MORGANTOWN — Bob Huggins isn’t planning on scrapping “Press” Virginia any time soon.
While there is a need to develop some stability at the guard positions, the West Virginia men’s basketball coach will open up preseason practices Saturday thinking the Mountaineers’ team strength will be in its depth.
Including walk-ons Logan Routt — Huggins said the 6-foot-11 forward gave up his scholarship from last season so WVU could recruit other players — and former Fairmont senior standout Taevon Horton, Huggins said it was realistic to play up to 15 guys in some games.
That means players will come into games in waves, keeping guys fresh to run and press in WVU’s defensive style.
“I think we’re going to play pretty much the same way we’ve been playing,” Huggins said during a press conference Sept. 16. “Our strength is our numbers. We’ve got 15 guys. We can throw a lot of people out there, I think.”
That’s the thinking for the regular season. The start of pre-season practice will be different, because the Mountaineers are battling through some health issues.
“We’ve been so banged up,” Huggins said. “I’ve never had in all my years this many guys banged up. It’s a good thing we got all 15 guys.”
Among the worst may be guards “Beetle” Bolden, who stretched some ligaments in his hand — “It was swollen,” Huggins said. “It looked like a baseball was sitting on it.” — and Chase Harler, who is dealing with back issues.
“They did some tests on him,” Huggins said. “He’s going to be out for a while. That’s about all they can do with it.”
Lamont West is still recovering from off-season wrist surgery and Brandon Knapper was recently cleared to practice after blood-clot issues, but Huggins said both players are fine.
Incoming junior-college recruit Andrew Gordon sat out last season at Northwest Florida State College with a knee injury and is still working on getting back to full health and junior forward Sagaba Konate has also been dealing with a minor knee injury that Huggins said has limited him in workouts.
Freshmen guard Trey Doomes is also recovering from a bout with strep throat and a minor ankle injury.
Haley is versatile
Listed at 6-foot-7, junior college recruit Jermaine Haley stands head and shoulders above all other WVU guards.
He also might be one of the most versatile.
“We can put him on the ball or on the wing,” Huggins said. “His skill level is good. He needs to get a little tougher. He wants to play bad enough. He’s a talented guy and he’s got size and length.”
WVU’s next tallest guard is Doomes and Harler, at 6-3, and Bolden, Knapper and Jordan McCabe are listed at 6-0.
