MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — After 37 seasons as a head basketball coach, Bob Huggins said he only hopes his next opening game of the season isn’t his last.
“I just hope I don’t fall down again in the huddle,” Huggins joked, referring to his scare in 2017 against Texas when his defibrillator went off during a timeout.
For the West Virginia players, today’s opener against Akron — at 7 p.m. in the WVU Coliseum — has a much different meaning, one that point guard Jordan McCabe was quick to make.
“It’s the birth of a new season and the official death of the last one, which we’ve been waiting for,” he said.
A year ago, the Mountaineers fell to a talented Buffalo team, 99-94, in overtime in the season opener. Huggins still remembers vividly the moments that cost the Mountaineers that game.
“There was one play where Sags (Konate) had a rebound and was waiting for someone to throw the ball to and they knocked the ball away from him,” Huggins began. “Then we had them stopped on the next possession and didn’t rebound the ball. We kicked it out of bounds to give them another chance.”
It was the beginning of a 1-2 start that ended in a dreadful 15-21 season.
A year later, WVU players certainly are eyeing the opportunity to get off to a better start.
“This is our chance to prove to the people of this state that they have something they can get excited about again,” said McCabe, who averaged 5.8 points and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman last season. “We anticipate getting off to a good start and it would make a lot of difference. We’re not overlooking anybody, but the elite teams are the ones who go out and win the games they’re supposed to win and also win the games that could go one way or the other. We want to get back to that level.”
A look at the Mountaineers’ roster is the first sign of just how different the team is.
Four players transferred, while Konate left school early for the NBA Draft and four-year starter Esa Ahmad graduated.
In their place are two high-scoring junior-college transfers in Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman, as well as five-star freshman recruit Oscar Tshiebwe.
Players said it’s more than just the names on the roster that makes this team feel different.
“Team-wise, we definitely have a better group of guys and we’re more locked in,” said WVU guard Jermaine Haley, who sat out last week’s exhibition win against Duquesne with a sore back, but is expected to play today against the Zips. “We have more new guys and they don’t know what to expect, but they’ve really adapted well and worked hard. At the end of the day, we’ve just got to go out and play hard and give our max effort.”
Akron (1-0) comes into the Coliseum off an 81-64 victory against Malone University, a Division II school located in Canton, Ohio.
Dayton transfer Xeyrius Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward, led the Zips with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Akron had five players in double figures and shot 11 of 34 from 3-point range.
“They really really shoot it now,” Huggins said. “They’ve got good players. They’ve got a couple of transfers eligible and some other players with experience.”
In watching other games during the week, WVU players said they noticed how much the games were played in a grind-it-out style and they would be prepared to play in a similar fashion.
“A lot of the games I watched were pretty ugly, but that’s to be expected early in the season,” McCabe said. “In a way, we’re ready for a grind-it-out game, because of who we are. West Virginia has always been a team ready for that kind of game. If it comes down to that, it comes down to that.”
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