MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The West Virginia men’s basketball team hosts the Youngstown State Penguins, at the WVU Coliseum today, welcoming back former WVU assistant Jerrod Calhoun in the process.
Calhoun is still in his own process of molding the program into what he would like to one day see, but expect a lot of up-and-down and fast-pace play. It will likely be a high-scoring affair and there is a good chance former University High standout Geoff Hamperian — now a redshirt freshman at Youngstown State — will see some action in the second half.
For WVU, the game serves as an opportunity to fine tune some things before two big games next week against Florida — at Madison Square Garden — and then a home game next Saturday against Pitt. For those involved with the inner workings of the program, there is a growing belief that this team is beginning to gel and improve.
But, don’t take my word for it, “I think in a lot of ways, in particular early in the season, our front court tried to do more than they were capable of doing,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “They tried to shoulder the load for what wasn’t happening on the perimeter. That’s shifting.”
Here’s what you need to know about today’s game:
TV: AT&T SportsNet for the 4 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: West Virginia is favored by 26 points.
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
Is the point guard play at WVU improving? It is slowly but surely. The problem in Huggins’ mind is teaching Beetle Bolden, Jordan McCabe and Brandon Knapper the position when they weren’t really true point guards coming out of high school. “We all, the coaches included, thought Jordan was a point guard in high school. He scored the ball. That’s what he had to do. The same for Brandon. The same for Beetle, really. I don’t know if Darris Nichols was a point guard when he got here; he was when I got here. Juwan Staten was a point guard. We haven’t had a lot of true point guards.”
Who is going to play? Sagaba Konatte has been practicing since Thursday and appears good to go. Bolden still has his left arm wrapped up like a mummy, but has also been practicing since Thursday, sort of. “You call what you did [Thursday] practice?” Huggins joked with Bolden, who smiled and replied. “I got you today.” Lamont West’s wrist doesn’t seem to be a major issue at the moment. Minus suspended freshman forward Derek Culver, West Virginia has its entire roster on the floor for practice.
Any chance this game is close? Probably not. Calhoun is still working on finding the right pieces and he’s got a lot of first-year guys on his roster right now. The Penguins do run and trap and average 30 3-point attempts per game, so if you like to watch fast-paced basketball, this game will have a lot of it.
ALLAN TAYLOR’S PICK
Allan is taking the Mountaineers, 99-64. He’s yet to pick against them through six games.
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