Monday, November 7
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Mount St. Mary's
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU’s 114th Season Tips Off Monday Night at the Coliseum
November 06, 2022 11:25 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins has hit the reset button on his West Virginia basketball program, and we are going to get our first glimpse of his new-look Mountaineers on Monday night.
That's when the Mountaineers face the Mountaineers – Mount St. Mary's University of Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Huggins overhauled his roster following last year's disappointing 16-17 record that saw his team finish at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. There are only five players left from that squad … guards Kedrian Johnson, Kobe Johnson and Seth Wilson and forwards James Okonkwo and Jamel King.
Wilson, who once played AAU basketball for former Huggins standout player Steve Logan, said he never entertained thoughts of jumping ship.
"(The remaining players) were all saying, 'We're going to keep 10 toes down and stick together.' We were going to come back and get ready for our sophomore year," he said.
The new guys Huggins brought in run basketball's gamut, from Power 5 players to junior college and prep performers. There's South Carolina's Erik Stevenson and Texas' Tre Mitchell, two of the more coveted players in this year's transfer portal.
We've seen Stevenson play in the Gold Blue Debut and Bowling Green exhibition games, but have yet to observe Mitchell, an immensely talented 6-foot-9 forward who can score around the basket. Mitchell has been dealing with a preseason foot issue and Huggins indicated last week it's unlikely Mitchell will be available again on Monday night.
There's Iowa transfer Joe Toussaint, who played well in the closed scrimmage against Dayton and gives West Virginia another tough, physical on-the-ball defender to go with Kedrian Johnson in the backcourt. Toussaint was once a finalist for Mr. Basketball honors in New York and a four-star prospect coming out of Cardinal Hays High in the Bronx.
Then there is Washington transfer Emmitt Matthews Jr., the same Emmitt Matthews Jr. who left WVU after the 2021 season to be closer to home. He's back in Morgantown, eager to return the Mountaineers to their winning ways when he helped them to their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.
Matthews worked on his outside shooting while at Washington and provides the experience and toughness WVU was sometimes lacking on the wing last season.
Huggins went junior college shopping and came up with forwards Jimmy Bell Jr., Patrick Suemnick and Mohamed Wague.
Bell and Wague appear to be upgrades close to the basket, while Suemnick is still recovering from some knee issues that has hampered him during the preseason. However, he is expected to be good to go at some point later this season.
Huggins also landed a pair of talented freshmen in 6-foot-7 wing Josiah Harris from Richmond Heights High in Canton, Ohio, and 6-foot-3 guard Josiah Davis from Teays Valley Christian School in West Virginia. Davis is originally from Kitchener, Ontario.
The veteran coach says both are very talented players capable of getting lots of playing time this season.
When you put it all together, it's an interesting blend of experience, athleticism and toughness that will be required to be successful in the nation's No. 1-ranked basketball conference.
"We are much more competitive," Huggins admits.
But are they as competitive as their coach, who ranks fourth on the NCAA's all-time wins list with 916 heading into this season?
That remains to be seen.
Huggins said last year was one of the most upsetting seasons of his storied coaching career because of his team's overall lack of competitiveness.
"I was ticked off," he said. "You just have such a bad taste in your mouth. I understand, more than the majority of the people do, how important it is that we're successful and what it means to the people in this state.
"I knew how proud they were going to the Final Four and seeing the people there or beating Ohio State in Cleveland and our people walking down the street with their heads held high and happy. It makes you feel good to add a little joy to their lives," he said.
Huggins recalled his earliest memories of Mountaineer basketball listening to George King's teams play on the radio at his grandparent's house up on Dug Hill.
"I was one of those kids sitting on my grandfather's lap listening when Rod Thorn played and you looked forward to it," he said. "You looked forward to game time. My mom was always trying to get me to take a bath so I wouldn't be fighting with her while I was sitting on my grandfather's lap listening to the game.
"I think there's a lot of that, man, so I understand how much it means," he said.
Which is why he believed hitting the reset button was necessary this year, as he once did following subpar seasons in 2013-14 when the Mountaineers missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
What came out of that was "Press Virginia."
"Sometimes, subtraction is better than addition," he said. "Hopefully we have filled spots for guys that have left that will be better than the ones that left. That's the hope. That's not a knock on anybody, that's just the hope."
"Naturally, when you go through change you have to adjust, but when every new guy came along, we welcomed them with open arms," Wilson said. "It wasn't an issue of getting used to them. It was like, 'Okay, we've got him. Let's make sure he understands what we do.'
"All I want to do is whatever it takes to help us win, that's all that matters to me. That's all we're focused on is just Ws," Wilson added.
It's not going to be easy. West Virginia was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 this year and will be facing perhaps its most difficult schedule in school history.
On the horizon are games against Purdue and then potentially Gonzaga and Duke in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in Portland, Oregon.
There are also the non-conference challenge games against Xavier and Auburn. None of those are going to be walks in the park, nor will a Big 12 that features five teams in the AP Preseason Poll, meaning at least 10 conference game against ranked opponents.
Huggins is well-aware of this.
"We're going to play the hardest schedule in school history, there is no doubt about it, so we've got to get ready to go win games," he said.
And that process begins on Monday night against Mount St. Mary's at the WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on Big 12 Now (Andrew Caridi, Warren Baker, and Amanda Mazey).
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs at 6:30 p.m. on Learfield stations throughout West Virginia, online at WVUsports.com as well as the apps WVU Gameday and The Varsity Network.
