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West Virginia Basketball: Analyzing the 2019 recruiting class

By Lukas Harkins

MORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 12: The West Virginia Mountaineers student section against the TCU Horned Frogs at the WVU Coliseum on February 12, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 12: The West Virginia Mountaineers student section against the TCU Horned Frogs at the WVU Coliseum on February 12, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – MARCH 12: West Virginia cheerleaders and mascot cheer. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO – MARCH 12: West Virginia cheerleaders and mascot cheer. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

West Virginia basketball struggled this past season but there is room for growth in 2019-20. Will their incoming recruiting class feature difference-makers?

Under the leadership of head coach Bob Huggins for the last 12 seasons, West Virginia basketball has been extremely successful. They have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances during that stretch and have produced strong campaigns as a member of the Big East and the Big 12. To put it simply, the Mountaineers have been one of the top programs in the nation for over a decade now. With that said, though, the team stumbled t a 15-21 (4-14 B12) record during this past season following the departure of the backcourt duo that became known as “Press Virginia.”

The season was clearly a step back from their prior successes but many experts have already pegged the Mountaineers as a team that will respond in a big way during 2019-20. This is largely due to the fact that the program looks poised to be led by a duo of extremely fun sophomores. Derek Culver and Jordan McCabe both showed major signs of promise last season, especially down the stretch, and they will likely be leaned on as two of the scoring leaders during this upcoming campaign.

In addition, though, the coaching staff landed five newcomers for the program. Of these, three of them are JUCO products that will already bring their fair share of experience to the table. It also doesn’t hurt that one of their two incoming freshmen is ranked in the top-50 of the class.  On the whole, West Virginia’s 2019 recruiting class is ranked at No. 36 in the country.

This class has the ability to not only impact the program right away but down the road as well. Their names are definitely worth knowing heading into this coming season as the Mountaineers could be hanging around the NCAA Tournament conversation throughout the year. Now, let’s take a deeper dive into analyzing each of the five newcomers that make up this recruiting class for Coach Huggins.

(Note: Recruiting rankings for freshmen were found via 247Sports Composite while the other rankings were found on JUCO Recruiting.)

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