Huggins Says Pro Scouts Are Peaking Interest in this Underclassman
The college basketball season is rapidly approaching and the West Virginia Mountaineers are gearing up for what could be a special 2020-21 season.
Head coach Bob Huggins has a ton of depth and a little more experience than a year ago and is liking what he has seen thus far from his guys.
"I don't have much not to like right now, they've been good. They're working hard, they're paying attention, they're trying to do what we ask them to do. We've kind of thrown a lot at them early just to see how they would react to different things and they've been real good."
Obviously everyone is excited to see the big men Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver back in action, but there's one player that is catching more attention from the NBA scouts more than any player on the Mountaineers' roster, Miles "Deuce" McBride.
"I think Deuce has improved tremendously. I think he's really studied being a point guard and being able to get other people involved, but at the same time he is probably our best guy at creating his own shot. I can tell you this: from a standpoint of calls and interest from people at the next level, he's the first name out of their mouth which I know shocks some of you, but that's the first name out of their mouth."
McBride came on strong last year as a true freshman making two starts in 31 games and averaged 9.5 points, 1.8 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 22.2 minutes per contest. At seasons end, he found himself being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. Throughout the season, McBride earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice as he helped lift the Mountaineers to victory with 21 points over No. 2 Ohio State, then later in the season going for 22 points in a win over No. 22 Texas Tech and 10 points, 3 steals in a win over Oklahoma State.
Despite not being in the starting lineup, McBride was able to finish 2nd on the team in double-figure games (16). We saw early on that McBride has the ability to create his own shot and it played a big part in his success as a true freshman and will continue to throughout the rest of his basketball career. Now, he just has to start hitting more of his shots if he really wants to play at the next level. Last season, he only shot 40% from the field and 30% from beyond the arc. Although they're not terrible numbers, he can certainly do much better and it seems like that is Huggins' expectation for him heading into year two.
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