MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Josh Eilert warned the officials calling Saturday's Massachusetts game that something bad was going to happen to center Jesse Edwards if they kept allowing the Minutemen to bang on Edwards, as other teams have done to him in the prior nine games.
Well, Eilert's worst fears came to fruition. Jesse Edwards
Edwards hurt his wrist falling to the ground during Saturday's 87-79 loss in Springfield and an hour before practice yesterday, Eilert found out how bad it was.
Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, and Edwards will be out a minimum of four weeks, which means the earliest Eilert could probably have his best rebounder and inside scorer is the Kansas game at the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 20.
In between now and then are difficult contests against Radford, Toledo, Ohio State, Houston, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma.
"I don't know all of the intricacies of the procedure, or the bones involved, I was a business major, but I wanted to know how quick he can recover and whether it was something he can be back for us this year, and it sounds like that will be the case," Eilert said earlier today. "We'll do everything we can with him in practice to keep him ready to go and engaged."
Playing without Edwards is about like driving in the fog without headlights, something Eilert has basically done the entire season.
It would take too long and consume too much space to list all the unfortunate things that have happened to Eilert and West Virginia basketball over the last two and a half months. The net of it is that he has not had his entire roster intact through the first 10 games of the season, and likely won't for at least the next seven.
That means the Mountaineers (4-6) are going to have to continue winging it for roughly half the season, if not longer, including Wednesday night against a dangerous Radford team coming to Morgantown riding a four-game winning streak.
"For the longest time, we didn't have any guard depth, and now we have some guard depth, but we don't have a backup center, so here we are trying to play without a center," Eilert said. "We'll figure it out and take this next challenge head on."
Radford's coach, of course, is a familiar name to West Virginia fans. Darris Nichols will forever be known for his winning shot in the 2007 NIT semifinal game against Mississippi State and playing on some of the finest teams in school history.
After an assistant coaching stint that took him from West Virginia to Northern Kentucky, Wofford, Louisiana Tech and then Florida, Nichols got his head coaching opportunity at hometown Radford in 2021.
After winning 11 games his first year, Nichols led the Highlanders to a 21-15 record last year and has them off to a 9-4 start in 2023-24. Many onlookers, including Eilert, believe Nichols has a roster good enough to win the Big South Conference this year.
Nichols' starting five is not big, going 5-foot-11, 6-foot-1, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-7, but he does have a 6-foot-10 big he can bring off the bench who can block shots.
This group is averaging 75.3 points per game and is shooting 46.9% from the floor, including an impressive 39.6% from behind the 3-point arc.
Sophomore guard Kenyon Giles, a high school recruit from Chesapeake, Virginia, leads the way with an average of 14.8 points and 2.8 assists per game, meaning he's responsible for roughly 21 points per contest.
DaQuan Smith, a Murray State transfer, is contributing 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds, while Bryan Antoine, a Villanova import, shows averages of 11.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per outing.
Those three compare favorably to any backcourt in the Big South.
Justin Archer, a Florida Southwestern transfer, leads the team with an average of 8.5 rebounds per game, including 44 offensive boards, despite standing just 6-foot-7.
D'Auntray Pierce, a 6-foot-10, 200-pound center from Western Wyoming Community College, has already blocked 25 shots while grabbing an average of 4.1 rebounds per game. Five-foot-9 guard Trenton Walters and 6-foot-2 guard Truth Harris are the other players getting significant minutes for the Highlanders.
"His biggest strength are those three guards in their starting lineup," Eilert said. "They've got some good guards that come off the bench as well, but their bigs play their role to what they give the team and they certainly are playing at a high level."
It's a roster two years in the making and has already produced dividends, including an early-season victory over Marshall at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, a narrow defeat to 20th-ranked James Madison and a four-game winning streak against Elon, North Carolina Central, VMI and Bucknell – Radford's first true road win of the season.
Looming is 18th-ranked Clemson on Friday, Dec. 29 before Big South play begins on Wednesday, Jan. 3 against High Point.
"When you look at coaches and the time it takes to build a program, usually it's year three and you can see that they are starting to peak," Eilert noted. RaeQuan Battle
Eilert, meanwhile, is still trying to figure out how to proceed in the face of his latest setback. He does finally expect to get the services of guard RaeQuan Battle, whose eagerly anticipated season debut was delayed five days because of a stomach virus.
Eilert said Battle is still not 100%, but he did practice yesterday and should be ready to go on Wednesday night.
"You could tell it wasn't RaeQuan at a 100% level, but he's getting there," Eilert said. "Hopefully, there is even more improvement."
For those who haven't seen the Montana State transfer in action, Eilert said he gives his team an element the other players on the roster can't provide.
"He's probably our best athlete, and he's so quick-twitched," he said. "Even when RaeQuan makes a bad decision defensively, he can recover so fast. Not only is he hard to go by, he's a natural scorer and a natural athlete.
"He can run. He can jump and he can create his own shot, which is one of the hardest things in college basketball to do," Eilert continued. "He can rise up and get a mid-range shot or lift up quicker than the majority of the guys on our team. He gives us a different dynamic, and I'm looking forward to getting him back in the fold as quickly as possible."
Eilert also got back Arizona transfer Kerr Kriisa, whose 20 points and seven assists led the Mountaineers against UMass, and the surprise addition of Eastern Michigan guard Noah Farrakhan, who chipped in with 15 points coming off the bench and showing some athleticism WVU's backcourt has been sorely lacking.
Eilert could slide the recently-medically-cleared Akok Akok into Edwards' center position, move backup Patrick Suemnick there or go in a completely different direction.
He didn't tip his hand on Tuesday, knowing full well that his good friend and information-addicted Nichols will most certainly be paying attention.
After Radford, West Virginia will face Toledo on Saturday and then will meet Ohio State in Cleveland on Saturday, Dec. 30, before Big 12 play begins in earnest at undefeated and third-ranked Houston on Saturday, Jan. 6.
Wednesday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ (Andrew Caridi, Warren Baker and Amanda Mazey).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi will get the evening started at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
