Big 12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season
. . Mountaineers . 5. team. 469.
Bob Huggins and West Virginia basketball return some experience from a season ago but their top two scorers and top rebounder went the pro route, leaving them in an interesting position heading into a new season.
Jalen Bridges will be an early breakout candidate on the wing after averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.6 rpg while shooting 40.9 percent from behind the arc in 2020-21. His production went up during Big 12 basketball action last year and should continue to rise this season.
Malik Curry (Old Dominion) will look to fill the void left by the departure of Miles McBride. Curry was a second-team All-Conference USA selection this past season after posting 15.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, and 1.9 spg.
He’ll have some scorers to work with on the wing with the return of Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman. Sherman is the team’s top returning scorer with 13.4 ppg on 35.9 percent shooting from 3-point land. McNeil was right behind him with 12.2 ppg on 38.8 percent shooting from 3-point range.
They’ll look to Dimon Carrigan (Florida International) and Pauly Paulicap (DePaul) to solve their rim-protecting woes with the early departure of Oscar Tshiebwe to the Kentucky Wildcats.
Carrigan finished second in Conference USA and 18th in the NCAA in blocks per contest with 2.5 while also putting up 6.8 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Paulicap finished sixth in Big East basketball this past season with 1.3 bpg along with 7.2 ppg and 6.1 rpg.
The presence and length of Carrigan and Paulicap at 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-8, respectively, will be welcomed with open arms as the Mountaineers look to return to their gritty, defensive ways.
West Virginia basketball held the 8th ranked scoring defense in Big 12 basketball in 2020-21. They should be able to change that with the addition of some new pieces.