KANSAS CITY — Jonathan Holton credited electric stimulation and “mad ice” for getting his sprained ankle ready for the Big 12 tournament. In truth, he might have needly only to hear a few cheers.
That was the case Saturday at Baylor. One minute he was limping off the court, and the next he heard the West Virginia fans behind the bench asking “Where’s Jon?” So he re-inserted himself, despite being half-lame, at the next subbing situation.
Holton has a playful, child-like, almost flaky side that keeps teammates loose, laughing and sometimes downright . He was gyrating in the lane next to assistant Erik Martin during the free-throw portion of Wednesday’s shootaround at the Sprint Center. When Martin looked around like he was being attacked by an alien, Tarik Phillip just waved off the coach.
“Don’t even listen to him. That boy’s always starting something,” Phillip said.
Minutes earlier, Holton admitted it wasn’t an injury that led him to begin wearing the Kinesio support tape on his left shoulder.
“To tell you the truth, I saw James Harden wearing it,” he said.
So Holton doesn’t usually serve convention, but for the No. 9 Mountaineers (24-7) he certainly serves a purpose. And it’s unlikely they would have any shot at winning three games in three days without him.
WVU forced more than 18 turnovers this season with Holton and only 13.7 during four games he missed under suspension. It was plus-nine in rebounding margin with him and less than plus-two without.
“He was full-go at (Tuesday’s) practice and he looks full-go today,” coach Bob Huggins said. “He’s fine.”
The shimmy in the free-throw line showed that.