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2008 West Virginia Basketball Predictions & Preview

Written October 21, 2008 by Jack Jones

Bob Huggins came in and in one season made his mark on the West Virginia basketball program. He took the team to the Sweet 16 largely on the shoulders of first-round draft pick Joe Alexander. Now that Alexander is gone, Huggins will have to rely on his recruiting class that ranks among the best in the conference. There are still some holdovers from the John Beilen, but Huggins’ style should become more and more apparent as he gets his guys in here. This team should be talented, but will most likely end up in the middle of the Big East with so many stacked teams up top. BetUS has West Virginia listed at 9-to-1 to win the conference this season.

The Mountaineers probably won’t have anyone playing a true center position, but that isn’t something that concerns Huggins since his teams rarely have relied on a big man. Roscoe Davis could be the big man in the paint, but there won’t be too much put on the incoming recruit. He is long and plays hard, but isn’t strong enough to compete in the paint with other Big East bodies. That leaves Demetrius Proby to most likely be the primary post. Wellington Smith plays power forward and improved the more aggressive that he got. Da’Sean Butler averaged almost 13 points per game while grabbing 6.2 rebounds per game last season. He’ll be joined in the front court by a talented freshman in Devin Ebanks. He has size and can shoot the ball well from outside.

Joe Mazzulla developed into a pretty good guard late in the year, and Huggins is happy with how he developed his game over the summer. There is also Darryl Bryant at the point so Mazzulla will have a capable backup. Huggins is also happy with how Alex Ruoff worked on his game over the summer months. Ruoff put up 13.8 points per game a year ago but needed to get his shot off quicker. When he does get it off he’s deadly from the outside. Ebanks can also slide over to the shooting guard spot if need be.

Final Analysis

There are a lot of new players flooding into the West Virginia basketball program, which should mean some early struggles unless Ebanks is an immediate star. The Big East is loaded and the non-conference foes are pretty tough as well with Ohio State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Iowa, and Kansas State on the slate. The Mountaineers are going to miss Alexander early, but as this team comes together they could be a force come March. If you think they can make a run at the national title, BetUS has West Virginia listed at 35-to-1 of winning it all.

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