MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Teyvon Myers was on his way to becoming the nation’s top junior college scorer when he first met West Virginia coach Bob Huggins during the spring of 2015.
“I think the first thing he said to me was, ‘You know you’re going to have to play defense, right?’ And back then I wasn’t really into defense like that. But I respected him for being 100 percent wth me,” Myers said.
Despite pouring in 25 points per game at Williston (N.D.) State College and showing shot-creating ability off the dribble, Myers wasn’t robustly recruited by power-conference teams. No matter, because Huggins’ track record with recruiting was never one of following the herd or chasing top-rated prospects. At programs such as Cincinnati, K-State and West Virginia, he couldn’t typically attract elite classes, so Huggins sought players with toughness, intangibles and a disposition for digging in.
“Huggs is not just going to get somebody because he’s No. 1 in the country,” Myers said. “He kind of builds his players, and he builds grown men. Playing for Huggs, you face a lot of adversity. Either you stick it out through the fire or you shy out of it.”
Myers wore a wide smile — not to mention a commemorative hat and T-shirt — following Huggins’ 800th coaching win Saturday. The senior guard vowed to cherish the gear long after his playing career was done, foreshadowing himself like those yesteryear players from Cincinnati who arrived to celebrate Huggins’ milestone win.
Rarely used last season, Myers is among five players averaging more than nine points for the No. 12 Mountaineers (9-1) this time around. While the roster includes a pair of forwards who were four-star prospects in high school (Esa Ahmad and Elijah Macon), the rest of the team is built around lesser-recruited players and late-bloomers with a point to prove.
Take redshirt freshman Lamont West, a 6-foot-8 wing player who embraced sitting out last season with an eye toward developing his physique and game.
Three years ago West was just starting to grow serious about basketball and beginning to daydream about landing a scholarship when he transferred from Withrow High in Cincinnati before his senior season for a spot at Miller Grove High in Lithonia, Ga.
“I wasn’t really getting no looks, but Huggs gave me the opportunity to play college basketball and I’m trying to take advantage of it,” West said.
West scored 10 points in Saturday’s 112-67 scorching of UMKC, including back-to-back 3s during an early 24-0 run in which West Virginia seized command. West’s third double-figures output of the season followed his most crucial performance: Scoring eight points in nine minutes during the second half of a 66-57 upset win at then-No. 6 Virginia.
That has been West’s methodology so far during the nonconference schedule. He averages 7.5 points in 12 minutes a game, with more assists (eight) and steals (six) than turnovers (four).
He marvels at Huggins’ ability to detect players who will buy in.
“I think he looks to see how hard they play and if they can fit the style of the program,” West said. “I mean, he has recruited some crazy people, but they’ve got to be willing to learn, to listen, to come together and win.”
Huggins attributed his success mostly to being a “real dude” who’s honest with his players.
“When they suck, I tell them they suck. When they’re good I tell them they’re good. When they’re working, I tell them how much I appreciate their hard work. When they’re not working I tell them it’s going to catch you,” he said.
Among the former players at the WVU Coliseum for No. 800 was Steve Logan, the exceptional Cincinnati guard who averaged 22 points and 5.3 assists during a consensus All-American campaign in 2002. So loyal is Huggins that during postgame comments to the arena, the coach singled out Logan and said: “He should’ve been national player of the year, but he got screwed.”
A half-hour later, Huggins sat down with reporters and ruminated on the substance of those long-term relationships — forged not only during the glory of Final Four runs, but also when meting out discipline for players going awry.
“You treat those guys like your family because they are, and if they’re not, then you’re not bought-in,” he said. “As much as we talk about players buying in, there’s a lot of coaches that don’t buy in. They buy in when it’s convenient for them.
“I’ve been told before, ‘Don’t go down there and defend him or I’m going to fire you.’ Well, fire me. My loyalty is to these guys.”
Myers sprang from the same part of Brooklyn as Devin Ebanks and Truck Bryant, players he watched at West Virginia, so he knew of Huggins before their recruiting encounter. Buy Myers also had seen mostly the hulking, fiery figure who owned the sideline during heated games. He wasn’t prepared for the thoughtful, murmuring coach who could deconstruct a player with a sentence.
Said Myers: “He can talk so soft, but those words will be so strong.”