west virginia Men’s basketball is recovering from its first loss since the 2018-19 season, and moving forward in one of the sport’s toughest conferences is no easy task.
The Big 12 Conference School won its last two men’s tournaments last season, with Bill Self leading Kansas to the title. Scott Drew leading Baylor 2021 years.
Recent Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Huggins leads a team of three seniors and a handful of players entering their fifth year. Huggins knows the daunting task ahead of him and is competing with some of his coaches for the top of the game.
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Bob Huggins, head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, during the first half of the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kansas Jayhawks at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri March 10, 2022 .
(Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“Some of them are harder than others. I think the atmosphere they have in Kansas is hard to play. It’s very vocal. I think it’s a little more difficult,” Huggins told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“Communication is definitely a lot more difficult, but I mean we have a great league, we have a great coach and everyone gets along. No problem. The players love playing in the league. I think a lot of us have had success playing professionally and making a career out of it.
Huggins turned to the transfer portal to recruit experienced players and add depth to their roster.
“Every year, especially with the current portal, there are players who are looking to transfer. And we did the same thing. We went to the portal and got someone who really liked the portal and it worked really well. I think,” Huggins said. “We’ve had some injuries, but if those injuries are treated, I think we’ll be a lot better thanks to them.”
The legendary head coach admitted he didn’t like the transfer portal at first, saying he sympathizes with the more than 400 future Division I basketball players who haven’t found a landing place.
“I didn’t like it at all. The bad thing is that there are about 460 kids left in the portal, so I think there are 460 kids with nowhere to go. They need to fix it somehow.” I think there is.” I don’t know how to fix it, but I think I have to do something about it somehow. [There’s a] Good 460 kids think they’re going to leave where they are and go somewhere better or bigger or something else, but that’s not really the case,” Huggins said. I’m here.
January 18, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. West his Virginia Mountaineers head his coach, Bob Huggins, shouted from the bench in the first half of Baylor’s game against the Bears at the WVU Coliseum.
(Ben Queen – USA TODAY Sports)
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“And now all of a sudden they’re sitting there, often going to schools that don’t have scholarships, and in that schools they’re walk-ons. Or they don’t offer scholarships (Division III ) school. And that’s not what they intended when they entered the portal.
The Mountaineers finished last season in the Big 12 with a 16-17 overall record and a 4-14 record. Kedrian Johnson, who started his 30th game last season for Virginia in the West, is also among his returning players. A regular in West Virginia, his season begins on November 7 at home against Mount He-Merry’s.
Huggins took over as the Mountaineers’ head coach at the start of the 2007-08 season.he’s in west virginia 10 NCAA tournament appearances and one final four.
One of the players he coached is looking to take over the reins of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, but Ime Udoka has been suspended for the season.
Joe Mazzura, who played for West Virginia from 2006-2011, will lead the team this season. Huggins said Mazura called him when he got the job.
Bob Huggins, head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, watches the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic College basketball game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina on November 19, 2021.
(Mitchell Leighton/Getty Images)
“He called me the morning he got to work. We talked and had a good conversation. Joe has come a long way from a basketball standpoint. He has come a long way from a personal standpoint. He’s not a kid anymore,” Huggins told Fox News.Digital.
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“He’s a grown man. He’s a grown man with a family who understands he’s the breadwinner of the family. He’s a man who has to make everything work. So what advice am I going to give him?” Is it for him and his family, the rest is up to him.”
