WVU’s Huggins Picks His Top Players in 10 Different Categories
July 02, 2020 09:22 AM | Men's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Earlier this week, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was a guest on the March Madness 365 Podcast, hosted by Andy Katz.
Katz and Huggins discussed current events concerning college basketball and the veteran coach was also asked to break down his best-ever players in 10 different categories.
Other prominent coaches such as Roy Williams have been on prior podcasts to offer their personal picks.
The 10 categories of top players Katz asked Huggins to consider were:
* Athletic Wonder
* Coach
* Captain
* Glue Guy
* Quarterback
* Clutch Gene
* Shooter
* Bucket Getter
* Lockdown Defender
* Dirty Worker.
In reality, Huggins could have picked Cincinnati National Player of the Year Kenyon Martin for all 10 categories but he ended up choosing Martin for just four – Athletic Wonder, Coach, Captain and Glue Guy.
He picked Cincinnati guard Nick Van Exel as his Quarterback, Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt as his Shooter and Bearcat forward Danny Fortson as his Bucket Getter.
His three West Virginia choices were guard/forward Da’Sean Butler (Clutch Gene), guard Jevon Carter (Lockdown Defender) and forward Devin Williams (Dirty Worker).
Da'Sean Butler - Clutch Gene
Da'Sean Butler was an All-American performer for the Mountaineers in 2010 who hit seven-game winning shots that season – two during the Big East Tournament including the championship game against Georgetown – to lead the Mountaineers to only their second Final Four appearance in school history.
The Newark, New Jersey, native averaged double figures all four seasons he played for WVU and finished his career with 2,095 career points, third all-time in school history behind just Mr. Clutch himself, Jerry West, and Hot Rod Hundley.
Of Butler, Huggins remarked, “Da’Sean Butler hit seven game-winning shots in 2010 on the way to the Final Four. Without a doubt, Da’Sean would be No. 1.”
Jevon Carter - Lockdown Defender
Guard Jevon Carter was a two-time National Defensive Player of the Year who was as a key piece to the Mountaineers’ “Press Virginia” defense.
The Maywood, Illinois, native produced a school-record 330 steals while also pulling down an impressive 538 rebounds from his point guard position. Carter’s 1,758 points, 559 assists, 538 rebounds and 330 steals ranks as one of the most impressive career stat lines in school history.
“JC was a terrific on-ball defender,” Huggins said. “Great hands; set records everywhere for steals.”
Devin Williams - Dirty Worker
And Williams, a 6’9, 255-pound enforcer from Cincinnati who scored 1,134 points and grabbed 846 rebounds in just three seasons with the Mountaineers before leaving school after his junior season to pursue a professional career.
Nearly 300 of Williams’ 846 boards were on the offensive glass. He pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds against Iowa State and had 17 in his final game as a Mountaineer against Stephen F. Austin in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
“Had Devin stayed his senior year, he would have been one of four guys in the history of West Virginia basketball to score (more than) 1,000 points and get (more than) 1,000 rebounds. He just got every big rebound for us,” Huggins said.
As for Kenyon Martin, Huggins puts him in a completely different category of players.
“To have a 6’9 guy run the way he could run, jump the way he could jump, move his feet the way he could move his feet and have incredible basketball IQ, I think Kenyon stands out,” he said.
I once innocently made the mistake of mentioning Kenyon Martin’s name to Huggins when trying to gauge young West Virginia forward Oscar Tshiebwe’s athleticism.
Huggins shot that suggestion down immediately.
Figuring Huggs was just in a bad mood, I tried once more with assistant coach Erik Martin.
Martin looked at me the same way Huggins did – like I had three eyeballs – and said, “Have you lost your mind? Kenyon was an athletic freak! He did things I’ve seen no other person his size do on a basketball court!”
I got my answer - even if it wasn’t the one I was looking for!
The full March Madness 365 Podcast:
