaineers been picked to finish better than fifth, yet this year we skyrocket to second (and damn near first). That should give you a quick synopsis of how meteoric the rise of WVU basketball has been under Bob Huggins."
Best Games:
11/26-29 @ Anaheim tourney with Texas A&M, Clemson, UCLA, Minnesota, and Butler.
12/19 @ Cleveland State
12/23 Ole Miss
1/1 @ Purdue
1/23 Ohio State.
Like any lazy writer, I'm looking ahead at the Anaheim tourney. The only guaranteed game is vs. Long Beach State, but assuming the Mountaineers move beyond that west coast roadblock, they have an array of top-30 nemesises... nemesi? to face. @ Cleveland State is a bold move for a team that knows from tough mid-majors after getting flushed from the NCAAs by Dayton last year. Throw in a good SEC team and two contending Big Ten opponents in January, and you have a very tough schedule.
Famous Basketball Alums: Jerry "The Logo" West, NBA exec Rod Thorn, All-Name Hall of Famer Kevin Pittsnogle, Coach Gale Catlett, "Hot Rod" Hundley.
Other Famous Alums: Cheryl Hines, Billy Mays, and DON KNOTTS! "Pac-Man" Jones. Best-selling thriller writer Stephen (not Dean) Coonts (not Koontz). Singers Kathy Mattea and Joni Mitchell. William E. Glasscock, a former Governor of the state whose name makes me involuntarily wince every time I read it. Patsy Ramsey.
Where to Eat in Morgantown: I won't claim to be an expert on Morgantown's food, but I did eat there once. My brother lives in Pittsburgh, and I was driving up from central Virginia to see him last January. On the way, I drove through lunch, and decided I needed to stop for a late-afternoon bite in Morgantown.
I drove downtown and wandered around for a few minutes before ducking into Gibbie's, which had three of my favorite things: a big beer selection, innovative use of gravy technology, and other dudes with beards (read into that what you must). I knocked back a couple of beers before I got this amazing open-face roast beef sandwich that was topped with mashed potatoes and drowned in brown gravy. It was hot and filling, and the place was like a warm cave where I could hide from the cold wind for a while.
It gave me the strength to go over to the basketball arena and stalk Huggy and the team as they got on their charter bus. So, based on the utter disregard for my arteries and the utmost regard for my taste buds and belly, I give Morgantown a thumbs up. Eat at will.
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Prepare to salute us/mock us next week, then.
Damn Yoda... I'm starting to wonder where you've got the Vols and Cats?