MORGANTOWN — Derek Culver’s introduction to college basketball literally came by the seat of his shorts.
“Everybody was yelling at me to shoot and I was falling back,” Culver said Saturday after scoring four points in his season debut in West Virginia’s 74-72 victory against Jacksonville State. “I was like, “This isn’t starting the way I wanted it to.’ ”
The start to Culver’s career isn’t what he wanted, either.
That all changed with a simple piece of paper handed to him by West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
On it were a list of expectations and a choice to either act responsibly or not. Culver had to sign the contract in order to stay on the team.
“It was a humbling moment seeing that piece of paper with all of those guidelines on it,” Culver said.
Suddenly, Culver was no longer a four-star freshman billed as a fast and athletic power forward wrapped up into a 6-foot-10, 255-pound frame of potential.
He was simply Derek Culver, suspended forward.
“I needed to hold myself accountable,” Culver said. “In a way, I needed this, so I can really understand what’s important and what’s not important. I had to get my priorities straight.”
His transgressions were nothing more serious than being late for a study hall or practice or missing a class.
Except Huggins has seen how that can turn into more down the road and he knew Culver was suspended from his high school team as a senior before he attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire to help him become academically eligible for college.
Culver did not practice with the team or travel while suspended for the first 10 games, but he was not alone.
“Huggs kept me in suspense, so that made me work even harder, because I didn’t know when my time was coming,” Culver said. “He also kept me in the loop. He kept telling me to keep working. He stayed positive with me. He kept enough tabs on me to let me know he was still engaged with me.”
Culver said no promises were made and that it came down to trust in himself and in the West Virginia coaching staff.
“It became very real,” Culver said. “You realize you have to work to get back to a spot you were already at. When you’re doing that, you don’t know if the work you’re doing is in vain. It was an indefinite suspension. It was a toss-up. You could work your butt off and not come back or work your butt off and get a chance to come back. I had to bet on myself.”
With 13:55 remaining in the first half, as the Mountaineers trailed early, 9-5, Culver got the call from Huggins to get in the game. Culver got a nice ovation from the crowd.
“I most definitely appreciated that,” Culver said. “That felt good. It surprised me, too, to be honest.”
He scored his first basket off of an offensive rebound.
“It was a relief, because I’ve been anticipating this moment for a long long time,” Culver said. “When it finally went down, I was like, ‘Yo, I just scored a bucket as a Mountaineer. This did not just happen.’ That was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, even though I was off balance. It wasn’t how I wanted it to go, but it went down, so I can’t complain.”
Huggins said the challenge now is trying to get Culver up to speed on offensive plays and defensive rotations.
“He’s our best athlete by far,” Huggins said. “We just have to give him a cram-course on how to play. It’s going to take a while. It’s one thing to work with him and put him through drills, but when you’re out there with nine other guys flying around, it’s a little different.”
How long until we see the real Derek Culver?
“Probably half way through his junior year,” Huggins joked.
Culver said he was grateful for the opportunity to now begin to reach his potential. He knows how much different life could be if he had just slid that piece of paper back across the desk without signing it.
“The expectations he asked of me, it was nothing crazy,” Culver said. “It was about being a good student-athlete and going to classes and being on time for practice and being respectful around the board. It wasn’t nothing I couldn’t do. I feel like I did my best to do all of it.”
