MORGANTOWN — WVU men’s basketball players scattered away from Morgantown early Friday with their eyes set on spending Christmas back home with their families.
WVU guard Erik Stevenson said he had an early flight headed back home to Washington, while point guard Kedrian Johnson said he, too, had an early flight out heading for Texas.
Seth Wilson, who has been providing a spark off the bench for the Mountaineers, had a four-hour drive ahead of him headed back to Lorain, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
The next four days — WVU (10-2) will begin preparations for Kansas State and the start of Big 12 play on Tuesday — belong to a group of players who have brought a sort of buzz back to a program that struggled last season.
“Last season was a one-off,” head coach Bob Huggins promised. “We’re not going through something like that again.”
In winning 10 of its first 12 games, this new group of Mountaineers have basically started the same way record-wise as last season, when WVU got off to a 13-2 start before disaster struck.
So, what’s the difference?
“We have more guys who have dedicated themselves getting into the gym,” Johnson said. “It’s not just a few of us, it’s the whole team working to get better.”
It’s with this in mind that Huggins has some sense of relief in taking a break for the holiday.
Thoughts of his players returning from break out of shape is hardly a concern for Huggins.
“Do you really think Erik is going to go four days without getting into the gym?” Huggins asked.
The reply is that Stevenson will move into one.
“He basically has,” Huggins shot back.
Time off will provide a sort of mental reset in what has already been an interesting season.
While just outside the AP Top 25, the Mountaineers are ranked No. 11 in the NCAA’s NET rankings — used by the selection committee to determine at-large bids and seeding for the NCAA tournament — and are projected as a No. 4 seed for the NCAA tournament by ESPN.
According to the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), WVU is projected to play the sixth-toughest schedule in the country this season, with a bulk of that toughness in the weeks ahead.
“I think everyone is just ready to go home and see their families,” said WVU guard Joe Toussaint, who is from the Bronx, N.Y. “After we see our families, I think we’ll regroup and lock in and come with a better mind set.”
There have been both positives and negatives. WVU will enter conference play as the second-highest scoring team in the Big 12, but also having given up the most points.
When it comes to what needs fixing, WVU players know their defense is on the top of the list.
“I’m not real pleased with how we ended our (nonconference) season,” Stevenson said. “I think it’s good for us. It kind of humbles us a little bit.”
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