Post by elp525 on Jul 24, 2011 7:03:59 GMT -5
July 23, 2011
By Mitch Vingle
The Charleston Gazette
WEST VIRGINIA basketball coach Bob Huggins was trying to maneuver through Las Vegas traffic this past week.
Someone stepped in front of his car and the coach had to slam on the brakes. Moments before, he was bit by a mosquito.
Ah, life on the road. Huggins was in Vegas recruiting. He was then ticketed to hit Orlando, Fla., then Anaheim, Calif., and then Kansas City. It's why he put his team through just four practices before breaking from preparation for the preseason trip to Italy. The practices will resume in August.
He'll also take in the Greenbrier Classic, which will dominate the state's news cycles this week. But before all that, he took a moment to recap those early practices and talk about the newcomers Mountaineer fans are eager to check out.
He prefaced it by saying that neither freshman Jabarie Hinds nor junior college transfer Dominique Rutledge participated in the early sessions. "Both are expected to be there in August," said the coach. "Both will be."
Rutledge is still nursing a knee injury. Huggins wouldn't talk about Hinds, but word is the player is finishing school. Will the necessary paperwork get to WVU and through the NCAA Clearinghouse in time for the Italy trip? Anybody's guess.
But back to the four-day workouts.
"The last practice was really good," Huggins said. "[The newcomers are] feeling their way through.
"It's been really good, though. We've got great kids, terrific kids."
The first newcomer name to pop out of Huggins' mouth was that of point guard Gary Browne.
"He was very good," said the coach. "Very, very good. He was probably our ..."
Huggins stopped short before resuming.
"Let's just say he played very well."
He ran down the other newcomers.
On 6-foot-7 Keaton Miles: "He was very good, particularly defensively. He really got to the ball. Made some plays off the ball."
On 6-7 Tommie McCune: "I thought he was good. He made shots. He has a chance to be a good perimeter shooter for us. Did a good job rebounding the ball."
On 6-10 Pat Forsythe: "He ran well. He rebounded well. He blocked some shots."
And on 6-5 Aaron Brown: "He was very aggressive. He played hard."
"The biggest difference," Huggins said of the group as a whole, "is how long and athletic they are."
Of the returning players, he again seemed pleased.
"[Kevin Jones] was real good,'' Huggins said. "Him and Truck [Bryant] were real good."
He said Deniz Kilicki was "OK" and Kevin Noreen was "good."
Overall, it sounded like a decent start to the coach's rebuilding job.
"It's hard," Huggins said. "We don't have five guys to put out there and demonstrate.
"It's going to take a while for them to figure it all out."
By Mitch Vingle
The Charleston Gazette
WEST VIRGINIA basketball coach Bob Huggins was trying to maneuver through Las Vegas traffic this past week.
Someone stepped in front of his car and the coach had to slam on the brakes. Moments before, he was bit by a mosquito.
Ah, life on the road. Huggins was in Vegas recruiting. He was then ticketed to hit Orlando, Fla., then Anaheim, Calif., and then Kansas City. It's why he put his team through just four practices before breaking from preparation for the preseason trip to Italy. The practices will resume in August.
He'll also take in the Greenbrier Classic, which will dominate the state's news cycles this week. But before all that, he took a moment to recap those early practices and talk about the newcomers Mountaineer fans are eager to check out.
He prefaced it by saying that neither freshman Jabarie Hinds nor junior college transfer Dominique Rutledge participated in the early sessions. "Both are expected to be there in August," said the coach. "Both will be."
Rutledge is still nursing a knee injury. Huggins wouldn't talk about Hinds, but word is the player is finishing school. Will the necessary paperwork get to WVU and through the NCAA Clearinghouse in time for the Italy trip? Anybody's guess.
But back to the four-day workouts.
"The last practice was really good," Huggins said. "[The newcomers are] feeling their way through.
"It's been really good, though. We've got great kids, terrific kids."
The first newcomer name to pop out of Huggins' mouth was that of point guard Gary Browne.
"He was very good," said the coach. "Very, very good. He was probably our ..."
Huggins stopped short before resuming.
"Let's just say he played very well."
He ran down the other newcomers.
On 6-foot-7 Keaton Miles: "He was very good, particularly defensively. He really got to the ball. Made some plays off the ball."
On 6-7 Tommie McCune: "I thought he was good. He made shots. He has a chance to be a good perimeter shooter for us. Did a good job rebounding the ball."
On 6-10 Pat Forsythe: "He ran well. He rebounded well. He blocked some shots."
And on 6-5 Aaron Brown: "He was very aggressive. He played hard."
"The biggest difference," Huggins said of the group as a whole, "is how long and athletic they are."
Of the returning players, he again seemed pleased.
"[Kevin Jones] was real good,'' Huggins said. "Him and Truck [Bryant] were real good."
He said Deniz Kilicki was "OK" and Kevin Noreen was "good."
Overall, it sounded like a decent start to the coach's rebuilding job.
"It's hard," Huggins said. "We don't have five guys to put out there and demonstrate.
"It's going to take a while for them to figure it all out."
