Morgantown, West Virginia – Bob Huggins was on “College Hoops Today”, a podcast hosted by Jon Rothstein, a CBS Sports College Basketball Insider.
After blasting NCAA officials for their rules and regulations during the pandemic, Huggins opened up the 2020 season. He insisted that college basketball is ready to begin and that pushing the season back to the end of November didn’t make any sense.
The Mountaineers open up the season on November 25th in Sioux Falls, South Dakota against Texas A&M. Huggins said that the tournament will be safe for his players and staff: “I think what they have set up in South Dakota is great.”
Huggins then discussed this year’s West Virginia Mountaineers and he absolutely gushed about the team’s potential. “This is the best roster we’ve had since 2010. There’s absolutely no doubt. We’ve got more guys who can make shots. We’ve got athleticism. We’ve got size. This is as good a group as we’ve had since 2010.”
The 2010 West Virginia team, of course, finished the season 31-7 and 13-5 in the Big East Conference, and went to the Final Four.
When asked about Miles McBride, Huggins said, “Deuce is a great competitor. He’s a guy that would’ve been a 5 star football recruit if he didn’t break his ankle. He’s a tough kid, he’s from a great family that really brought him up the right way. He’s just a wonderful kid to be around. He’s got that edge, that competitive edge that makes people special. He’s in the gym constantly and he continues to work on his game and he continues to get better.”
Asked about senior forward Gabe Osabuohien, who Rothstein referred to him as “the leader in 50/50 balls and floor burns”, Huggins said the following: “He’s one of those guys that I’m used to having. He’s a guy that’s very aggressive, he has great hands and you wouldn’t think by looking at him that he would have the ability to move his feet, slide in front of people, or get to the ball the way that he can. He turns everything up for us. Other guys seem to play harder and get to the ball better when he’s on the floor.”
Huggins went on to say that he thinks about getting back to the Final Four every time he looks at his roster. In addition, he said there’s nothing more that he would want to do than to win a national championship for the people of the state of West Virginia.
Huggins said that for a state that gets picks on all of the time to be the best in the United States would be incredibly meaningful. “It would mean so much to the people of this state for that to happen.”
