MORGANTOWN — It is rare that Bob Huggins has ever asked for a response about one of his own players from the media.
Rare enough at West Virginia that it took until his 15th season for it to happen.
“Let’s be honest, you guys didn’t think Pauly was very good the first time you saw him,” Huggins said about forward Pauly Paulicap, who is a fifth-year senior transfer from DePaul in his first season with the Mountaineers.
Maybe it took a unique individual like Paulicap for it to happen.
Maybe, at one point, the 6-foot-7 forward was seen just as the kid with the unusual name.
As far as making an impact on the Mountaineers? The odds may have been long against him.
Isaiah Cottrell was returning, so was Gabe Osabuohien and WVU also signed fifth-year transfer forward Dimon Carrigan, who came with the reputation as being a bit better shot blocker.
That’s three guys who play the same power forward spot that Paulicap does and a college basketball game is still just 40 minutes long.
Now, just eight games into the season, Huggins and the WVU coaching staff have seen Paulicap push himself into being more than just a kid with a funny name.
“Now, all of a sudden, he’s blocking shots. He’s our best rebounder. He’s our best inside scorer,” Huggins continued. “It’s because he worked at it. He put time in. He spent a lot of time with Erik (Martin, WVU assistant.) He wants to get better. He wants to be good. He wants to play.”
Paulicap played just eight minutes in Saturday’s win against Radford, but what he accomplished in that limited playing time was impressive.
He scored seven points and went a perfect 3 of 3 shooting from the field. He added five rebounds and blocked a shot that led to a Malik Curry 3-pointer at the other end of the floor.
“For me, personally, blocking shots gets me going and I’m pretty sure it gets everyone going as well,” Paulicap said. “When you do good things, good things happen and I think because of that blocked shot there was more momentum, more energy for us and that may be why we were able to hit more shots.”
Huggins hinted more playing time could be in store for Paulicap, and the Mountaineers (7-1) will need all they can get from their collection of power forwards on Wednesday against No. 15 Connecticut.
The Huskies (8-1) represent the first AP Top 25 opposition WVU has faced this season and they’ve built their record in large part to their work on the glass.
UConn averages 44.4 rebounds per game, as well as 16 offensive rebounds per game, which is fourth in the nation.
“I think they have the best athletes in the country,” Huggins said of UConn. “I watched them against Michigan State and Michigan State has great athletes, but they weren’t close as being as athletic (as UConn). It came down to a call at the end of the game, but they are talented athletically. They remind me of a couple of teams I had at Cincinnati.”
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