West Virginia Basketball: 3 takeaways from exhibition win over DII Charleston

West Virginia Basketball is a new-look program with head coach Darian DeVries leading a completely rebuilt roster for the 2024-25 campaign. The first chance to see them on the court was on Friday against Charleston (not the Cougars in the CAA), a D-II program.

It was a game that was never in doubt, with the Mountaineers leading from start to finish for the 94-61 win. It was the chance to see everyone get on the court, with some notable takeaways from the game. Here are three specific ones.

Tucker the clear go-to guy

Of all the newcomers to the roster, the one player with no questions is Tucker DeVries, the two-time MVC Player of the Year at Drake. He was the clear lead guy in this game, scoring a game-high 18 points on 7/13 shooting. He was the only Mountaineer to have 10+ FG attempts so while it may be a balanced effort among the supporting cast, it's clear that the coach's son will lead the way.

Impact from the Illinois transfers

Two of the game's starters came from Illinois, with Sincere Harris (9 pts) and Amani Hansberry (11 pts) having solid games. Neither had large roles at their previous spots, but they will be tasked with being two of the top players on the team. Hansberry showed some spacing potential as well, going 1/3 from deep. At the five-spot, that'll have WVU play some five-out offense.

Taking care of the little things

There were plenty of reasons as to why West Virginia wasn't good last season. Some that flew under the radar included struggles in areas such as free throw shooting and turnovers. This group could be poised to make big improvements, going 15/16 from the line, along with 13 assists to just seven turnovers.

OK State transfer Javon Small (11 pts) was good on both ends and will be key in the Mountaineers being a threat in the Big 12 this season. If the guards can limit mistakes and DeVries can be a star, don't be surprise if this group can make noise.