MORGANTOWN — A West Virginia basketball season that already has taken more turns than a back country road took yet another Tuesday, as coach Bob Huggins reinstated freshman Derek Culver.
Culver, a 6-foot-10 forward from Youngstown, Ohio, was indefinitely suspended on Nov. 15 for a violation of team rules.
He has not appeared in a regular-season game this season. He did play in the team’s Gold-Blue Debut, in October, when he had 10 points and six rebounds.
Culver’s reinstatement comes at a critical time for the Mountaineers (6-4), who are trying to rebound from a difficult start to the season that saw them get knocked out of the AP Top 25 after the first week of the season, as well as suffer difficult defeats against Florida and Rhode Island in recent weeks.
Culver was held out of the team’s preseason exhibition game against Penn State and the season-opening loss against Buffalo after Huggins said he was late for class and study halls.
“Derek’s situation has been Derek has to do what he’s supposed to do,” Huggins said. “That’s been his case for, pretty much, forever. You’ve got to do what you’re supposed to do. It’s not that hard to go to class. It’s not that hard to be on time. It’s not that hard to be on time for study hall. It’s disrespectful to people when they expect you and you don’t show up.”
He was indefinitely suspended before the team traveled to the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Since then, Culver has not practiced or traveled with the team, but continued to work out in the weight room inside the practice facility.
His reinstatement coincides with the conclusion of final exams and Culver will begin practicing with the Mountaineers for Saturday’s noon game against Jacksonville State.
Culver’s athleticism could be a boost to the Mountaineers’ frontline that has struggled over the playing status of junior forward Sagaba Konate.
Konate missed Sunday’s 83-70 loss against Rhode Island with a right knee injury. It was the second game of the season he missed and the injury has also kept him out of several practices.
“He might be the fastest guy on our team,” Huggins said of Culver in the preseason. “He’s got good feet. He’s really long, too. He could do it.”
Culver was a four-star prospect coming out of Warren G. Harding High School. He was suspended from his high school team for the second half of his senior season and then attended Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., where he averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.
FOLLOW on Twitter @bigjax3211
