Morgantown, West Virginia – Best Virginia, West Virginia’s alumni team, is 2-0 in the TBT this summer, defeating WoCo Showtime 70-67 in the opening round and then D2 yesterday 63-51.
During those games, head coach James Long has primarily distributed minutes among nine players. The five starters (Juwan Staten, Tarik Phillip, Alex Ruoff, John Flowers and Kevin Jones) and four reserves (Teyvon Myers, Jamel Morris, Nathan Adrian and Chase Harler).
However, two players have noticeably been absent on the court. Former West Virginia interior players Logan Routt, a 6’11 center, and Jonathan Holton, a 6’7 power forward. In two games, Holton has played a total of 3 minutes and Routt has yet to see the court.
In the two wins, Best Virginia has had difficulty with rebounding and energy, particularly under the basket, and Jonathan Holton is known as an energy/garbage rebounder. Holton’s presence on the court in the second half of the D2 game seemingly would have made quite a difference for Best Virginia.
Instead, Holton remained on the bench and he was clearly very unhappy about his lack of playing time. During a timeout – while the rest of the team huddled around James Long and his coaching staff – Holton remained visibly disappointed in his seat.
Holton’s lack of playing time and reaction to it has yet to be addressed by Long, but it is certainly something to keep a close eye on. As Best Virginia progresses through the bracket, teams will be deeper and more talented, and Holton’s energy and physicality off the bench will be important to the team.
Best Virginia is back in action tomorrow night against Team 23, who defeated Marshall’s alumni team Herd That in a second round thriller.
