Sometimes it takes time. Consider the case of West Virginia sophomore Derek Culver, whose college basketball career began with the play button on pause until veteran coach Bob Huggins un-paused it in December 2018.
 
Since then, we've seen him blossom into a dependable player right before our eyes.
 
Heading into Saturday's game at Kansas State, Culver has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a game 22 times so far in 42 career games. 
 
That's more than half of the games he's played!
 
"You've got to have heart and perseverance to keep trying to get the ball when you're tired or you're down or whatever the case may be," Culver explained. "The first thing on your mind has to be to get the ball."
 
The first thing on Bob Huggins' mind when he discusses Culver is how much he's matured in 12 months. He's gone from being a wild card to a trump card.
 
"He's grown up," Huggins explained. "Derek had a 3.75 (grade point average last semester), has been great on the floor, and he's matured to the point where I think he's helping the freshmen a great deal. He's pretty much a different person. He's come a long, long way."
 
Culver attributes the change to some offseason introspection.
 
"I really went back to the drawing board to figure out the things I'm good at and the things I wasn't good at, and the things I wasn't good at I had to practice them. It's repetition, repetition - muscle memory – and eventually I became better at those things," he said.
 
Culver's 10.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game have the Mountaineers off to an impressive 14-2 record and No. 12 ranking with the Wildcats looming.
 
He is coming off one of his best all-around performances of the year on Tuesday night against TCU when he scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made 6-of-7 shots from the floor, hit better than half of his free throw attempts and handed out four assists.
 
What Huggins can now count on from his sophomore forward is 10 and 10 – at least 10 points and 10 rebounds a game.
 
What Mountaineer fans can count on is a player who understands the power of wearing that gold and blue uniform with West Virginia stitched on the front of it every night.
 
"Mountaineer Nation is huge. I didn't understand how big it was until we started traveling to different places," he explained. "Seeing that, I was like, 'Wow, they really go hard for their players and their University.' That really makes me feel good. I'm like, 'Wow, people here actually care about what I'm doing.' I'm not just another name on a jersey or something like that."
 
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Chris Ostien and is presented each week by our friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.