It won't be long until basketball season rolls around. But ya know, it seems like football season just got started...

The Charleston Gazette Wrote:Huggins eager to get 2nd season rolling
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
October 7, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - In the roughly 18 months Bob Huggins has been back in Morgantown, he has yet to buy a house, instead holing up in a hotel during those times when he's not out on the road.

Truth be told, though, there's not much need for a Huggins household, given that it seems to take a general NCAA edict to keep him in town.

Like the upcoming one, which says that practice begins a week from Friday. This Friday's Midnight Madness celebration and the actual beginning of workouts a week later should finally begin to keep him close to home.

"I'm anxious to get on the floor,'' Huggins said Monday. "I'm anxious, actually, to spend two consecutive days in Morgantown.''

And why not? Even in a Big East that top-to-bottom is as good as any league in the country, Huggins can't wait to see how West Virginia fits into the mix. And, thanks in part to the fruits of those recruiting days spent on the road, he seems to like his chances.

Not that the Mountaineers are going to be one of the heavyweights, mind you, but much like Huggins' first WVU team a year ago, it has the potential to surprise some people.

"I like our team. We're just small,'' Huggins said. "We've got sort of the same issues we had a year ago. For our league, we're just small. ... It's a size-oriented league and we just don't have a lot of size.''

It's also a league with powerhouse teams to spare. Depending upon whose completely arbitrary predictions one might choose to believe, the Big East has at least seven consensus Top 25 teams heading into the season. In one order or another, Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pitt are all seen as early Top 10 teams and Georgetown, Villanova and Marquette are in everyone's Top 25. West Virginia sneaks onto a few lists, as does Syracuse.

"You look around and teams in our league are rated second, third, fifth and seventh in the country. And I think we're pretty good,'' Huggins said. "You look at a Villanova team that has everybody back from a Sweet 16 team and they're picked eighth in our league. That tells you the kind of basketball that's played in the Big East.''

What kind of basketball will be played at West Virginia, though? Well, with Joe Alexander gone to the NBA after his meteoric rise late last season, the Mountaineers will certainly be a bit different. The absence of Darris Nichols at point guard will certainly change the face of this team, as well.

Still, Alex Ruoff, Da'Sean Butler, Wellington Smith and Joe Mazzulla return from last year's top six players. John Flowers, according to Huggins, is perhaps the most improved player on the team.

The wild cards, of course, are the four newcomers - freshmen forwards Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones, freshman point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant and the only player with any real bulk, 6-foot-10, 240-pound junior college forward Dee Proby.

"I think the thing that stands out about Devin and Kevin is they're so long,'' Huggins said. "They're both about 7 feet long [but 6-9 and 6-8 tall, respectively], which means they've got the wingspan of a 7-footer. Their reach is really good. They get to balls. They make some plays defensively because of their length and they rebound the ball because of their length."

"They're like everybody else that comes into a program. They're running around trying to figure out what's going on and it's hard to play well when you're doing that. I think as you kind of settle in and you're comfortable, you start to shoot the ball better and play better. And I think that will come. Unfortunately, we're just going to have to live with some of the mistakes they make early on and we have to continue to give them playing time because they're both going to be very valuable players for us as the year goes on.''

Bryant will certainly be a factor, too.

"Truck's been good, but it's hard,'' Huggins said. "Truck comes in to play against Joe Mazzulla, who has played for two years and is playing with a lot of confidence and maybe worked as hard as anybody we have this summer to get better. But they're good. They're all three good players.''

Proby may be a bit of a project, too, because despite his size he's not a back-to-the-basket power player. Like West Virginia's other recent centers, Proby is more finesse than muscle, although he will serve a purpose even in that mold of pulling big men away from the basket to guard his mid-range jump shot.

The real question, though, is the same as last year. Aside from the size issues, there is the not-so-small matter of whether the four newcomers - and even some of the veterans - will develop into the tough guys Huggins so badly wants.

A few trips to the treadmill during the preseason will no doubt toughen them up somewhat.

"They're getting there. It takes time,'' said Huggins, who is allowed to work with the players in small groups prior to the official start of practice and with the entire team two hours a week [thus the week-early Midnight Madness, arranged so that the weekend football and homecoming crowd can attend]. "I think it's a learned trait and that's why we practice the way we practice and why they go through what they go through.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com.

Here's the full story from MSNsportsNET...

MSNsportsNET Wrote:Balanced Attack
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 7, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Bob Huggins expects another well balanced scoring team in 2009. The veteran coach welcomes back two starters and five key contributors from last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team.

“I think we’re going to have four or five guys in double figures. That’s the kind of team we have,” Huggins said Monday. “I don’t think we have a guy that can do what Joe (Alexander) did on a consistent basis at the end of last year. It will be the same guys.”

During the off-season senior guard Alex Ruoff has worked hard taking the basketball to the rim and posting up smaller guards to add another dimension to his game. Huggins says he is already beginning to see a difference.

“You go back to the NCAA Tournament games last year and he took it to the basket better than he had all year and he has worked at it,” Huggins said. “He needs to do that because he’s got everybody running at him now because they know he’s going to make shots. It makes it easier to be a driver when everybody has to run at you. He’s also worked hard at playing in the post a little bit. Maybe we can have him down there when people play smaller guards.”

Last year Ruoff averaged 13.8 points per game and shot 41 percent from 3-point range, with Ruoff taking nearly twice as many 3-point shots as the next player on the team. Huggins also expects offense to come from juniors Da’Sean Butler, Joe Mazzulla and Wellington Smith.

