West Virginia Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Mountaineers
Starters
As I mentioned, West Virginia has the luxury of returning four starters from last season. Their lone departure of that group is Jermaine Haley, who averaged 8.9 points per game and has graduated.
The other four all started at least 25 games last year and should be expected to return to those starting spots this season. There will possibly be some moving parts in the backcourt – but the frontcourt is unquestionably solidified.
Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe will return to their posts at power forward and center, respectively, after a season where they were arguably the best defensive frontcourt pairing in college basketball. Both were absolute machines from the floor and on the boards, combining for 21.6 points per game and 17.9 rebounds per game.
Additionally, and individually, both Culver and Tshiebwe enter another year where they will be able to grow and prosper for the future. Culver, a junior, and Tshiebwe, a sophomore, have earned recognition from the Big 12 – Tshiebwe was named to the preseason All-Big 12 Team after earning Second Team honors last season, and Culver was an honorable mention on this year’s preseason All-Conference squad.
Emmitt Matthews Jr. should earn duties at the small forward spot after averaging 6.3 points last season. A 40%-shooter from the floor, Matthews Jr. is another athletic junior who will benefit from another year of experience, and who should continue to grow after impressing with a team-high 18 point-performance in the season-ending victory over Baylor last year.
The backcourt positions are a bit trickier to nail down, as Huggins has a few different options to go with. Huggins himself has spoken highly of both returners Miles McBride and Jordan McCabe playing at the point guard position, and, while I think both will receive time at that position, I also think West Virginia’s opening night starting line-up will feature the both of them in some capacity.
McBride has the speediness, aggressiveness, and intelligence to be a quality point guard in the Big 12 – but he also has the shooting stats to be an effective shooting guard. McCabe, meanwhile, was West Virginia’s starting point guard last season, and – although a highly-touted shooter coming out of high school – has not been able to find his shooting stroke while with the Mountaineers.
McBride, for example, was third on the team last year in scoring at 9.5 points per game while dishing out 56 assists, second on the team just behind Haley. His shooting clip, as a guard, was nothing short of impressive at 40%, which, of those ten players who averaged more than thirteen minutes a game, ranked fourth.
McCabe, meanwhile, has struggled from the floor – he is shooting just 31% on field goals and 21% on three-pointers. Contrarily, he has also handed out 51 assists and started in 29 games last season. Until he is able to find his shooting stroke, McCabe will most likely remain at the point guard spot, with McBride handling shooting guard duties. If McCabe fixes his shooting woes, expect these two to be interchangeable.