2007 West Virginia NCAA Basketball Picks & Predictions
John Beilein is out and Bob Huggins is in for the Mountaineers. Find out how West Virginia’s new head man will fair in his first season in this 2007 West Virginia season preview and NCAA basketball predictions.
Bob Huggins has been there and done that, but now he will have to do that with coach Beilein’s players who are used to playing half court hoops. Huggins will try to get the Mountaineers to play a little bit faster like we are used to seeing his teams play, but I’m not sure West Virginia has the athletes to pull it off.
With West Virginia reaching the Elite Eight, Sweet 16, and winning the NIT title the last three seasons, expectations will be high for Huggins in year one. But this team appears to be NIT bound.
Huggins will have the challenge of getting 7-footer Jamie Smalligan to be tougher in the post. All he has previously shown the ability to do is step out on the floor and knock down threes. Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler are two athletic forwards who will be getting starting nods. Huggins is big on the 6’8’’ Alexander and feels he will have a heck of a year because of his ability to run and jump and dunk with the best of them in the nation. Butler, a 6’7’’ sophomore played in all 36 games as a freshman and averaged double digits.
The backcourt features both talent and depth. Point guard Darris Nichols is among the top point guards in the league. The 6’2’’ senior guard had 165 assists and only 48 turnovers last season while averaging 10.9 points per game. Alex Ruoff should get the nod at the starting shooting guard slot. He averaged 10.3 points per game last season and has good size at 6’6’’. Huggins should be able to help this kid become a better defender.
West Virginia has enough talent to be a factor in the Big East race, but a lack of chemistry is imminent as the Mountaineers must play a completely different style than they are used to. With Huggins, the WVU players are going to get a higher spirited coach who is more demanding. It remains to be seen if they will react positively to his style.
Perhaps another NIT title is on the horizon, but not an NCAA Tourney berth. With our NCAA basketball picks we think that there is just too much talent in the Big East Conference this season. Look for Huggins’ new up-tempo style to throw oddsmakers for a loop for a while. We could have some overs opportunities against the college basketball odds early on in the year.
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