Men's Basketball: High Praise From SportsLine.com
November 05, 2003 02:32 PM | General
November 5, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Just when it seems like the news couldn’t get any better for the WVU basketball program, it has.
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| Junior Drew Schifino was listed on SportsLine.com's preseason all-Big East second team. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Yesterday the Big East announced that it was adding Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida to a conference that already boasts the returning national champion in Syracuse and the odds-on favorite to win it this year in Connecticut.
In two years the Big East could become the best basketball conference ever assembled.
Today, SportsLine.com senior writer Gregg Doyel picked the Mountaineers to finish sixth in the Big East, behind heavyweights Connecticut, Syracuse, Pitt, Providence and Notre Dame.
That places WVU three spots higher than where the conference coaches picked the Mountaineers to finish. A sixth-place conference finish would assure the Mountaineers their first postseason trip since going to the NIT in 2001.
West Virginia returns all five starters including the conference’s top returning scorer in 6-foot-3, junior forward Drew Schifino, who averaged 20.1 points per game last year as a sophomore. Sophomore Kevin Pittsnogle, who grew an inch and now stands at 6-feet-11, is one of the nation’s top returning shooters making almost 48 percent of his three-point field goal attempts last year.
WVU is also welcoming a recruiting class that features 6-foot-11 Northwestern State transfer D’or Fischer, one of the nation’s top shot-swatters two years ago and a legitimate shooting threat on the perimeter.
Doyel lists Fischer as the conference’s top newcomer and Schifino on his all-conference second team. According to Doyel, who covers college sports for the Charlotte Observer, West Virginia joins UConn, Providence and Rutgers as one of four Big East teams on the rise.
Wrote Doyel: “John Beilein surprised a lot of folks last year by leaving Richmond for West Virginia, a program so frightening that it had scared off two coaches (Bob Huggins and Dan Dakich) while attracting the NCAA’s attention. Beilein then surprised a lot more folks by leading the once-dysfunctional Mountaineers to an upset of Florida during a promising 14-15 season. This season, no one should be surprised if West Virginia wins 20 games and reaches the NCAA Tournament. The best three players from last year’s team are back – Schfino and Pittsnogle, who averaged a combined 31.7 points per game and versatile forward Tyrone Sally – and Northwestern (La.) State transfer D’or Fischer is an awesome inside presence who will allow Pittsnogle to roam the perimeter for mismatches.”
Fans can catch their first glimpse of John Beilein’s Mountaineers on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 3 pm when WVU plays an exhibition game against Sports Tours. That contest has been moved up to 3 pm to accommodate the time change of WVU’s football game against Pitt at 7 pm.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2003-04 season and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME. The ticket office is also taking single-game orders by phone or by logging onto www.WVUGAME.com.
The Mountaineers open the season on Monday, Nov. 24 at James Madison. West Virginia’s home opener is Saturday, Nov. 29 against Northeastern.
