The West Virginia Mountaineers’ future is now and although this team has struggled mightily to score at times throughout this season, they are in position to be a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Once in the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen. A team with as much talent, depth and size as the Mountaineers can make major noise and there is literally no ceiling for this team.
While West Virginia is one of the best defensive teams in the nation, they have been absolutely stagnant and unproductive offensively. In fact, the Mountaineers rank 183rd out of 350 teams, averaging 71 points per game.
Jalen Bridges, a four star Freshman from my hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia, is redshirted this season. Bob Huggins said of Bridges’ decision to redshirt, “He and his father Corey made a great decision to come here and redshirt in lieu of going to a prep school, and going to a prep school, he’s going to play against high school kids and coming here, he’s going to play against men.”
However, with the Mountaineers’ consistent struggles on offense and Bridges’ constant improvement in practice this season, perhaps burning his redshirt and playing him this season would be what’s best for the team.
In fact, Huggins said of Bridges’ improvement, “He’s getting better and better. He’s one of the best guys he has in the weight room. He’s gotten so much stronger and he’s getting so much bigger. If he weren’t redshirting and we were going to play our best guys, he would be in the group of our best guys. He’s gotten better and better. I’ve been amazed, really, on how much better he’s gotten. His attitude towards practice and the way he approaches things has absolutely been terrific.”
Bob Huggins will likely not be around as the Head Coach of West Virginia four years from now and the team will almost certainly be going through a rebuilding process when Bridges will be a Senior. Using Bridges now would get the best return and would instantaneously give the Mountaineers a scoring punch that could push them over the top in the NCAA Tournament this season.