Satellite radio coverage is on SiriusXM channel 375.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
That's when the Mountaineers face the Mountaineers – Mount St. Mary's University of Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Huggins overhauled his roster following last year's disappointing 16-17 record that saw his team finish at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. There are only five players left from that squad … guards Kedrian Johnson, Kobe Johnson and Seth Wilson and forwards James Okonkwo and Jamel King.
Wilson, who once played AAU basketball for former Huggins standout player Steve Logan, said he never entertained thoughts of jumping ship.
"(The remaining players) were all saying, 'We're going to keep 10 toes down and stick together.' We were going to come back and get ready for our sophomore year," he said.
The new guys Huggins brought in run basketball's gamut, from Power 5 players to junior college and prep performers. There's South Carolina's Erik Stevenson and Texas' Tre Mitchell, two of the more coveted players in this year's transfer portal.
We've seen Stevenson play in the Gold Blue Debut and Bowling Green exhibition games, but have yet to observe Mitchell, an immensely talented 6-foot-9 forward who can score around the basket. Mitchell has been dealing with a preseason foot issue and Huggins indicated last week it's unlikely Mitchell will be available again on Monday night.
There's Iowa transfer Joe Toussaint, who played well in the closed scrimmage against Dayton and gives West Virginia another tough, physical on-the-ball defender to go with Kedrian Johnson in the backcourt. Toussaint was once a finalist for Mr. Basketball honors in New York and a four-star prospect coming out of Cardinal Hays High in the Bronx.
Then there is Washington transfer Emmitt Matthews Jr., the same Emmitt Matthews Jr. who left WVU after the 2021 season to be closer to home. He's back in Morgantown, eager to return the Mountaineers to their winning ways when he helped them to their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.
Matthews worked on his outside shooting while at Washington and provides the experience and toughness WVU was sometimes lacking on the wing last season.
Huggins went junior college shopping and came up with forwards Jimmy Bell Jr., Patrick Suemnick and Mohamed Wague.
Bell and Wague appear to be upgrades close to the basket, while Suemnick is still recovering from some knee issues that has hampered him during the preseason. However, he is expected to be good to go at some point later this season.
Huggins also landed a pair of talented freshmen in 6-foot-7 wing Josiah Harris from Richmond Heights High in Canton, Ohio, and 6-foot-3 guard Josiah Davis from Teays Valley Christian School in West Virginia. Davis is originally from Kitchener, Ontario.
The veteran coach says both are very talented players capable of getting lots of playing time this season.
When you put it all together, it's an interesting blend of experience, athleticism and toughness that will be required to be successful in the nation's No. 1-ranked basketball conference.
"We are much more competitive," Huggins admits.
But are they as competitive as their coach, who ranks fourth on the NCAA's all-time wins list with 916 heading into this season?
That remains to be seen.
Huggins said last year was one of the most upsetting seasons of his storied coaching career because of his team's overall lack of competitiveness.
"I was ticked off," he said. "You just have such a bad taste in your mouth. I understand, more than the majority of the people do, how important it is that we're successful and what it means to the people in this state.
"I knew how proud they were going to the Final Four and seeing the people there or beating Ohio State in Cleveland and our people walking down the street with their heads held high and happy. It makes you feel good to add a little joy to their lives," he said.
Huggins recalled his earliest memories of Mountaineer basketball listening to George King's teams play on the radio at his grandparent's house up on Dug Hill.
"I was one of those kids sitting on my grandfather's lap listening when Rod Thorn played and you looked forward to it," he said. "You looked forward to game time. My mom was always trying to get me to take a bath so I wouldn't be fighting with her while I was sitting on my grandfather's lap listening to the game.
"I think there's a lot of that, man, so I understand how much it means," he said.
Which is why he believed hitting the reset button was necessary this year, as he once did following subpar seasons in 2013-14 when the Mountaineers missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
What came out of that was "Press Virginia."
"Sometimes, subtraction is better than addition," he said. "Hopefully we have filled spots for guys that have left that will be better than the ones that left. That's the hope. That's not a knock on anybody, that's just the hope."
"Naturally, when you go through change you have to adjust, but when every new guy came along, we welcomed them with open arms," Wilson said. "It wasn't an issue of getting used to them. It was like, 'Okay, we've got him. Let's make sure he understands what we do.'
"All I want to do is whatever it takes to help us win, that's all that matters to me. That's all we're focused on is just Ws," Wilson added.
It's not going to be easy. West Virginia was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 this year and will be facing perhaps its most difficult schedule in school history.
On the horizon are games against Purdue and then potentially Gonzaga and Duke in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in Portland, Oregon.
There are also the non-conference challenge games against Xavier and Auburn. None of those are going to be walks in the park, nor will a Big 12 that features five teams in the AP Preseason Poll, meaning at least 10 conference game against ranked opponents.
Huggins is well-aware of this.
"We're going to play the hardest schedule in school history, there is no doubt about it, so we've got to get ready to go win games," he said.
And that process begins on Monday night against Mount St. Mary's at the WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on Big 12 Now (Andrew Caridi, Warren Baker, and Amanda Mazey).
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs at 6:30 p.m. on Learfield stations throughout West Virginia, online at WVUsports.com as well as the apps WVU Gameday and The Varsity Network.
Satellite radio coverage is on SiriusXM channel 375.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
TV Highlights: WVU 69, Lehigh 47
Monday, November 10
Ross Hodge | Lehigh Postgame
Sunday, November 09
Brenen Lorient & Harlan Obioha | Lehigh Postgame
Sunday, November 09
TV Highlights: WVU 73, Campbell 65
Friday, November 07
