MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — A week before the first game of his junior season, Derek Culver is now referred to as a sort of old man when it comes to the West Virginia men’s hoops roster.
The Mountaineers’ 6-foot-10 center takes it all in stride.
Truth is, no player on the Mountaineers’ roster has played as many minutes of college basketball than Culver.
Not even teammates Jordan McCabe and Emmitt Matthews Jr., who are also juniors and have played in more career games.
“Me and Jordan and Emmitt have been here the longest, so I would say we have to take on more of a leadership role,” Culver said. “We’ve got a good group of guys and some are older and have been through other systems, so it’s easy to mesh with them. For the most part, as far as leadership, it would be us three for sure.”
That would have seemed to be a far-fetched statistic at one point in Culver’s career, a point that is now firmly planted in the rearview mirror.
He missed the first 10 games of his freshman season and WVU head coach Bob Huggins had Culver sign a contract stating certain academic criteria had to be met before he would be permitted to play again.
Culver was also benched for the first half of a CBI postseason game as a freshman, because he showed up late for the game.
Two years later, Culver is a consistent member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, if not a leader to be looked up to by his younger teammates.
“Derek is about right where I always thought he could be,” said Andy Vlajkovich, who coached Culver at Warren G. Harding (Ohio) High School. “His talent was never in question. I think everyone could see his ability, maybe except for himself.
“The questions with Derek were always about his behavior and how serious he would take things and how hard he would work.”
Vlajkovich, too, once had to make a tough decision with Culver and dismissed him from the team for the second half of Culver’s senior year.
“The thing people need to know about Derek is he has a great heart and tremendous spirit and he has always treated others very well,” Vlajkovich said. “He just had to learn how to get out of his own way.
“The only damage he was doing was to himself. We forget about all the indiscretions we may have had, but because he’s 6-10 and can play basketball, it’s newsworthy. It’s probably fair and unfair at the same time.”
As the 15th-ranked Mountaineers prepare to travel to South Dakota to play in the Crossover Classic — WVU was supposed to face Texas A&M in the first round on Nov. 25, but the Aggies opted out of the tournament on Tuesday — Culver could be at the start of a path that leads to a professional career.
He still has things to prove to NBA scouts, beginning with his shooting touch. Culver has shot less than 50% from the field during his first two seasons of college, but has also developed into the type of player who can defend smaller players and rebound the basketball.
“This year, I took a lot of time working on my jump shot,” Culver said. “It’s one fluid motion, no hitch. I find a spot at the rim and aim and shoot. I’m much more comfortable shooting than I’ve ever been before.”
His offseason work may lend toward Culver catching the ball away from the rim and doing different things than just powering his way to the basket.
In terms of what Culver looks like in practice, Huggins had high praise.
“The person who dominates in practice is Derek,” Huggins said. “Derek’s team generally wins all the time. Derek gets the majority of the rebounds and they look to throw it inside to Derek quite a bit, particularly when it is a close situation in practice.”
All of it is good news for Vlajkovich, who now coaches WVU recruit Kobe Johnson at Canton McKinley and still checks in on Culver from time to time.
“You really have to credit Derek for the changes he made in his life,” Vlajkovich said. “He owned it and corrected it and now he’s becoming a complete person and player.
“I didn’t get to coach the best Derek Culver, but Huggs is probably happy to get the chance.”
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