Will West Virginia Return to March Madness in 2023?
The West Virginia Mountaineers are coming off of a terrible season. They ended the season 16-17, ranking outside of the top 65 on KemPom. They also finished 10th in the Big 12 with a 4-14 record. Can the Mountaineers turn it around and earn a bid to March Madness in 2023?
Complete Overhaul
West Virginia is dealing with a complete overhaul for the 2022-23 season. They’re returning only one player - Kedrian Johnson - that played over 10 minutes per game last season. Johnson wasn’t necessarily a massive part of the rotation either, as he averaged only 20.5 minutes per game.
They added several players in the transfer portal, though. The Mountaineers welcomed back Emmitt Matthews Jr. who left West Virginia for Washington. They also added multiple JUCO players, who played at an extremely high level in Junior College.
Lastly, West Virginia added a pair of freshmen who can help early in their careers. It’ll be exciting to see if all of these players have the ability to contribute at a high level in the Big 12.
Scoring
One of the biggest concerns for West Virginia will be scoring. The only returning player with any scoring potential last season is Kedrian Johnson. Although he saw some success, he averaged only 5.3 points per game.
Emmitt Matthews could emerge as one of the top options for the Mountaineers this season. He averaged 11.7 points per game for the Washington Huskies last season, and he could take over as the primary scorer for West Virginia. Erik Stevenson also averaged 11.6 points per game for the South Carolina Gamecocks last season. He’s another player who’s flashed potential to score at the highest level of competition.
West Virginia has a trio of JUCO transfers that come with some scoring potential. Mohamed Wague and Pat Suemnick averaged 14.8 points and 12 points per game last season. They also have a potential scorer in Jimmy Bell Jr., who averaged 9.3 points per game last season. Bell also has experience at Saint Louis, although Wague has the most potential out of the trio.
Finally, there are a pair of freshman coming in that have the ability to take over games. Josiah Davis averaged 19.7 points per game as a senior last season. He comes with as much scoring upside as anyone on the team, although he may struggle at times throughout his freshman campaign. Josiah Harris averaged 17.9 points per game, and he’s another high upside freshman.
Although there isn’t one player that sticks out as a consistent, safe scoring option, there are plenty of potential scorers on this team. At some point Davis and Harris will likely take over the offense, but that won't happen next season. This isn’t the most dangerous offensive team, but there is plenty of upside in that department.
Defense
Defense has always been a strength for West Virginia, but they struggled on that end last season. They didn’t have the ability to press, and that may change with one of their transfers this season.
Joe Toussaint is seen as one of the best defenders in the NCAA, and he’ll add some much needed perimeter defense to the Mountaineers. The biggest concerns are his offensive liabilities, and whether West Virginia is willing to trade his elite defense for sub-par offense.
Overall, this will be an interesting defense. If Davis and Harris prove that they can contribute early, they can add versatility to the West Virginia defense. With the addition of Toussaint and big man Mohamed Wague, we could see the return of Press Virginia this season.
Conclusion
This West Virginia team will be completely different than what we saw last season. They aren’t one of the safer teams in the NCAA, as they will be relying heavily on transfers and JUCO transfers. If they can build chemistry early on, West Virginia may surprise a few people.
With that being said, it’s unlikely that they make a good enough run to make March Madness. Their current odds to win the NCAA Championship sit at +20000 and for good reason. This will be a young, inexperienced team that should have the ability to cause some upsets, but there will likely be plenty of rebuilding before they’re ready to make an actual run for the tournament.
NOTE: Tre Mitchell announced his commitment to West Virginia after this article was completed. He'll immediately slide in as one of the best options for West Virginia. He averaged over 18 points and 7 rebounds per game during two seasons at UMass before averaging an 8.7/4.0/1.3/0.7/0.7 line in only 18.6 minutes per game for Texas last season. Mitchell could take the next step forward as the focal point for West Virginia, and he's a player that can help speed up their rebuild process.
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Twitter - @SI_WVU and Justin Bales at @BalesSJustin.
