WVU's Talented Freshmen
March 10, 2009 01:47 PM | General
(1:48 pm)
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It’s a moot point with the votes already in, but here is a statistical comparison of the Big East’s top four freshmen Devin Ebanks (West Virginia), Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Samardo Samuels (Louisville) and Mike Rosario (Rutgers):
As you can see all four are very close. For my money no freshmen in the conference has done more for his team than what Ebanks is doing for West Virginia, but the guess here is that either Samuels or Monroe will wind up getting the votes because of their hefty reputations.
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| Kevin Jones |
Perhaps the freshman playing the best basketball in the Big East right now is West Virginia’s Kevin Jones, who was left off this year’s all-rookie team. In his last six games Jones is averaging 12.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting a fantastic 69.8 percent.
“Kevin had to be somewhere real close to the top five,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.
In his last two games against DePaul and Louisville, Jones is a combined 15 of 18 from the floor.
Ebanks has also played well down the stretch, averaging 13.6 points and 9.8 rebounds over his last nine games. The Long Island City, N.Y., resident has scored double figures in nine straight games heading into the Big East Tournament with five double-doubles in points and rebounds during his last nine games.
Counting Truck Bryant’s 9.4 points-per-game average, West Virginia’s three freshmen are averaging a combined 26.1 points, 14.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.
That’s pretty good production from your freshmen class.
West Virginia’s two big guns - Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff - need to find their shooting strokes or else the Mountaineers are not going to be around too long in postseason play.
Since scoring a career-high 43 points against Villanovan Feb. 13, Butler has failed to shoot 50 percent from the floor during West Virginia’s last six regular season games. During that stretch, Butler is just 26 of 82 shooting for 31.7 percent that includes a 4-of-17 shooting performance against Louisville.
Ruoff has also been off the mark, hitting only 15 of his last 47 shot attempts for 31.9 percent in games against Cincinnati, USF, DePaul and Louisville.
Last week, West Virginia coach Bill Stewart identified the things he wants to see accomplished offensively during spring football drills beginning Tuesday, March 24.
“We want to work on short yardage, developing the quarterback, building on the passing game from the bowl, identifying and establishing short yardage packages both in the run and passing games, and we want to develop an offensive line that will help us win a Big East championship,” Stewart said.
Defensively, Stewart said there were five things his defensive staff will be working on.
“We have to build on sound fundamentals – nothing fancy, just the basics, better man coverage, get off the field quicker, redefine blitz packages and put in some new wrinkles,” Stewart said.
West Virginia has seven starters returning on defense as well as Fiesta Bowl MVP Reed Williams, so the defense should have the upper hand against the offense this spring.
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| Bradley Starks |
Although he doesn’t coach Bradley Starks and Alric Arnett, Chris Beatty believes their continued development will make his slot receivers more effective working the middle of the field this year.
“Bradley took off in the Cincinnati game with a couple of big catches and you could start to see the light come on for him,” Beatty said. “In the back of his mind he may have been thinking, ‘This is OK, but I want the ball every play playing quarterback.’ His progress is going to be a key for us in being successful. When you’ve got speed like that on the edge it makes it easier for us to work the middle of the field in the slot.”
Beatty recruit Logan Heastie is also going to provide a big boost to the receiver corps. Heastie has the body frame to easily carry 200-215 pounds.
“He’s learning now,” Beatty said. “It’s a big difference now playing against these guys. But for him the learning curve is not going to be so big come August when we actually start. It’s hard for a high school kid (to come in and play right away) and it was important for us to get him here early because that was a need for us.”
It’s national tournament time for several other WVU sports. As of today, here is the list of West Virginia’s NCAA qualifiers for their respective winter championships:
Wrestling - David Jauregui (149 pounds), Ryan Goodman (157 pounds), Donnie Jones (165 pounds), Kurt Brenner (174 pounds) and Dustin Rogers (heavyweight). Brenner and Rogers are both ranked 11th nationally, while Jones is ranked 20th.
The Mountaineers are still awaiting word on Colin Johnston (141 pounds) and Lance Bryson (184 pounds), who could get at-large bids announced March 11.
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| Keri Bland |
Women’s Track – Distance Medley Relay (Marie-Louise Asselin, April Rotilio, Karly Hamric and Kaylyn Christopher), Keri Bland (mile) and Chelsea Carrier (pentathlon and 60-meter hurdles).
The DMR is ranked fifth in the country, Bland is ranked fifth in what WVU coach Sean Cleary calls “one of the strongest group of milers in years,” and Carrier is ranked 17th in both the multi and the hurdles.
Swimming & Diving – Lindsey Largo (1,650 freestyle), Morgan Calloway (500 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke) and Kayla Andrews (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly).
For the women, 2009 marks the second consecutive year this group has qualified for nationals. The Mountaineers’ best shot of reaching the finals might by Andrews in the 100 freestyle. She is presently ranked 23rd in the country in that event.
The men’s qualifiers will be determined later this week.
Rifle - West Virginia is one of eight teams competing at NCAA Nationals at TCU this weekend. The other seven teams making this year’s field include: Alaska-Fairbanks, TCU, Army, Jacksonville State, Kentucky, Navy and Nevada. The Mountaineers head into this weekend’s championships ranked third in the country.