Butler averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2008 while Mazzulla and Smith came strong on at the end of the year. Mazzulla played well in the NCAA Tournament and finished the season averaging 5.8 points per game. Smith showed averages of 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds and led the team with 60 blocked shots.

“Da’Sean is going to be a good scorer for us. I think Mazzulla will end up being a scorer for us,” Huggins said. “I think a lot of it will depend on playing time as well. How long can we keep guys like Wellington in the game? Wellington had a problem getting into foul trouble a year ago. I don’t think his conditioning was great but he’s worked hard at that. Probably the better his conditioning the longer he’s going to be able to stay in the game this year.”

Huggins believes the Mountaineers will have significantly more depth this year. The coach cited the improvement made by forward John Flowers during the off-season and a four-player recruiting class that includes one of the top high school players in the country in 6-foot-9-inch forward Devin Ebanks.

“The good thing about our team is I think we’re a lot deeper than we were a year ago. (Assistant coach) Erik Martin and I were just talking and we think maybe the most improved guy on our team is John Flowers,” Huggins said. “I think John has worked harder and I think John has made significant improvements. Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones are not big but they’re long. Their length will hopefully create some problems for people. I think we’re going to play nine or 10 guys on a consistent basis.”

Ebanks was one of 30 players invited to the USA Basketball Development Festival in 2007 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he averaged nearly 30 points per game. One scouting service had Ebanks ranked as the No. 11 player in the country.

Six-foot-eight-inch Kevin Jones was named Mr. Basketball in New York after averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds per game at Mount Vernon High School as a senior. Jones helped Mount Vernon to state championships in 2006 and 2007.

“They’re both about 7-feet long which means they have the wing span of a 7-footer. Their reach is really good and they get to balls,” Huggins said. “They make some plays defensively because of their length and they rebound the basketball because of their length.”

Huggins believes both players will be productive as they become more familiar with the system.

“They’re just like everybody else that comes into our program: they’re running around trying to figure out what’s going on and it’s hard to play like that,” Huggins said. “As you kind of become more comfortable you start to shoot the ball better and play better and I think that will come."

“Unfortunately we’re going to have to live with some of the mistakes that they make early on and we’ve got to continue to give them playing time because they’re both going to be very valuable players for us as the year goes on,” Huggins said.

New York City guard Truck Bryant is also expected to give West Virginia a big boost in the backcourt.

“Truck has been good. Truck is coming in and is playing against Joe Mazzulla who has played for two years,” Huggins said. “Joe is playing with a lot of confidence and maybe has worked as hard as anybody we have all summer to get better. Once they get comfortable I think they are going to produce a lot more. All three of them are good players.”

Huggins added an additional player to the class late last summer in 6-foot-9-inch junior college transfer Dee Proby. Proby gives West Virginia sorely needed size.

“He’s a 6-9 face up guy. He’s not a very good back-to-the-basket guy,” Huggins said. “He’s a big body and we needed a big body. He passes it and he can step out and shoot it. Because of the way we play an open post I think he can be very valuable because they are going to have to come out to guard him. They can’t stand in the lane and try to clear things out because he’s capable of making shots.”

Huggins believes this year’s team has the components to have another successful season.

“I’m anxious to get on the floor. I like our team but we’re just small,” Huggins explained. “We’ve got sort of the same issues we had a year ago. You look around our league and teams are rated second, third, fifth and seventh in the country and I think we’re pretty good. You look at a Villanova team that has everybody back from the Sweet 16 and they are picked eighth in our league. I think that tells you the kind of basketball that is played in the Big East."

“It is a size oriented league and we just don’t have a lot of size.”

Briefly:

Huggins is pleased with the gains his team has made in the weight room under basketball’s new strength and conditioning coach Andy Kettler, who came to West Virginia from Winthrop last summer.

“I think the addition of our new strength coach has been a very positive thing in our program. I think he’s done a great job of getting guys ready to go cardiovascular wise,” Huggins said.

In addition to strength, Huggins says Kettler is helping his players become both mentally and physically tougher.

“They are so much better now than when they came in,” Huggins said. “They’re much better because of what Andy has done with them in the weight room.”

Huggins noted that sophomore guard Jonnie West has gotten bigger. Now the coach wants him to become more assertive out on the floor.

“Jon has gotten a little bit stronger which is what he needed to do. I think as Jonnie continues to get stronger and he gets a little more assertive … Jon’s just quite as assertive as we’d like for him to be, but he does the one thing that everybody wants to have happen and that’s make shots,” Huggins said. “He’s getting better. It takes some time.”

Huggins said Monday that he is hopeful that construction on the new basketball practice facility can begin before the end of the fall.

“I think we’re close to having all the money pledged. We’re just a little bit away,” Huggins said. “We’ve got people who are going to do it but we just haven’t got to them yet. My understanding is we’re going to break ground here pretty soon. I’m not sure to what the exact date is but it’s well underway.”

West Virginia’s Mountaineer Madness will take place this Friday evening. Gates open at 8:30 pm and the team will sign autographs and meet fans before putting on a slam dunk contest and conducting a brief scrimmage.

If the new biggies play well WVU will be fine. If they are more project like then it will be a tough season. One thing is for sure they will play defense.

Huggins has a way of getting the most out of talented kids. WVU will be just fine...