Stock up, Stock Down: Evaluations Following the First Look at WVU Hoops

Stock Up: C Harlan Obioha

Ross Hodge has been telling us all preseason long about how great Obioha's feet are, and man, he wasn't kidding. For a guy who's 7-foot, 265 pounds, he gets around pretty good and moves with ease. Most guys his size struggle to run the floor and move laterally, but not him. He filled up the cup, making eight of his nine attempts, but don't expect that to be a normal night for him. When real competition comes along, he'll be looking to carve out space and make plays for others. Still, it's nice to see that Hodge has a true big man who can be physical while also having some finesse to his offensive bag.

Stock Unchanged: Three-point shooting

Ah, a new one here. I'm not crashing on this area of the offense, but I did feel like it was something worth discussing. This isn't a major concern of mine because they have the shooters to get back on track, and it's just one game. Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff just didn't have the touch tonight, and that's going to happen from time to time. Aside from them, the rest of the team went a combined 3/6, with all three makes coming from Jayden Forsythe. WVU clearly had an advantage underneath, so that's why they kept hammering it down low to Obioha and Lorient, but still, I expected a few more attempts from beyond the arc.

Stock Up: G Jayden Forsythe

The true freshman is fighting for a spot in the rotation, and last night was a strong first step. He's going to see action early in the season during non-conference play, so he'll have plenty of opportunities to prove his worth before things heat up with the Big 12 schedule. Forsythe shot 38% from three in high school, and that was on full display last night, drilling three of his four attempts from downtown.

Stock Down: Free-throw shooting

The Mountaineers were 18/28 (64%) from the charity stripe, which is far from ideal. What's even more concerning is that they were just 8/13 in the second half. This game was never close, but that percentage is going to have to increase in order to put teams away. Four of those misses were from Obioha, but even for him, that's an off night considering he's a career 62% shooter from the line.

Stock Up: C Harlan Obioha

Stock Unchanged: Three-point shooting

Stock Up: G Jayden Forsythe

Stock Down: Free-throw shooting

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI