MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Somewhere in Jordan McCabe’s locker or apartment or car — the West Virginia point guard refuses to give up its location — is a notebook filled with ideas he’s picked up from Bob Huggins over McCabe’s first two seasons here.
“I can’t tell you, or else he’ll go look through it and there’s probably something in there he’ll get mad at,” McCabe said. “I don’t want him to find it.”
Maybe soon to be added to the notebook is Huggins’ style of being, not only the same coach, but the same man, whether the Mountaineers are in the midst of a losing or winning season.
Take Wednesday’s 76-61 victory against Iowa State at the WVU Coliseum.
WVU shot 50% percent as a team and once held a lead as large as 24 points.
Iowa State never held a lead, shot under 40% percent as a team and was outrebounded, 46-28.
All of it good reason to celebrate, especially in the middle of what is so far an 18-4 season that has the Mountaineers on the cusp of contending in the Big 12.
“The first things he talks about in the locker room is our 19 turnovers and how we can’t make free throws,” WVU guard Chase Harler said. “It’s different when you say that stuff and you’re losing like we were last year and when you’re winning like this year.
“He always wants more from us. If we win by 20, he’ll want us to win by 25. If we win by 25, he’ll say we should have won by 30. It keeps us motivated and keeps us going.”
In his postgame press conference, Huggins had the demeanor as if West Virginia had somehow lost by 30.
“It’s hard to find anything positive out of tonight,” he said. “We won. That’s about it. We’ll get back to practice and get ready for Oklahoma.”
Truth be told, Huggins would have been a lot worse had WVU lost this game. He’s not completely removed from reality.
Quite, the opposite, actually.
“It’s a huge part of coaching,” McCabe said. “As much as you may not like it as a player, you know, what about all of the stuff that we did well, he’s trying to win a national championship.
“I didn’t really understand it as player last year. I was always like, ‘Man, you really have to maintain your own confidence.’ ”
You can call it Huggins’ way of keeping his players grounded as they continue a complete turnaround from last season’s 15-21 record.
That’s part if, sure, but there’s much more to it than simply making sure no one on his team gets an inflated ego.
“He’s been doing this way too long to just be doing it,” McCabe continued. “He’s got a method to everything he does. You can call it nitpicking, but it’s his job to make sure he gets the best out of us every game.”
You don’t do that with patting everyone on the back. Not after 19 turnovers. Not after missing 12 free throws.
At some point this season — maybe at the most critical part of the season, say in the Big 12 or NCAA tournaments — those turnovers and missed free throws could mean the difference between a win or a loss.
“He always makes us remember the season we had last year,” WVU forward Derek Culver said. “For the most part, he does a great job of telling us the positives, but also in keeping us grounded. We know there’s still a lot of work to do. We just need to keep listening to him.”
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