West Virginia Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Mountaineers

Season Outlook

Bob Huggins is not here anymore. Even when he had been running the program, West Virginia wasn’t exactly making a killing. The Mountaineers have finished below .500 twice in the last five seasons and haven’t exactly been dominating in a very tough Big 12 that gets no easier this year.

Consider all the changes in Morgantown and you have to wonder what the ceiling is for this squad. There’s no shortage of talent and potential with all of the new faces they added to the roster, but how will those pieces gel together? Kriisa and Edwards in particular have had fantastic performances in the spotlight, but other pieces like Slazinski or Wilson simply don’t have a ton of experience.

We haven’t talked specifically about the pieces that West Virginia lost in the offseason, but we know that things will certainly be different on the sidelines. No matter what transpires with this team early or late in the year, a lot of eyes will be on Eilert. Walking into a situation where you’re an interim head coach is never easy, let alone replacing a legend like Huggins without a lick of head coaching experience on your resume.

A lot depends on how Eilert fares as the program’s new leader. There are certainly players in position for individual success, but how do they work together as a team? It’s a lot of moving parts learning new or bigger roles for the Mountaineers, especially in a frontcourt that looks challenged for experience beyond Edwards. What can we truly expect from them, especially against some of this league’s dominant teams like Kansas or Baylor?

With all the changes, it seems silly to reflect on recent history or metrics, so we’ll simply focus on potential. West Virginia made the NCAA Tournament last year with a very new roster and has the potential to do that again. The Big 12 will put a lot of teams into the postseason once again; it all comes down to Eilert’s ability to step up as a leader and how the pieces around him gel together. Don’t be surprised if West Virginia finishes near the bottom of the Big 12 standings, unless things really come together in a major way for this program in a flux year.