West Virginia Mountaineers
Last Year:
21-12 overall, 11-7 Big East (T-6th)
Coach:
Bob Huggins (5th season, 101-42)
Projected starting five:
G: Jabarie Hinds, Fr.
G: Truck Bryant, Sr.
F: Kevin Jones, Sr.
F: Kevin Noreen, Fr.
F: Deniz Kilicli, Jr.
Important departures:
Casey Mitchell 13.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.1 apg
John Flowers 9.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Joe Mazzulla 7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg
Inside the numbers:
45 percent scoring returning
47 percent rebounding returning
Additions:
G: Jabarie Hinds, 6’0”. 160 – Rivals #93
F: Tommie McCune 6’7”, 185 – Rivals #102
G: Gary Browne, 6’1”, 185
Schedule:
Toughest nonconference game: 12/23 at (12) Baylor
Toughest in-conference stretch: 2/11 – 2/22 vs. (8) Louisville, at (11) Pittsburgh, at Notre Dame
Prediction:
7th in BE; 20+ wins; Second round of NCAA Tournament
What to expect:
West Virginia will have a tall task ahead if they want to return to the NCAA Tournament. Losing three starters, Casey Mitchell, John Flowers and Joe Mazzulla, Huggins will look to Kevin Jones to be his go-to guy.
Jones struggled last year to score at times, but in typical Huggins fashion, their defense kept them in most games long enough for someone to hit a shot. Familiar faces Truck Bryant and Deniz Kilicli, two players who can take the load off of him scoring-wise, will join Jones in the starting five. Bryant will play more two-guard this year to concentrate more on scoring than assisting. Freshman Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne will take over point guard duties for the Mountaineers.
Hovering around the middle of the road in the BE, Huggins will need to do a solid coaching job to get this hodge-podge group of players into the Big Dance.