MORGANTOWN — In days long gone by, when summer workouts weren’t permitted and practices were held strictly in-season, Bob Huggins would’ve needed a block of time dedicated to a simple introduction to his own team.
The Mountaineers opened preseason camp Monday, a Day 1 of sorts for Huggins and WVU in attempting to erase the frustrations left by last season’s 16-17 record.
On WVU’s roster are nine new faces not on the team last season, and gone are the top-three scorers.
So, yeah, a meet-and-greet seems about right this early in the season.
“It is different, but (the NCAA) now gives you a couple of weeks (in the summer) where you can go an hour or an hour-and-half,” Huggins said. “I think they’re understanding of what to expect is a lot better than what it would have been had we started the way we used to.”
So, what exactly is Huggins looking to improve upon from last season? Well, start with everything and then he’ll work down to the second thing on his list.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to get different from last year,” Huggins admits. “We weren’t very good. At times, we were bad.”
In what will be a critical preseason for the Mountaineers, Huggins is optimistic.
During a 37-minute session with the media, the head coach mentioned the phrase, “the ball goes in,” nearly a dozen times, sometimes repeatedly.
He used it when discussing new arrivals in forward Tre Mitchell and guard Erik Stevenson, both transfers via Texas and South Carolina, respectively.
In talking about the return of Emmitt Matthews Jr. — a transfer from Washington, who played his first three years of college at WVU — the ball goes in for him, too.
“He’s not slinging it from over his head. His mechanics are really good,” Huggins said. “He’s a much-better offensive player, I think, from when he left.”
Rebounding and defense still sound like issues, and those two areas absolutely destroyed any chance of a positive season a year ago for the Mountaineers.
Yet, it’s only the first day, so there is still time for improvement.
“No, but we will,” Huggins said. “It’s going to be the way it’s supposed to be again. It’s going to be competitive. You’re going to sit down and guard or somebody is going to show you how to do it as you sit there and watch. They know that.”
The real reason for Huggins’ optimism, though, may simply be the team’s depth chart.
Point guard play last season was a struggle, as Kedrian Johnson was thrown into the fire after Deuce McBride left school early for the NBA and Kobe Johnson was just a wide-eyed freshman.
Now, Kobe Johnson is a year older and wiser, Kedrian Johnson is more experienced and Iowa transfer Joe Toussaint has been added to the mix, a year after he averaged 3.2 assists per game for the Hawkeyes.
There’s bulk and athleticism down low with junior-college transfers Jimmy Bell Jr. and Mohamed Wague, as well as sophomore James Okonkwo continuing to develop.
It’s a numbers game Huggins would like to throw at the opposition, as in he’s got more guys at his disposal than the other guy.
“I think we can be really versatile,” Huggins said. “I think we can look at film from other people and maybe be able to do a better job of attacking them, because we can do it in a multitude of ways. This is the most depth we’ve had in a long long time. I’ve got no complaints at this point in time.”
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