Mountaineers Return to Play Saturday After COVID-19 Disruption
The Mountaineers postponed three games on January 12th, including contests with Baylor, TCU, and Oklahoma State, due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing issues within the program. West Virginia’s roster was reduced to fewer than six eligible scholarship players, putting them below the threshold set by Big 12 coaches required to compete.
Due to the mandatory self-quarantine for players who test positive or are exposed to the virus, a majority of the Mountaineers have not practiced in person since January 11th. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins is wary that the isolated players will suffer from a lack of conditioning when they return to the court.
“For the guys that we had available, I think their conditioning will be fine, but I have no idea about the other guys,” said Huggins. “In 43 years of being in this business, this is uncharted water.”
The uncertainty of the situation poses a great challenge for Huggins and his coaching staff, who are attempting to prepare for a game with an unknown roster.
“You’ve got to get ready for a full-court press. You’ve got to get ready for a three-quarter-court press. You’ve got to get ready for a half-court trap. You’ve got to get ready to guard a man-to-man offense. You’ve got to have a man-to-man offense against their man-to-man offense. Same thing with the zone, offensively and defensively. That’s seven things,” Huggins explained.
“That doesn’t count out-of-bounds plays," he continued. "That doesn’t count last-second plays. That doesn’t count all the other things. That doesn’t count breaking down how to guard pick-and-roll which, obviously, we haven’t broken down enough. That’s ten things… Now how do you do that? How do you do that with two different squads?”
Due to postponements, West Virginia is set to embark on a packed stretch of 14 games over the final six weeks of the season. That is, assuming they and their competitors avoid further COVID-19 related conflicts.
“There are people who are going to play more home games than away games,” said Huggins of the Big 12 conference. “There are going to be people who haven’t played as many games as other people have played. And I haven’t heard of anyone playing three games in five days.”
Between February 15-20, West Virginia is scheduled to face No. 5 Texas as well as back-to-back meetings with No. 2 Baylor.
The Mountaineers tip-off against Kansas State Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
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