Coach: Bob Huggins (3rd year)
Last season's record: 23-12

Spotlight player

Sophomore Devin Ebanks is not the most productive returning player at West Virginia. That would be Da'Sean Butler, an excellent veteran forward who averaged 17.1 points for the Mountaineers last season. Ebanks, instead, is West Virginia's most talented player. He is one of the most gifted players in college basketball. And whether he makes the most of those gifts will decide whether the Mountaineers become as successful as we—and few others—are declaring they should be. Ebanks averaged 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. But that scoring average included only six double-figure scoring games in the first two months; from Jan. 28 on, he reached double figures 13 times. He was a different player after he figured out what college basketball demanded.

Reason to hope

The Butler-Ebanks tandem gives WVU the best set of forwards of any college team. The Mountaineers also are deep at point guard, with two players—Joe Mazzulla and Truck Bryant—who've been regular starters. Mazzulla is more suited to the position because of his leadership, which means Bryant should get more minutes at the second guard spot and be free to operate as a scorer. Although the team lost veteran guard Alex Ruoff, he was less effective in Huggins' system and his teammates had to work too hard to get him open. Huggins believes the likely replacement, juco transfer Casey Mitchell, is one of the best shooters he has coached.

Reason to mope

Huggins is enthusiastic about playing 6-8 Kevin Jones at center and forcing opponents to defend him on the perimeter. That's fine, but things would be better if there were a 6-10 guy to park himself below the basket and deflect shots. Opponents shot 42 percent against West Virginia last season, which is uncharacteristic of a Huggins defense. The lack of a true big man also led to the Mountaineers' attack being less efficient than ideal. Only three of the players in the team's eight-man rotation shot better than 44 percent from the field. It's not easy to win the kind of games that get you a league championship when you're reliant on making jump shots.

Bottom line

Huggins was pleased with the progress of 6-9 freshman Deniz Kilici, who came to the U.S. from Turkey and looked like he would be able to help inside. But Kilici got a 20-game suspension from the NCAA for his play with a Turkish club that included pros. If that ruling stands, Huggins will have to decide whether to burn a year of eligibility on a season that might include only 10-15 games. Even without him, West Virginia is deep, experienced and talented, and figures to be a team that battles Villanova and Georgetown for a Big East title.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

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